Neo-Noir of the 90’s: Vol. 4

From the Greek “neo” for new and the French “noir” for black, Neo Noir is a term used in film and literature. It refers to a genre that primarily uses elements of the film noir movement of the 40’s and 50’s with modern spin on style, themes and sometimes content.

Vol. 4 – Dark City (1998) – John Murdoch (Rufus Sewell) wakes up in a bathtub in a hotel room with a dead hooker in the other room and no recollection of what happened or even his own identity. We follow his investigation into his own past as well as Detective Bumstead’s (William Hurt) investigation into the murders of six women. We very quickly learn that there is more under the surface of this strange city. Mysterious figures in long trench coats and fedoras lurk around in the dark performing strange experiments on the residents with the help of Dr. Schreber (Kiefer Sutherland). 

This is not the only or even the first time that a sci-fi story has been told in a noir world. Ridley Scott adapted Philip K. Dick’s novel, “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep” in 1982 as “Blade Runner”. Even French New Wave has taken a crack at this in 1965 with Jean-Luc Goddard’s “Alphaville”. “Dark City” however is probably my favorite blend of the two. It’s not the perfect film. Some of the film’s logic is a bit flawed but you probably won’t notice them until multiple viewings.

The reason I love this film has a lot to do with how derivative it is. The classic noir style is seen in the costumes and lighting; the plot unfolds in the shadows and faces are often hidden behind the brim of a fedora. William Hurt’s performance is also very inspired by the detectives of the 40’s and 50’s films. No matter how hectic or bizarre the case gets, he always has time to give the appearance of the jaded and tired detective. He exclaims “Give the man an A for effort” as his colleague counts the dead hookers. Later he will sigh “No one ever listens to me” as Murdoch leaps down a flight of stairs to escape. This type of character has been around for a long time. It’s used to overstate the seediness and darkness of the setting. Then later, as the case unfolds the detective’s inability to keep his cool will help to illustrate the magnitude of the situation.

“Dark City” does much more than just homage the American noir movement of the past. It also clearly pays its respects to the German Expressionism films from the 20’s and 30’s that the American Noir was created from. This movement used large domineering sets to represent the feelings of the subjects in the story. I won’t reveal the twist but this theme fits perfectly into the plot of the film. This was not Director Alex Proyas’ first attempt at this theme. His earlier film “The Crow” is also very expressionistic the character (and all of Goth culture) is really inspired earlier films like “The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari” (1920). “Dark City” however is much more inspired by Fritz Lang’s 1927 masterpiece “Metropolis”, not only in visual style but in plot as well.

I highly suggest at least 2 viewing of this film. First, watch it straight through. Then, watch it again with the Roger Ebert commentary. It’s on both the older DVD and the newest director’s cut DVD and Blu-Ray releases.  This was Ebert’s favorite film of ’98 and he provides one of the best and most informative commentaries I’ve ever listened to. I dare you not to be inspired.

Enjoy.