Manchester University Press
8 Medieval noir
Abstract
This chapter argues that certain films with medieval themes and settings, mostly dating from the 1940s to the 1960s, demonstrate a surprising affinity with the themes and techniques associated with film noir. The romanticism of medieval films may be regarded as a virtual antidote to the cynicism and nihilism of film noir. Film theory has also drawn some implicit parallels between medieval films and noir. Medieval historical movies and crime films share a certain generic status in cinematic taxonomies. Film noir historians have always attempted to distinguish between earlier crime films and the unique characteristics of films noir. German expressionism is one of the most widely cited sources for film noir, especially given the exile of so many fugitive film-makers from Nazi Germany in Hollywood. But German expressionist film is also one of the tributaries of high-art medieval movies.
Abstract
This chapter argues that certain films with medieval themes and settings, mostly dating from the 1940s to the 1960s, demonstrate a surprising affinity with the themes and techniques associated with film noir. The romanticism of medieval films may be regarded as a virtual antidote to the cynicism and nihilism of film noir. Film theory has also drawn some implicit parallels between medieval films and noir. Medieval historical movies and crime films share a certain generic status in cinematic taxonomies. Film noir historians have always attempted to distinguish between earlier crime films and the unique characteristics of films noir. German expressionism is one of the most widely cited sources for film noir, especially given the exile of so many fugitive film-makers from Nazi Germany in Hollywood. But German expressionist film is also one of the tributaries of high-art medieval movies.
Chapters in this book
- Front matter i
- Contents v
- List of figures vii
- Acknowledgements ix
- List of contributors x
- Introduction 1
- 1 Cinematic authenticity-effects and medieval art 20
- 2 Forward into the past 40
- 3 A time of translation 60
- 4 ‘Poison to the infant, but tonic to the man 86
- 5 The medieval imaginary in Italian films 110
- 6 Towards a theory of medieval film music 137
- 7 Border skirmishes 158
- 8 Medieval noir 182
- 9 ‘Medievalism’, the period film and the British past in contemporary cinema 203
- Further reading 225
- Index 229
Chapters in this book
- Front matter i
- Contents v
- List of figures vii
- Acknowledgements ix
- List of contributors x
- Introduction 1
- 1 Cinematic authenticity-effects and medieval art 20
- 2 Forward into the past 40
- 3 A time of translation 60
- 4 ‘Poison to the infant, but tonic to the man 86
- 5 The medieval imaginary in Italian films 110
- 6 Towards a theory of medieval film music 137
- 7 Border skirmishes 158
- 8 Medieval noir 182
- 9 ‘Medievalism’, the period film and the British past in contemporary cinema 203
- Further reading 225
- Index 229
