Category:Film noir

Film noir is a term given to American crime and detective films -- usually black-and-white -- released in France to theatres during and following World War II.

They tend to have recurring themes of fear, mistrust, bleakness, loss of innocence, despair and paranoia. They often have morally ambiguous lead characters, such as anti-heroes or even a villainous protagonist, as well as bleak storylines and endings. Two-faced femme fatales who take advantage of their beauty are another common factor in these films.

While the majority of the film noirs are American films released from the 1940s and 50s, there have been a couple of foreign film noirs, and films released prior to the 1940s as a precursor. For examples of modern film noir released in the 1960s and onwards (labeled as post-noir or neo-noir), click here.