Best Film Noir of All Time....

[irish]

sorry for answering twice.
my top noir movies off the top of my head. F is for favourite
The maltese falcon. A movie i admire a lot as opposed to actually love.
La confidentiel. F. I have lots of favourite movies, but if i could only take one to a desert island, this would be it.
Double Indemnity
Farewell my lovely F aka murder my sweet in the states in case it was thought to be another Dick Powell musical
The Big sleep F. What a cool ending
Although it's not as good as any of the above, The Robert Mitchum version of Farewell is also a favourite. Mitchum although too old for the role, is my favourite Marlowe. Chandler wanted Cary Grant

[Jonesy]

Arguably to be a true film noir it has to be filmed in black and white; LA Confidential, whilst a good film, forsakes a lot of the traditional cinematography that sets noirs apart from other genres. The Maltese Falcon has elements of noir, but again isn't a true example of the genre.

[sdaniels]

How can Brick not have been mentioned yet... it is the best modern film noir. it's quick witted, sharp tongued and all with a hint of irony. failing that, Discworld noir gets my nod! it may not be a film, but is definitely noir... and if we are allowed to include games, both max payne games are equally excellent.

[mingfilm]

Double Indemnity is absolutely killer - stark, perverse ... the guy went on to do "My Three Sons" - how creepy is that?

[ceciliab]

Does "M" count as film noir? It certainly is a forerunner, if it isn't yet one. And "The Three-Penny Opera" would be just behind it. Someone could probably write a doctoral dissertation about the path from German expressionism to film noir.

Thinking again, I believe that my favourite film noir is "The Third Man". Wonderful film, and the zither music is used to wonderful ironic effect.

[simonmaltman]

I was going to say The Third Man too if it counts as Noir- one of my all time faves! Or the likes of The Maltese Falcon must be up there.

[frank64]

besides not being in black ad white, could Blade runner be classified as film Noir, it has all the ingredients,dissolusioned anti hero, enigmatic femme fetalle, shot in shadows and shot through with pessimism. Also the Deckard character always get's his arse kicked, outside forces save him from death every time.
One of my favourite Noirs is the Edmond O Brian D.O.A. the plot is just the best

[Jonesy]

Originally Posted by sdaniels

How can Brick not have been mentioned yet... it is the best modern film noir. it's quick witted, sharp tongued and all with a hint of irony. failing that, Discworld noir gets my nod! it may not be a film, but is definitely noir... and if we are allowed to include games, both max payne games are equally excellent.

Brick is not a film noir. And to be honest, if we're discussing the best film noir of all time, then it's unlikely to be a film made in the last ten years. Of the modern noirs, Bladerunner, as mentioned by frank, is the only one really worth considering.

[sdaniels]

Originally Posted by Jonesy

Brick is not a film noir. And to be honest, if we're discussing the best film noir of all time, then it's unlikely to be a film made in the last ten years. Of the modern noirs, Bladerunner, as mentioned by frank, is the only one really worth considering.

Film noir is a style which has nothing to do with black and white... that's just it's origins. The stark cinematography should be a feature, but it can be done in colour, otherwise you eliminate any modern film (barring "The man who wasn't there"). There are lots of modern noir films that are great, but by your strict no colour policy, they wouldn't qualify.

Lost Highway
almost anything by christopher nolan (memento, insomnia) - Following, that was actually in black and white.
The machinist
Sin City - so close to qualifying for your list...
and finally - the big lebowski!

I get your point, but if noir was simply about colour (or lack of it), then I don't see how it has a place in modern film. the best films use the technology of their era to it's potential and that's what classic film noir did, now we are not constrained to black and white and we can be more daring visually, as films like sin City have done successfully.

[Jonesy]

Originally Posted by sdaniels

Film noir is a style which has nothing to do with black and white... that's just it's origins.

I said to be a true noir it should be black and white. Of course there are going to be off shoots, and it's right that there should be, but to place something like Brick as a true film noir shows lack of understanding of what noir is all about (and no, I'm not just talking about b&w)

Originally Posted by sdaniels

The stark cinematography should be a feature, but it can be done in colour, otherwise you eliminate any modern film .

There is nothing to say that a modern film can't be made in black and white (and in fact some of the better films of the last 5 years have been just that e.g. Control), so there is absolutely no reason why a modern film can't follow the noir tradition. Colour noirs lack the wonderful contrasts of traditional noirs, thus sacrificing atmosphere and audience discomfort. LA Confidential was a great film, but it wasn't a great noir.