Characteristic

Synopsis

The Maltese Falcon (Huston, J. 1941) is one of the examples for film noir movie. The story begins with Sam Spade and Miles Archer are partnership for Spade and Archer detective agency in San Francisco. However, Sam does not like his partner Miles much. One day, Miss O'Shaughnessy, a client came by and that night everything changed. Miles is dead and so a man named Floyd Thursby. Moreover, Miss O'Shaughnessy is surrounded by dangerous men, Joel Cairo and Kasper Gutman. Yet, Sam is her only protection, who is suspected of being a murder by the police. The story develops with how Sam Spade dealings with three unscrupulous criminals for their quest to obtain a jewel-encrusted falcon statuett 

Characteristics of film noir

According to Rick Altman, in order to look into the categories of the film genre, he has proposed the ideas of semantic and syntactic approaches, which are used complimentary in a film (Altman, 1984, p.6-18). The semantic approach concerns about the visual aspects of the film, while the syntactic approach focuses about the theme and ideology of the film.

Semantic approach of film mentioned about what visual is typically expected in a film. Generally, film noir is known by its low-key lighting, disorienting visual styles and shapes, and it is shot in gloomy gray, black and white, to show the dark side of the human nature.( Luhr, 2012, p.3 ). Film noir is associated with the low-key lighting that influenced by a style called ‘Chiaroscuro’ in the art world. Chiaroscuro is the combination of two Italian words which mean dark and bright. It is major mise-en-scene techniques of German Expressionist film, and plays an important role in the lighting of film noir (Susan Hayward, 2012, p. 148).

According to Place and Peterson (1974, p.66) , the major characteristics of film noir cinematography is the low key lighting that produce high contrast and black shadows,to show the character in darkness, which imply the meaning of mysterious and unknown. Besides, hard light is used in this lighting technique to produce sharp edged shadows that coming from a single source of light.

For example, in The Maltese Falcon (John Huston, 1941), the using of low key lighting makes the character overwhelmed by the shadows and darkness to indicate the danger and threats that are coming from other sides (Place and Peterson, 1974, p.66 ). In this following scene, Brigid O’s Shaughnessy and Sam Spade going inside the apartment without realising that Wilmer(the threat) is hiding at the back.

Moreover, lighting can reflect the character and psychology. For instance, in the film, Sam Spade is shown side-lighted, leaving half of the face in dark after he pretends to lose his temper in front of Caspar Gutman, but walk out of the room with a mischievous smile on his face. The shadow shows the dark and evil side of the character’s personality, on his greediness and amorality.

In film noir, generally ‘night-for-night’ technique is used, which mean the night scenes are shot at night, it is the important element for film noir look, although it is more expensive and takes longer time. They restrict the use of fill light, and use artificial light source to illuminate the area seen in a frame to produce high contrast effect (McDonnell, 2007, p.70).

On the other hand, film noir’s visual aesthetics are greatly influenced by German Expressionism as well, which emphasize on the oblique vertical and horizontal lines and irregular light patterns. German expressionism was brought over by artists who escaping from the Nazi threat in Europe. They influence the classic era of film noir with the using of oblique camera angles, distorted bodies and shapes to convey the distorted viewpoint of a character (Hayward, 2012, p.148).

According to Paul Schrader (1972, p.57), the visual style such as unstable lines and surfaces are created through the set design and camera compositions. Oblique lines divide a screen and making it restless and unstable to indicate that the character is in confused state and live in fractured environment. For instance,when Spade revisits Brigid O’s Shaughnessy's in her hotel room, the room is messy and untidy, and she is donned in striped robe. The use of 'claustrophobic framing devices' such as the banisters and the striped lines furniture have form the unbalanced compositions such as oblique shadows to tell the audience that she is having a disordered life. The lines are crossing over each other and create a world of unstable and insecure.

In addition, according to Place and Peterson(1974, p. 68-69), the scene and line are specially designed to make the viewer feel in correlation with the disorientation felt by the character. In illustration, the steel cage is pulled in front of Brigid O’s Shaughnessy after she has been caught by cops, the cage look like the bars of a prison’s cell, framing her frightened, motionless, lonely expression through the bars of the gate.

Besides that, majority of the scenes in film noir are lit for night and appear in dark. Paul Schrader describes this style in which the interior is dark during midday with shadows pull down and lights off (Schrader, 1972, p. 57). The dark shadows give the sense of the darkness and inhumane side of human nature and experience.

The atmosphere in the film noir is also created by using shadows and different lighting to develop a sense of tension. For example,, there are always locations such as alleyways, cramped corridors to create a mood of claustrophobia that meant to create sense of anxiety and tension (Hayward, 2012, p. 149). For example: in the murder scene of Archer, the scene is located at a deserted blind alley, with the appearance of one lone street lamp, and dark shadows against a brick wall.

Another stylistic features of film noir is the setting of film noir is normally city-bound, which took place at modern American cities like New York, Chicago and Los Angeles or uses the word 'city' in the title, such as The Naked City, City of Shadows, and Dark City (McDonnell, 2007, p.47).In The Maltese Falcon (John Huston, 1941), the story takes place in San Francisco, where we can see few shots of San Francisco in 1940s with a slow pan at the beginning of the film.

In the classical film noir, modern American city has become the central setting of the film. The image of the city is often used to portray as the ‘great bad place’, the place where corruption and danger are always happen. According to Nicholas Christopher (1997, p.39), he describes that city setting is inseparable with film noir, and he views the city as labyrinth, and define it in three ways. Firstly, the labyrinth refers to the actual physical maze of the city, where the streets, tunnels and apartments are the components of the maze. Secondly, labyrinth means the complex plot and twists that the character have to interact and intersect with, and thirdly, it refers to the hero’s inner workings, which resemblance to the city’s inner workings, such as the networks and infrastructures.

Furthermore,the setting of film noir also comprised of rain-washed roads, in which the amount of rainfall shown increases in proportion to the drama of the story, while the ill-lit streets and interiors indicate the lines of moral and intellectual values are blurred, which lead to the difficulties to find out the truth.

When Spade return to his dingy apartment after he went back from the Archer murder scene, he is visited in the dark by two cops in his dimly-lit living room, who suspect him was implicated in the murder. The characters are seen unclear and cast under the shadows to tell the audience the fragmentation of the personality of the character but not revealing the character’s inner thoughts directly (Susan Hayward, 2012).

Park (2011) also uses terms from Rick Altman on genre has 2 aspects: the “syntactic” and the “semantic”. In film noir, the syntactic perspective enables the filmmakers to identify the genre more clearly. He also states that the style in film noir consists of dark cities, hard-boiled detectives, seductive femme fatales, expressionist camera work and chiaroscuro (pp. 6, 7).

Phillips (2000) states that one of the influential essays on film noir by Paul Schrader saying that the French reviewers had noticed the new mood of cynicism, pessimism, and darkness had crept into American cinema (p. 7). Besides, Hirsch (1981) also states that film noir seemed more somber in style and more pessimistic in tone than the usual American movie of 1930s which always marked by a startling cynicism and ending often in defeat (p. 8). As in The Maltese Falcon, Spade encounters Ms Wonderly at the beginning for hiring him to investigate her younger sister.

As the story flows, Spade discovers that she is hiring him on a purpose, which is to help her on finding the falcon. At the end, Spade makes his own stand that he acts as he is helping Cairo and Gutman but he sends them all to the cops.

Borde and Chaumeton (1955) also claim that there is ambiguity in film noir which the victims usually under suspicion (p. 22). For instance, Ms O’Shaughnessy as a victim for being betrayed by Thursby, she claims to Spade that she does not mean to kill Archer but Spade think she is suspicious throughout his observance. Ms O’Shaughnessy looks dishonest to him that when she is talking to Spade, she looks nervous with her body slightly shaking. As Ms O’Shaughnessy goes into her room to take her money, Spade examines a hat on the desk to ensure that she does not cheat on him that Thursby comes from Hong Kong.

According to Butler (1985), there are at least 3 principal themes with film noir: moral ambiguity, confusion of identities and fatalism. Silver (2003) claims that people or events in film noir may have blurred moral (p. 226). Besides, Blaser and Blaser (2008) also claim that Spade in The Maltese Falcon has corrupted reputation. For example, Spade, the hard-boiled anti-hero, he is a womanizer who has an affair with his partner’s wife, Iva. There is a scene where Iva is waiting in Spade’s office. When he comes back, he kisses Iva on lips. However, Blaser and Blaser (2008) explain that he is cruel and lack of compassion. For instance, he is revealed in the film that when he saw Iva in his office, his facial expression shown his insincerity but he did not refuse to kiss Iva.

Normally, one would not have an affair with his partner’s spouse but this occurs in The Maltese Falcon. Besides, he also kisses Ms O’Shaughnessy in a house after her seducing, he kisses her on lips.

Moreover, he also flirts and plays around the girls. For instance, he calls Effie, his secretary ‘sweetheart’ in the office although he does not love her. Furthermore, as seen in the film, Spade acts like he is strong but we can see his another side which he is actually coward when he encounters the fat guy, Gutman in the hotel. He yells at Gutman and finally he gets his hands shaking in the lobby after he left the hotel room.

As written in Film Noir History (n.d.), narratives are usually complex and convoluted. Borde and Chaumeton (1955) say that the viewers expect confusion in the context of the narrative dilemma (p. 24). There is a female character who has more that a name throughout the film: Ms Wonderly, Ms LeBlanc and Ms O’Shaughnessy. The audiences are introduced of Ms Wonderly under a gorgeous dress with a furry shawl in Spade’s office, Ms LeBlanc under a stripe robe in her house and Ms O’Shaughnessy under an overcoat. These have made the audience to interpret this character has multiple personalities which that is not true. The filmmaker creates this character in different forms in order to differentiate her purposes.

Biesen (2005) states that Paul Schrader has explained that lighting grew darker, characters are more corrupt, themes are more fatalistic and the tones are more hopeless in American Film Noir (p. 9). There is no one worth to be saved in The Maltese Falcon because they are all criminals. For instance, Ms O’Shaughnessy kills Archer. She cries and begs Spade not to send her to the cops. When Spade mentioned this to her, she think that was a joke. Besides, Cairo and Gutman have left the house before Spade called the cops but at last, both of them are arrested. Moreover, although Spade could get rid of the crime, he was once involved.

As mentioned in Film Noir History (n.d), the story of film noir is usually developed around a male character encountering a “beautiful but promiscuous” femme fatale. As in The Maltese Falcon, we view the film from Spade’s point of view. We view the film on how he overcomes the straitened circumstances from involving in the hunting of the falcon. Spade has asked Effie, his secretary to call the cops after the captain’s death and a call from Ms O’Shaughnessy that she is in a danger. Then, he met Ms O’Shaughnessy and brought her back to his house where Cairo and Gutman were there at first. Spade deals with them about the reward that he had found the falcon. As they found that falcon is unreal, Spade calls the cops to arrest them after they have left the house.

According to Blaser and Blaser (2008), they state that the typical hero of film noir is alienated from the conventional society. He is either working in opposition to the police or pursued by the police. Besides, he is usually morally ambiguous. As in The Maltese Falcon, Spade does not work against the police because he calls the police to arrest Cairo, Gutman and Ms O’Shaughnessy. However, he is also under suspicion of the police that they actually suspend him on killing Archer. The cops find him at his door.

Furthermore, Knight (2003) states that private detectives operate among a host of morally dubious characters pursuing their goal in film noir (p. 208). For example, Spade accepts the offer of Cairo and Gutman for helping them in finding the falcon. He deals with them for the reward when he gets the falcon. However, he claims to the cops that both of them try to use 1000 dollars to bribe him at the end.

Furthermore, Borde and Chaumeton (1955) state that the femme fatale falls victims to her traps whereas the private detective is midway between “lawful society and the underworld”, unscrupulous but putting only himself into at risk and fulfilling the requirement of his own code (pp. 21, 22). In The Maltese Falcon, Ms O’Shaughnessy sets a trap to the private detectives that she has hired and as a result, she kills Miles Archer. Besides, Spade helps Cairo and Gutman in finding the falcon although he calls the cops to arrest them at the end. At the same time, he sends Ms O’Shaughnessy to the cops for killing Archer. He places himself in the midway between the lawful society and the underworld. He does these so are not for the sake of justice but to save all the advantages for himself.

Besides, Blaser and Blaser (2008) also claim that sex is the only weapon for femme fatale. She uses her sexual attractiveness to control men in order to achieve her goal. For instance, Ms O'Shaughnessy has successfully seduced Spade. She uses this advantage or opportunity to get herself escape from the cops but in the end, Spade refused to save her but sending her to the cops.

Moreover, Borde and Chaumeton (1955) state that film noir has renovated “the theme of violence” in which it abandoned the adventure film convention of the fair fight (p. 22). In The Maltese Falcon, there is no fair fight between the characters where Samuel Spade beats Joel Cairo easily and Cairo gets fainted on the couch.

Another scene where Spade is dealing with Cairo and Gutman, Spade beats Wilmer with the help from the others catching his arms.

Borde and Chaumeton (1955) state that there must be moral retribution in film noir but the narrative is usually manipulated for the audiences to identify the criminals. Besides, they claim that the good and evil go hand in hand in film noir for being indistinguishable (pp. 21, 25). Jarvie (2003) states that melodrama often turns on conflicts between appearance and reality (p. 168). For example, Ms Brigid O’Shaughnessy in The Maltese Falcon appears to be good at the beginning of the film but turns out bad at the end. She hires Spade, the private detective to investigate a case of her younger sister, Corinne who has apparently run away with a man named Thursby. However, Spade discovers that she is a liar who actually leads him to the false path and uses him to help her in finding the falcon.

Borde and Chaumeton (1955) claim that film noir is not a crime documentary (p. 19). Indeed, Telotte (1989) states that film noir generally focuses on urban crime and corruption (p. 2). There are crimes in The Maltese Falcon. Spade receives a call from the cops while he is sleeping. His partner, Miles Archer is dead.

In addition, Ms O’Shaughnessy has admitted to Spade that she was the one who killed Archer. In fact, Effie is a corrupted character that she works for Spade who deals with the bad. She is the ultimate good and obedient woman who does everything fast and efficient for Spade.

Borde and Chaumeton (1955) also claim that honor among thieves and unexplained motives verge on madness (p. 24). For instance, Ms O’Shaughnessy confesses to Spade of her motives in her house. Besides, Tellote (1989) states the classical film narrative in film noir is characterized by a seemingly objective point of view, adherence to cause-effect logic, the use of goal-oriented characters to direct the audience’s attention and also elicit their sympathies (p. 3). In The Maltese Falcon, Spade and Ms O'Shaughnessy are both goal-oriented characters. Spade looks money as his goal whereas Ms O'Shaughnessy's goal is the falcon statuette. They cooperate with each other in order to achieve their goal throughout the film. As at the beginning of the film, Spade gets himself into Ms O'Shaughnessy's trap which she tries to use them to find Thursby who initially betrays her.

As mentioned by Blaser and Blaser (2008), they claim that Spade in The Maltese Falson is unashamedly greedy. When he discovers the truth, he takes O'Shaughnessy's money and help her in finding the falcon. They rely on each other's ascendancy in order to achieve their goal.

All these film noir stylistic techniques, such as the high-contrast lighting, dark shadows, slanted lines, urban setting and the dimly-lit interior come in complimentary with the theme of film noir, to enhance the narrative process, and brings up the mood and tone of cynical, dark and pessimistic. Although the story and conventions of the films might defer from one movie to another, but film noir will never completely go away from these elements that depicted the corrupted and crime world in film noir.