Film Noir Reader

by Alain Silver, James Ursini

Overview

This bountiful anthology combines all the key early writings on film noir with many newer essays, including some published here for the first time. The collection is assembled by the editors of the Third Edition of Film Noir: An Enclyclopedic Reference to the American Style, now regarded as the standard work on the subject.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780879101978
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	08/01/2004
Series:	Limelight
Pages:	354
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.79(d)

Editorial Reviews

Many of the same compliments can be paid to this collection of pieces on the film noir approach to hard-boiled fiction. Writer-director Paul Scharader writes a dazzling -- if somewhat debatable -- piece on the themes of noir cinema over the years, and the estimable Raymond Durgnat contributes an overview of noir that is stunning in its scope and lucidity. There are also fine essays on such noir icons as Anthony Mann, Cornell Woolrich, and Raymond Chandler, and what is now being called "neo noir," notably Quentin Tarantino. Alain Silver is a formidable scholar and vital writer. Even by his high standards, this is an excellent and engaging book.

—Ed Gorman

bn.com

An anthology of 22 seminal and contemporary essays on the art of noir in film, drawing together definitive studies and ruminations on the philosophy and techniques that made movies like The Maltese Falcon classics. The essays include the first English translation of "Towards a Definition of Film Noir," by Borde and Chaumeton, and Paul Shrader's "Notes on Film Noir." Other critical discussions examine narrative structure, lighting, the evolution of the femme fatale, and the neo-noir rebirth of the genre in films like Reservoir Dogs and Gun Crazy. Lots and lots of black and white (of course) photographs make this a film buff's dream collection. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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