Definition and Overview

I found out yesterday that we are now studying Film Noir as our external film study! So I decided to do a little bit of research to understand the genre a little bit better. I knew that the films were in black and white and had femme fatals and hard boiled detectives, but it turns out that there is so much more. 

Wikipedia states that Film Noir is a term for Hollywood Crime Drama, and from what i've seen in class that is completely true. The period for this genre is the 1940's to the 1950's. There is also a new genre called 'neo noir' which is the modern day take on Film Noir. In French, Noir means black so the genre title means Black Film. This does not only symbolize how the technology only allowed the films to be in black and white, but the mood of the film. They were made during the depression and were influenced by German Expressionism. The themes of this genre is mainly sexual influences and cynical attitudes and this creates original and interesting films that keep you on edge. 

Now I have been given an assignment we have to do by Friday and we have to make a powerpoint on a Film Noir movie. I haven't chosen which film I will write on but I know that whatever film seems the most interesting, I will choose. At the start, I wasn't too keen to study this genre, but now I realise that maybe it will be good to broaden my vision and really