With its bleak worldview, contrasting visuals, and crime-centric narratives, noir (nuh-waar) is a striking aesthetic that has impressed many film buffs. And while its status as a genre is still a matter of debate, there’s no denying its impact on the many films that have embodied its spirit.

Noir visuals and storytelling style have since spread, with other genres taking on noir characteristics. This is common in science fiction, particularly in cyberpunk and dystopian fiction.

Common Noir Tropes

Noir films have their roots in hardboiled detective fiction, such as the works of Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett. As such, many of the tropes listed here are also found in most crime fiction. Check them out below!

1. The Private Eye

The Private Eye is perhaps the most common figure in crime fiction. In the context of the story, they’re the most stubborn of sleuths, doggedly investigating cases until they either solve the mystery or get into trouble. In many cases, solving a case becomes a matter of obstinance and personal pride.

Many of them are tragic figures, broken down by the numerous injustices they’ve seen throughout their careers. They’re chain smokers and drunkards, liars and busybodies, pessimists and cynics. And yet, beneath all that dirt lies a strong moral compass that eventually leads them to do the right thing.

These detectives often live in a world of gray, where justice and crime blur. In the end, the law of the world doesn’t matter much as it’s their personal brand of justice that influences their final judgment. When they believe that a criminal must be punished, they intend to see it happen no matter the consequences.

An example of this is in Dashiell Hammett’s The Maltese Falcon. The detective, Sam Spade, is the quintessential tough detective with a habit of drinking and wise-cracking. He’s cynical about everything and everyone, believing everyone he comes across is a liar and a fraud.

2. Haunted by the Past

People living in a noir world are burdened by their pasts. The guilt of a single deed or a horrible secret shapes their world, leading them to destruction.

Their past always catches up to them, often at the worst possible time. Many noirs start with a character finally achieving everything they want in life right before an old acquaintance appears and sucks them back into their former lives.

While redemption is possible in these stories, they rarely work out the way the characters want. It doesn’t matter if they try to atone for their mistakes—some form of justice eventually catches up to those with a criminal past. And those who’ve been hurt by their injustices are likely to seek revenge, permanently scarring themselves in return.

In Lou Berney’s November Road, the main character is on the run after learning too much about JFK’s assassination. After escaping the city, he encounters a woman who becomes his hope for a better and more honest life. But the mob is never far behind, forcing him to decide whether to keep running or confront his past and possibly lose a choice he never thought he had.

3. The Rotten City

Most noir stories take place in large cities where everything is dark and miserable. Whether it’s a prominent restaurant or a backstreet brothel, every establishment is questionable. The citizens are characterized as cynical and misanthropic.

It’s almost always raining in these cities. The surroundings are grey, with what little color there is quickly being smeared with mud and filth. The buildings are poorly maintained, the streets are always littered with trash and the homeless.

There’s almost always a location where the destitute and the lawless cluster. This is where most criminal activities happen. Everyone knows what goes on inside, but no action is ever taken because the authorities are either extremely incompetent or corrupt.

In the movie Se7en, the weather in the city is almost always rainy. The predominant colors, from the buildings to the clothes people wear, are also drab. Below is an excellent analysis of this.

4. Organized Crime

Of course, organized crime flourishes in a rotten city where even the government is corrupt. They’re the boogeymen of the city, the final bosses, the people you should never cross.

In most cases it’s the mafia, but any other powerful criminal organization will be just as scary. They can be the yakuza, triads, cartels, or gangs. Truly unlucky cities have several of these vying for supremacy.

Many members live by a code and their own sense of justice. As such, some stories portray them as anti-heroes while others show them as the ultimate evil. In some films, the protagonist might even be part of, or at least indebted to a particular organization.

Joining any of these groups means that there’s no turning back from a life of crime. Trying to do so often leads to great danger, not only for the character but also their friends and family.

In City Streets, the daughter of a gang leader is in love with a shooting gallery showman named The Kid. Despite her prodding, he refuses to join the gang and make enough money to support her rich lifestyle. He’s eventually forced into joining when her father implicates her in a murder.

5. The Unhappy Ending

Noir stories rarely end well. Unlike other crime fiction, solving the mystery doesn’t achieve justice or order. Nothing changes and the world moves on without a care.

The private eye accepts a case, which takes him down a rabbit hole of conspiracies and betrayals. He is set up, taken advantage of, and physically abused. Despite it all, he doggedly investigates, believing what he’s doing is right.

In the end, all his efforts are in vain. The villain avoids capture or is given a lighter punishment. Worse, an innocent life is unfairly ended, adding to the hero’s guilt.

In Chinatown, the detective solves the case he’s been hired for but doesn’t achieve anything. The villain evades justice and the most tragic character in the movie ends up in harm’s way.

6. Sympathy for the Devil

In the morally grey world of noir, many heroes find that, to their surprise, the villain they’ve been pursuing isn’t as bad as they thought. Demonizing them no longer becomes acceptable as they’re revealed to be as human as the others are, with understandable motivations.

When the villain’s backstory is revealed, the hero begins to learn how and why they became that way. While they can’t condone their actions, they can certainly empathize with their motivations.

These villains are created by failures in the system, making it more difficult for the hero to justify their sense of justice. In many cases, the hero and villain share many beliefs, opinions, and expectations. The only thing separating the two is their methodology.

In the movie Brick, the main character gets involved with a local drug baron called the Pin. The film sets up the Pin as a hardened criminal but in a brief scene, he talks about his love for Tolkien, revealing himself as a lonely geek.

7. The Monologue

The private eye’s mental play-by-play is perhaps one of the most recognizable elements of noir. It’s the signature narration style of the genre.

It consists of short, choppy sentences that use simple words. But while the vocabulary is simple, figures of speech are used to give it a poetic touch. It’s not only used as a narrative technique but also gives the audience insight into the main character’s thoughts.

References to politics, popular culture, and religion are regularly used. The tone is cynical, world-weary, and in some cases, bored.

Sin City does this throughout the film. One particular scene has an aging police officer reminisce about his career, impending retirement due to a bad heart, and the rescue of a little girl from a serial killer.

8. Minor Crime Reveals Major Plot

When a detective investigates a seemingly simple crime, they often discover something much bigger happening behind it. Their sleuthing senses are activated and they just can’t help but delve deeper into the case.

Most of these minor cases are either red herrings, cover-ups, or mistakes by the culprits of an otherwise perfect crime (in the sense that had this minor crime not happened, no one would be looking into the major plot).

It’s a domino effect that leads from one case affecting only a few people to a conspiracy that can mean danger to everyone in the city,

L.A. Confidential is one of these. The Nite Owl Killings seem like an open and shut case when the protagonists arrest three felons. However, further investigation reveals clear corruption within the LAPD which eventually leads to them discovering an attempt to take over all of Los Angeles’ criminal organizations.

Film Noir and Neo-Noir

In many ways, Film noir is a blend of European cynicism and post-war American angst. German expressionism and French realism influenced much of the genre’s distinct mood and tone. All of these were set in a backdrop of post-war American angst. This movement flourished from the 1940s to the 1960s.

Film noirs are thrillers that marry pulp culture narratives with strong storytelling and characterization. They were films that cut through the era’s post-war disillusionment (the pain of readjusting to life after a war) using their signature cynicism and fatalism.

Neo-noir refers to noir films that came during the 1970s. It is a revival of the film noir movement, incorporating many of its prominent elements. However, they expand, update, and subvert it in a few key ways.

The most noticeable is that neo-noir narratives are darker than those of film noir. While the original movement involved the criminals being caught and punished, neo-noirs often have them getting away with their crimes.

With fewer restrictions (such as the Hays Code) compared to the film noir era, neo-noir is also more aggressive in pushing the boundaries of violence, sexuality, crime, religion, and other topics that may invite fierce debates.

The distinction doesn’t matter much to fans of the genre, though. Both versions carry the same visual styles, plot structures, worldview, and ambiguous morality that audiences look forward to in a noir.

What’s your favorite noir trope? Share it in the comments below!

 

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