Introduction

In 1946, the French film critic Nino Frank coined the term " film noir,” which means “black” or “dark” film. Film noirs refer to a group of Hollywood films that began with The Maltese Falcon in 1941 and ended with Touch of Evil in 1958. These films were dark, brooding, complex, pessimistic narratives that reflected the alienation felt by America in the war and the postwar climate. Film noir captured the despair and the malaise of the postwar instability in the American economy.

During World War II, the foundations of the family's hierarchical structure with the man as head, and the woman as dependent, had weakened. The woman’s position underwent a radical change in that she played important roles outside the domestic sphere. The entry of women into the workforce meant that, for the first time, she was more than just a wife and a mother. Many film critics therefore recognize a postwar drive in film noir to restore the woman to her former domestic sphere. Indeed, a woman gone astray symbolized a society that had gone astray.

The distinctive feature about film noir is that the woman, in some cases, the typical femme fatale or the evil woman, plays a key role and is central to the narrative. Using a Freudian framework, it can be argued that these films try to underscore the original superiority of the male since the woman is seen as the “Other,” who is therefore understood and represented on male terms. She is seen in her relation to man, whom she endangers with her powerful sexuality, individuality, and lofty aspirations. Film noir’s characterization and screen depiction of its female protagonist highlight her threat to patriarchal society, a threat that the narrative seeks to control. So, even if given a chance to speak, the woman’s voice or the female discourse is finally submerged in the dominant male discourse.

In keeping with the idea of the fortress—a fortress that strives to shut out alternate social realities—it may seem, on face value, that film noir does not allow the woman the last word. The narrative of film noir stereotypes the powerful woman as disruptive of the social order and of the narrative itself. The men, and society at large, need to escape from her wily, subversive clutches. Indeed, the woman of the movie is an entity that needs to be locked away, so the audience can go home feeling safe and assured of the status quo.