Film Noir

Film Noir is the first book to survey this delightfully depraved--and highly popular--cinematic world, populated by shady characters flawed by moral imperfections. The volume provides a valuable overview of the historical evolution of this genre; it teases out the critical debates over generic and stylistic elements, and charts film noir from its inception in the post-War period through to contemporary times. From Double Indemnity to Devil With a Blue Dress, Murder, My Sweet to Mulholland Falls and Woman at the Window to Usual Suspects, Film Noir enables readers to move chronologically through a cinematic world at once shadowy and seductive.

Luhr brings together a range of perspectives on a topic that has been widely discussed but remains notoriously vague. He explores the relationship between the films of the 1940s and 1950s that established the "noir" universe and the more recent films in which it has been frequently revived. The result is a text that brings a thorough and engaging analysis of this popular area of film studies for both for students and scholars.