Film noir

[bugen]

Thanks, guys!

Though I do have to say, chasing noir in this thread is like chasing dragons. They’re often elusive, exotic and rare, sometimes found in realms you weren’t previously aware of; they’re dangerous, so even when you find that incredible specimen it means you’re sometimes smashed in the face with hard doses of nastiness; and most people don’t know they exist except in legend, denying their very existence (i.e. don’t wanna watch them), so you search alone through bleak, grayscale worlds.

Which brings up something Tommy joked about in an earlier post--movie night.

Would anyone be interested in a kind of movie night where we identify and agree on a noir film participants have access to, synchronize our watches and start the film simultaneously at an agreed time, then hop on the boards to discuss when finished?

[Tommy]

Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays are out for me.

[Theli]

Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays are out for me.

Ironically my best days. But I'm sure I can make something work (though not likely this week). I used to do movie nights with a good group on a horror movie forum a couple years back. Was really fun.

[Daninsky]

I'm pretty bad about commitments of any kind, but the idea sounds great in theory! Saturday nights are out for me, but I'd be willing to soft-commit to any other night of the week.

[bugen]

I'm pretty open, at least for a couple more months I think. Mondays can be tough, and Fridays have lots of date night stuff and spur of the moment activity for people, so maybe we could aim for Wednesday, 1/18, as proof of concept? I think Tommy's EST, I'm PST (but the light's always on, here). I guess it just comes down to work/family schedules.

I know it's a long shot (and no commitments necessary, either!), but any particular timeframes work for you guys on the 18th?

[Sock Monkey]

This sounds like a lot of fun! I might be able to join in for the 18th.

[Theli]

I should be in for the 18th! Also I'm CST, right in the middle!

Any votes for film choices?

I'll throw my hat in for a couple thoughts:

Night of the Hunter
Big Heat
The Secret Beyond the Door
Night and the City

Are any of those available to folks here and not been seen too recently? I'm definitely open to other suggestions too.

How would we stay in contact? Skype? Hangouts? Other?

As for time, how about 9 EST, 8 CST, 6 PST?

[bugen]

Notorious was fantastic! After a couple of paragraphs that are just falling flat, I'm gonna skip the writeup this time. But I loved it and would be happy to argue about it being/not being noir. I'm comfortable keeping it on the noir list for a bunch of reasons. (And from the not-noir camp - what a kiss!)

Theli I don't have access to The Secret Beyond the Door, but would be down for any of the others. Night of the Hunter is supposed to get here tomorrow! And I've been itching to get at to The Big Heat and Night and the City as well.

Since there's probably nothing we could pick that at least some of us haven't seen, I'd like to throw Sunset Boulevard into the ring as well--it seems like a major favorite (and I haven't seen it). I also wouldn't mind revisiting the relentlessly complicated The Big Sleep.

[bugen]

This sounds like a lot of fun! I might be able to join in for the 18th.

If this all gets laid out right I hope you can make it!

I'm familiar with Hangouts and can install other stuff if we want to do a group chat, but don't want to discourage anyone who doesn't want to go that route or doesn't have the equipment. A (new) thread could be a bit unruly, but if we kept each entry short I think it might work, then the discussion could be linked back to the Film noir list on page one for that particular film. Still, it could be messy, especially if a bunch of people show up to comment that aren't usually active. But it seems like a pretty small group here, so I'd guess that wouldn't be an issue. I dunno, what do you guys think?

And we can always change it up in the future if the first night works and folks want to go again.

[Tommy]

I've seen The Big Sleep I don't know how many times and that plot still confuses the hell out of me. I think that's part of it's charm.

I'm always down to watch Sunset Boulevard and/or The Big Heat

[Theli]

Let's cut out Secret Beyond the Door then. Night and the City is the only one that I mentioned that I have not seen. The others I own, have seen multiple times, and love them! So I am okay with anything.

[Tommy]

Oh I am also fine with Night of the Hunter and Night and the City! I will go with whatever the group decides.

[bugen]

Casablanca as film noir

*Anyone who hasn’t seen the film should stop reading right now. Put your life on hold for a few hours and watch the damned movie. You’ve already waited too long.

There have been disagreements on whether or not this film can be considered ‘film noir,’ with the majority against its inclusion. But the movie is lit properly for the theme with its shadows and angles, the timing is right, it’s soaked in cynicism and despair, it’s got a small but murderous body count, it’s got a (reluctant) femme fatale… so what gives?

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The film opens with a man profiting from people desperately trying to escape occupied France and reach the freedom of the Americas during WWII, which routes everyone through his bar in the city of Casablanca. He sells his drinks and trades favors, but he ‘sticks his neck out for no one.’

The sudden appearance of Ilsa in Rick’s bar causes a look of surprise and horror on Sam’s face while he nearly stops playing the piano, foreshadowing doom, and when Rick finds out she’s there, the knowledge sends him swimming back down to the bottom of a bottle.

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The man Ilsa's with is a political freedom fighter and is important to countless people fighting Germans and fascism, and she’s fiercely devoted to him. Rick finds both their futures in his hands, and despite his overwhelming desire for Ilsa, he’s got to decide to take what he wants or let it go and continue hurting. The highs and lows of humanity are reduced to a few conversations in a bar, as they so often are, and for a minute or two the world becomes clear and the truth so simple: ‘a kiss is just a kiss.’

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Casablanca is noir because the only way for Rick to do the right thing is to rip his heart out and leave it on the ground, just as happened to him when Ilsa lied to him and left him at the train station years earlier. It’s noir because the world he inhabits forces him to think only of himself. It’s either that or get tied up in the business of others and die—and that’s darkness.

But despite all of these things qualifying it as film noir, there’s one problem: Casablanca is not concerned with the darkness of the human spirit; it’s concerned with the darkness surrounding the human spirit and the struggle to maintain against it. It’s really about the triumph of the human spirit even if it means torturing yourself. That triumph means we deserve to be here, because we can do the right thing even if it kills us.

Casablanca is not film noir, but it’s dark, and it’s sad, and it’s one of the greatest movies ever made.

I’m removing it from the list.

5 stars

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[Theli]

It's been a while since seeing it. I'll have to give it another watch soon.

As for the group watch question, does the time work for everyone? 8 CST? And pick one movie to vote for and we'll go with popular vote. I also think a chat program would work better than the forum, so we don't need to constantly reload. Would Hangouts work? No download necessary as long you have a Gmail account. I also have Skype, but for whatever reason my mic won't work on my computer so it would text chat only, at least for me. Which is probably better anyway.

I'll throw my vote in for The Big Heat.

[bugen]

I'm good with The Big Heat, and the timing works well for me. Hangouts works as well--I've only used it for video but chat shouldn't be an issue.

If it's getting too late for an east coast weeknight I'm fine with sliding it up, too.