Neo Noir Style

I grew up watching film noir and neo-noir movies. I love the retro vibe, fashion, décor, the jazz music, and the drama, mystery, and intrigue of noir films. Neo-noir movies are a revival of 1940s and 1950s film noir crime movies. Neo-noir emerged in the 1960s and has produced some of the greatest movies ever made.

Old school film noir and contemporary neo-noir are psychological crime thriller stories told from the criminal’s point of view. The films use stylish cinematography, dark shadows, symbolism, angle shots, twisted perspectives, and stylized scenes. Noir films express isolation, alienation, doom, fatalism, and cynicism of a cold, harsh world. Stylish fashion and decor, plot twists, violent action, night clubs, vintage cars, jazz, singers, dark alleys, and lonely cityscapes at night are all elements of the noir style. Outside the mainstream, underground. The genre often crosses over to horror and science fiction. Compared to old film noir, neo-noir films are often more raw, disturbing, realistic, violent, psychological, and deal with sensitive social issues.

American Gigilo, Richard Gere

Noir characters are flawed anti-heroes helplessly trapped by forces beyond their control, often paranoid, and are driven toward a tragic end. Heists and schemes that go wrong, deception and betrayal, blackmail, and being hunted by the law or gangsters. They usually portray beaten down and desperate criminals who cannot escape their fate. Characters include con-men, mob bosses, hard-nosed police detectives and private eyes, femme fatale ladies who lead men to a tragic end, and innocent women who try to reform the wayward criminal hero.

Neo Noir popular movie hits – L.A. Confidential, Chinatown, Body Heat, The Thomas Crown Affair, Dirty Harry, Blood Simple, Pulp Fiction, The Godfather, John Wick, Heat, Blade Runner, Casino, Goodfellas, Mulholland Drive, Drive, Taxi Driver, The Usual Suspects, Sin City, Fargo, Harper, Point Blank, Memento, Seven, Blue Velvet, Reservoir Dogs, Cape Fear, The Hustler, and others.

Neo Noir TV shows – Fargo, Twin Peaks, Boardwalk Empire, Mr. Robot, Miami Vice, Veronica Mars, True Detective, new Perry Mason, Mob City, Monsieur Spade, Justified, and others.

Neo-noir Directors – Martin Scorsese, Coen Brothers, Quentin Tarantino, David Lynch, Christopher Nolan, Bryan Singer, David Fincher, Ridley Scott, Brian De Palma, Jane Campion, Michael Mann, Sidney Lumet, Curtis Hanson, Lynne Ramsay, Rian Johnson, and others.