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The Epic Interactive Encyclopedia 1997
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1992-09-02
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(French `dark film') a term originally used
by French critics to describe any film
characterized by pessimism, cynicism, and a
dark, sombre tone. It has been used to
describe black and white Hollywood films of
the 1940s and 1950s that portrayed the seedy
side of life. Typically, the film noir is
shot with lighting that emphasizes shadow and
stark contrasts, abounds in night scenes, and
contains a cynical antihero - an example is
the character of Philip Marlowe as played by
Humphrey Bogart in The Big Sleep 1946.