Top 10 Neo Noir Films of All Time

I once had a Anthropology professor pose an interesting question. She asked the class, "Does art reflect society or does a society reflect art." The more I've thought about this, the more I wonder if the chicken comes before the egg. The answer of course is both, but to varying degrees.

After World War II, American cinema went through a movement known as film noir ('noir' literally meaning black). It was most notably characterized by heavy contrast, shadow, violence and a grim, pessimistic view that cinema had not yet seen before. Men came home after engaging in the most horrific things imaginable and were expected to "fall back into society."

Here, I would argue that the art reflected the society more than the society reflected the art.  

Time, of course went on and a new generation of filmmakers came about who were deeply affected by the noir themes, styles and sensibility. These filmmakers sought to take the ideals of their predecessors and push them into a new age and in a new light. What is interesting to me is that these new films were far darker their 1940's and 50's muses. Why? It's simple. Death is an easy thing to talk about when you've never been asked to kill anyone.

Here, I would argue, that the society reflected the art.

Hence we have this very general movement (we might even get away with labeling it a genre) known as Neo Noir.


#10 - Old Boy

This is the only foreign film on our list. While Film Noir is almost strictly an American movement, Neo noir is not. This Korean film is as dark and as twisted as they come. A revenge flick that will take a stick and poke your head as much as it will poke your stomach. Beautifully crafted, this character driven film does a marvelous job of delving into a dark protagonist you can't help but sympathize and question at the same time.

#9 - The Dark Knight

While the realm of the comic book movie has been dominated by plastic, two demential cut outs, campy dialog, mind numbing explosions and a formulated plot as predictable as the sun-- the Dark Knight may be the one exception to the blockbuster extravaganza. What has made The Dark Knight so successful and ever other comic book film... well, not so much, is its attention to the villain. Despite the deceiving title, Batman is the not the real protagonist. The film lives and breathes through the psychologically tainted lens of the Joker-- the most brilliantly conceived villain of all time.

#8 - The Usual Suspects

What disturbs man about the dark is not the visual nature of darkness itself, but rather the conscious lack of knowledge of what may be lying there within. This delightful mystery/thriller thrives on its ability to leave its audience in the dark and unravel a heist gone terribly wrong. With a cast of crooks as straight as a corkscrew, The Usual Suspects an Agatha Christie book done right. With a limited budget, the film is forced to thrall us with its characters and deeply seeded plot.

#7 - Blood Simple

The Coen Brother's first contribution to the world of cinema is a bloody nightmare-- and you will love every minute of it. While most television and cinema is plagued with characters so trigger happy, you'd think seeing someone shot in America was an everyday thing, Blood Simple pauses to show how painfully hard and how long it takes to actually kill some one. Greed and lust pull these characters down into a hellhole in a beautifully simple, it's hard not to like this dark film.

#6 - Drive

The newest addition to this Neo Noir family almost paints itself into its own Neon Noir genre, comprised of nothing but the work of Nicolas Winding Refn. While it holds the same basic aesthetics needed to recognize it as a member of the Noir family-- violence, sex and gangsters, what makes this little number different is its aesthetically pleasing cinematography, slow and meticulous pacing and utmost trust Refn gives his actors to SHOW their internal conflicts, rather than just tell us. The film brings a new light to dark.

#5 - Memento

One of, if not the best Independent films ever made, Memento hijacks the classic vengeance for my dead wife story, kicks it into reverse (literally) and spits it back out into a thousand broken shambles. Leonard, a man with a sever case of short term memory lose, must employee any means necessary to put the pieces of his mind back together in order to kill the man who killed his wife. While most flaws of the classic noir's protagonist tend to be subtle and self inflicting-- this one so refreshingly blatant and sympathetic, it's hard not to love a character who's going to force to think throughout the duration of the film.

#4 - Blue Velvet

From the crazy, twisted mind of David Lynch, there are few films like Blue Velvet that have been able to seriously and successfully take Hitchcock's advice and "make the audience suffer as much as possible." In fact Lynch is so good at it, there's a good chance that you won't like this film at all, at least the first time you see it. Isabella Rossellini takes the femme fatal to a whole new level and Dennis Hopper gives us a deeply disturbing performance you are not likely to ever forget. You'll cringe from start to finish.

#3 - Se7en

Or the number of seconds it will take you to consider scheduling an appointment with a shrink, because for some reason you enjoyed watching this sadistically dark film. It's rare, that a film can play the religious extremist card without thoroughly annoying the atheist or pissing off the devote Christian. No film has done it as well as Se7en, since Robert Mitchum in Night of the Hunter. It's the classic detective duo, but unlike Sherlock and Watson, they never have any kind of control. All they can do is "pick up the pieces." This film is a must.

#2 - Blade Runner

One of the trailblazers of the Neo Noir movement, oddly enough it's all in space. It's visually spectacular, but still holds the face of a film that is distinctly noir. While somewhat unappreciated at the time of its release, it has grown significantly in terms of cultural significance and influence after it's video release and new Director's cut. It's kind of a Frankenstein plot, but with a twist. It questions reality and breaks all kinds of ground in the Science Fiction world-- but underneath all the replicants, the space ships and the distant planets, it is at heart a revamped tale of a dedicative B flick.

#1 - Chinatown

The significance of Chinatown is that it marked the definitive end of a movement and the start of another. This is the only film I've ever seen listed as both Film Noir and Neo Noir, though it most certainly belongs in the later. 1950's noir was built on the back of filmmakers who lacked both the money and resources to make flashy A films, and were thus forced to rely on script and cinematic experimentation to entice their crowds. In the end, it was to their advantage, as those less tangible things have proven time and time again to be the more lasting and significant. Chinatown is a beautifully written crime story, executed with exactness by the great Roman Polanski. It gave birth to what we now know and refer to as Neo Noir.