Sunday, October 6, 2013

Surrounding Darkness Blog #6

According  to  Jerold J. Abra the author  of  the  article Space, Time, and Subjectivity  in Neo-Noir Cinema  the  role  of  the protagonist  in  the  Neo-Noir  is no longer  the figure  that  tries  to  find  and  fight  crime  but  rather  the opposite   Now  he  is  on the quest  to  find  himself  he  is  in the line between  existing and no longer doing  it  so in order  to continue  his path  he must find himself  first  before  there is any fatal consequences, The protagonist  is  also now a  fusion  of  the hero and  the  villain  therefore there is  the  need to coexist  with  himself.
In the Noir genre there is 3 basic subgenres past neo-noir, future neo-noir, and present neo-noir.
Past Neo-Noir  has its  very  own  characteristics  that  differentiate    it  them  from the   rest   of  the  subgenres  in  the  story line  seems  to  be v very  low  tech and  involves  theological aspects   for  what I  understood it  focusses on  the  darkness and  the light  there  is  that  fight    between  God  and  the Devil but  they  always  have  their  soldier  if  you  could call them  that,  the authors  gives   us  the  example  of  the movie  Angel Heart (Alan Parker, 1987)  in  which   Lucifer   sends    a  certain  individual  to  recover  the  soul  that   already belongs  to  him,  but  that individual   does not  know  that the person   that he is looking  for   its  himself   so  you  see  again  the characteristic of  trying to  find  himself   the  protagonist  does not  know  necessarily that  he  is looking  for himself   he   finds out   as   he  advances,  the protagonist  still  keeps   certain  detective  features   like  the normal  intuitive  and  interrogative personality.

Future Neo-Noir    leaves the  theological aspect  being  not  completely  but  almost the  theological  aspect  is  replaced   by  the  sci-fi   aspect    it’s no longer   a  fight  between  angels  and  demons but   between   man-kind   and  robots  or  aliens  in  this  kind  of Noir    the protagonist  seems   to  be in a battle   for  the  sake of  earth  he has  to  fight   for human kind  against   strangers  of  the earth  technology  is  used   basically  in  almost  every detail  of  the creation of  this  film  but not  to  the  point  where  it  seems overcrowded  with  special  effects.


The author’s states that Present Neo-Noir on the other hand   is it   staged   neither in the distant past noir in the distant future.   But it  is  hard   to  tell where    it  is  staged  but    the  struggle   of  the protagonist  is  it  the  same  he   still  tries  to  find   himself.
 Even  then   when   Neo- Noir   has  different  characteristics   some  of  the elements  of  noir  still   stay  and  are part  of the genre, such as the femme  fatale  and  the  detective  figure  and  the maze  perception  of  things    there   still that  feeling of  entrapment   and  darkness surrounding  the protagonist   the use   of   shadows   it  is  still   used, basic little  details  are kept  but  most  likely  the  protagonist is  the one  that changes  the  most   as  I  have already  stated   he no longer  searches  for  crime   he  is now  on  the  path to  find himself  sometimes   this  ending  in a very fatal  way.

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