Redefining neo-noir : the narrative and visual style of William Friedkin’s crime thrillers from the 1980s to the 1990s

Abstract

 The classic film noir era is represented by specific social, cultural and historical contexts in the American post-war period from the mid-1940s to the late 1950s. Similarly, neo-noir, which emerged in the late 1960s and early 1970s largely represents a nostalgic look to the past, evident in films like Chinatown (1974), Night Moves (1975), and Body Heat (1981). The mid-1980s, however, saw neo-noir films shift away from traditional noir narratives to more realistic, graphic, and complex stories, often based on true accounts. This dissertation analyzes two of William Friedkin’s films: To Live and Die in L.A. (1985), and Jade (1995). Similar to classic film noir and neo-noir, these two films exemplify the unique paradox, irony, and tragedy of the myth of the ‘American Dream’, yet they represent a departure from both traditional nostalgic style noir films, as well as traditional action crime thrillers. Both films reveal more realistic, complicated, and authentic narratives with more intense contemporary stylized filmmaking in terms of photography, sound, mise-en-scene, and editing. Though largely neglected and overlooked by both audiences and critics, these powerful and intense crime thrillers were well constructed with fast-paced narratives, complex characters, and stylistic visual elements associated with both classic noir and neo-noir, and they reflect a more contemporary focus on realism in modern cinematography. This dissertation also contends that Friedkin’s earlier work in the 1970s (The French Connection, The Exorcist, and Sorcerer), as well as his neo-noir crime thriller films in the 1980s and the 1990s, established new directions for contemporary American noir films, and that they represent a substantial and significant contribution to cinema and confirm his status as an auteur director