Third Man

This will be a very brief review - first off it's expensive for what it is, secondly there's allot of stuff here that had me scratching my head and saying is that really noir?

It's a great way to winkle out those lost and forgotten titles ultimately I'm glad I got the book it does go over the films, all 374 of them very well and it avoids spoiling the ending in those reviews. Do I think there was a British Film Noir movement - not really and it's up for debate - if all those European émigrés had fled to these shores, then we would of possibly had one, but we where probably too close to the action for comfort.

There is however Film Noir present in British Film making and if it was made it's in this book but to have a movement I feel there needs to be more pure noir present - Recommended only for serious aficionados of the style.

Simon

Third Man

Steve PM me if you want the complete list of films in this book
.

Simon

scholes

Are Victim(1961) and The Servant(1963) classed as 'noir' films?
Others will include presumably
Brighton Rock and Contraband.

Third Man

I think Brighton Rock is one of the true British Film Noirs it has doomed romanticism, lost innocence, obsessiveness, blunt cynicism and dark sexuality - there's a dark pall over this film from start to finish it closes you in. it feels claustrophobic and ill and the ending is like a release - it's pretty pure if you ask me.

Simon

Colonel Blimp

When I was a lad, we just called them 'thrillers' - be they English, American or whatever - and enjoyed them (or not, as the case may be).

Never been too keen on defining genres myself ... except 'good' and 'bad'!

Third Man

Actually defining them as thrillers is far less wide reaching than saying they were Film Noirs because film-noir is not a genre, thrillers are a genre.

The term does include thrillers but also melodrama, love stories and mystery etc.. It's the wide encompassing genre themes that film noir covers - that make it such a hot topic when it comes down to trying to define them.

Simon