Billion Dollar Noir: Christopher Nolan and the Reconstruction of Film Noir in Hollywood

Near the opening of Robert Siodmak’s noir classic The Killers 1946 , young and naïve Nick Adams Phil Brown stares confusedly at Ole “Swede” Andersson Burt Lancaster as he warns him of the two men coming to kill him. The Swede lies smothered in shadows, lying flat, as if ready to enter his coffin. In protest to Nick’s pleas, he mutters “I did something wrong … once” as an explanation. What better line describes the fatalism often displayed in film noir? Our labored hero accepts his guilt and his inescapable fate. As Raymond Borde and Etienne Chaumeton describe in their seminal text, the film noir protagonist is “often the masochistic type, his own executioner […] through a morbid curiosity” 9 .

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  • The Asphalt Jungle. Dir. John Huston. Perf. Sterling Hayden, Louis Calhern. Metro GoldwynMayer, 1950. Film.
  • Batman Begins. Dir. Christopher Nolan. Perf. Christian Bale, Michael Caine. Warner Bros. 2005. Film.
  • The Big Heat. Dir. Fritz Lang. Perf. Glenn Ford, Gloria Grahame. Columbia Pictures, 1953. Film.
  • Blade Runner. Dir. Ridley Scott. Perf. Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, Sean Young. The Ladd Company/ Warner Bros. 1982. Film.
  • Body Heat. Dir. Lawrence Kasdan. Perf. William Hurt, Kathleen Turner, Richard Crenna. The Ladd Company, 1981. Film.
  • Borde, Raymond, and Etienne Chaumeton. A Panorama of American Film Noir 1941-1953. San Francisco: City Lights Publishers, 2002. Print.
  • Chinatown. Dir. Roman Polanski. Perf. Jack Nicholson, Faye Dunaway, John Huston. Paramount Pictures, 1974. Film.
  • The Dark Knight. Dir. Christopher Nolan. Perf. Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Aaron Eckhart. Warner Bros./ Legendary Pictures, 2008. Film.
  • The Dark Knight Rises. Dir. Christopher Nolan. Perf. Christian Bale, Anne Hathaway, Tom Hardy. Warner Bros./ DC Entertainment, 2012. Film.
  • Double Indemnity. Dir. Billy Wilder. Perf. Fred MacMurray, Barbara Stanwyck. Paramount Pictures, 1944. Film.
  • The Eyes of Laura Mars. Dir. Irvin Kershner. Perf. Faye Dunaway, Tommy Lee Jones. Columbia Pictures, 1978. Film.
  • Fisher, Mark. “The Last Unconscious: Delusions and Dreams in Inception.” Film Quarterly 64.3 (2011): 37-45. Print.
  • Following. Dir. Christopher Nolan. Perf. Jeremy Theobald, Alex Haw. Next Wave Films, 1998. Film.
  • Heat. Dir. Michael Mann. Perf. Al Pacino, Robert de Niro. Warner Bros./ Regency Pictures, 1995. Film.
  • Hill-Parks. Erin. “Identity Construction and Ambiguity in Christopher Nolan’s Films.” Wide Screen 3.1 (June 2011): 1-18. Print.
  • Inception. Dir. Christopher Nolan. Perf. Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Warner Bros. 2010. Film.
  • Insomnia. Dir. Christopher Nolan. Perf. Al Pacino, Robin Williams. Warner Bros. 2002. Film.
  • Insomnia. Dir. Erik Skjoldbjærg. Perf. Stellan Skarsgård, Maria Mathiesen. Norsk Film/ Screen Production AS, 1997. Film.
  • The Killers. Dir. Robert Siodmak. Perf. Burt Lancaster, Ava Gardner, Edmond O’Brien. Mark Hellinger Productions/ Universal Pictures, 1946. Film.
  • Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. Dir. Shane Black. Perf. Robert Downey Jr., Val Kilmer. Warner Bros./ Silver Pictures, 2005. Film.
  • Laura. Dir. Otto Preminger. Perf. Clifton Webb, Gene Tierney, Dana Andrews. Twentieth CenturyFox, 1944. Film.
  • The Mad Magician. Dir. John Brahm. Perf. Vincent Price, Eva Gabor. Columbia Pictures, 1954. Film.
  • Manhunter. Dir. Michael Mann. Dir. Michael Mann. Perf. William Petersen, Kim Greist, Brian Cox. De Laurentiis Entertainment, 1986. Film.
  • Memento. Dir. Christopher Nolan. Perf. Guy Pearce, Carrie-Anne Moss. Newmarket Capital Group, 2000. Film.
  • Miami Vice. Dir. Michael Mann. Perf. Don Johnson, Philip Michael Thomas. Michael Mann Productions/ Universal Television, 1984-90. Television Series.
  • ---. Dir. Michael Mann. Perf. Colin Farrell, Jamie Foxx. Universal Pictures, 2006. Film. Newman, Kim. “Cape Fear.” Sight and Sound, n.s. 15.7 (2005): 21. Print.
  • Odds Against Tomorrow. Dir. Robert Wise. Perf. Harry Belafonte, Robert Ryan. HarBel Productions, 1959. Film.
  • Pick Up On South Street. Dir. Sam Fuller. Perf. Richard Widmark, Jean Peters. Twentieth CenturyFox, 1953. Film.
  • The Prestige. Dir. Christopher Nolan. Perf. Christian Bale, Hugh Jackman. Touchstone Pictures, 2006. Film.
  • Sin City. Dirs. Frank Miller, Robert Rodriguez. Perf. Mickey Rourke, Clive Owen. Dimension Films, 2005. Film.
  • Thief. Dir. Michael Mann. Perf. James Caan, Tuesday Weld. Mann/ Caan Productions, 1981. Film.
Journal of American Studies of Turkey-Cover
  • ISSN: 1300-6606
  • Başlangıç: 1995
  • Yayıncı: -