Reading Questions

A) Watch Touch of Evil and answer the following:

Why do you think this film is considered the “epitaph” of classic film noir? Consider how noir may have exhausted itself or be dead. Is the film faithful to the main tropes of noir or does it shift them? You may take about narrative, but also the visual style of the film.

What is the significance of having the film set at the border? What does the film have to say about America and/or Mexico? Does it challenge or subvert stereotypical representations of the time or merely reinforce them? Give examples.

B) Reading questions for Chapter 8: I have uploaded chapter 8 of “More than Night Film Noir in Its Contexts”

This chapter is essentially a conclusion to Naremore’s updated text. There’s a lot of detail about films we aren’t watching or discussing. You just need to skim the chapter and answer the following:

1) What does Naremore argue might be a more pervasive influence on classic noir than was German Expressionism?

2) What are some of the elements that characterize the “intensified continuity” style in neo-noirs?

3) What are some of Naremore’s observations about neo-noir in the digital era?