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Classic Noir Film Analysis

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Classic noir films reinforce the myth of the private eye; a hard-boiled detective, able to restore order, solve the crime, and ensure justice prevails. Chinatown challenges this myth, reversing genre and stylistic conventions through the protagonist Jake Gittes, a private eye unable to control the crimes his sleuthing unveils. Gittes dresses stylishly in crisp white suits, differing from the trademark trench coat and fedora of his stylistic predecessors, and enters the film with an air of confidence. However, Gittes’ plush chambers and immaculate suit mask an essential vulgarity, betrayed Gittes pleasure in the racist joke about Chinese love-making (Spicer 2001, p.139). Although Gittes is a competent detective, he is forced to confront his own limitations, failing to protect the victims of the narrative and watching helplessly as the criminal remains at large. “As saviour and restorer of the moral order, he is a complete washout, a genre first” (Hirsch 1999, p.151). However, while less capable and …show more content…
Brock et al. state that “individuals are often drawn into story worlds that are frightening or cheerless”, allowing the viewer to explore their tolerance for unpleasant emotions by affording the vicarious experience of fear, grief, and rage (Brock et al. 2004, p.315). Therefore, enjoyment of a transportation experience lies within the process of temporarily leaving one’s reality and does not rely upon pleasant, optimistic narratives (Brock et al. 2004, p.315). Chinatown enables recipients to contemplate the forbidden and unobtainable; the sexual pull of the femme fatale, or the exhilaration of high-speed pursuits, from a safe perspective. Thus, enjoyment of Chinatown involves transportation via narrative to the pessimistically ‘realist’ noir world and experiencing the thrill of risk-taking from the relative safety of the viewer’s own

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