Film Noir General Characters
Throughout Film Noir
there are a handful of characters that are especially important to the genre
and the narrative. Each character plays a vital part of setting the scene and
the script. The general characters are as follows:
The Everyman:
The everyman is often
an ordinary individual that seems rather dull and has a normal profession such
as a salesman. However, this individual gets less dull throughout the film as
there is always a woman that distracts him and gets him in trouble. As the
everyman is an ordinary character it makes it easy for him to be identified in
the real world. When the genre of Film Noir first came about the men were often
intrigued by these new American films because they can be relatable to them, (especially
profession wise) making them feel they can do anything. An everyman often holds
the role of protagonist but he is no hero, he is also often the narrator for
the action.
The Femme Fatale:
The femme fatale is a
stock character of a mysterious and sexy young woman whose charm ensnares her
lovers. This character is linked with the everyman as she seduces him to carry
out her little plan, which is often to kill her other half for his money. The
femme fatale plays an important part of Film Noir because she is there to
portray how many men thought women were acting after the war. They believed
that they needed to send out a warning to men that all women should be brought
back into their places: stay at home and look after the children whilst the men
did all the work again. As you can see the Film Noir genre did not change this
as many women now tend to have working roles. The femme fatale is often very
flirtatious towards the everyman to make sure that she can keep an eye on him
and keep her plan running smoothly.
The Girl Next Door:
This character is also
typically a very young lady however; the girl next door is often polite and
better for the everyman than the femme fatale is. Many get the two mixed up
during the start of Film Noir films but towards the ending it is obvious which
lady is who as the femme fatale often ends up killed, in danger or in some kind
of trouble but the girl next door generally leaves the film harmless and
possibly with the everyman.
The Henchmen/Henchman:
A henchmen is a
faithful follower especially one that is prepared to engage in crime or
violence by way of service. In Film Noir the henchmen are the typical gangsters
of the 40’s/50’s who tend to follow the villain by way of order. For example the
henchmen in The Killers are Al and Max who serve their leader and decide to
murder ‘The Swede’.
The Villain:
The villain in Film
Noir is the henchman’s leader and he is the one to order them to engage in
crime or violence. The villain is usually against the everyman and is filthy
rich with a powerful ego. The villain is often the femme fatale’s husband in
some ways in which she wants him murdered to gain all his wealth, this is where
the everyman comes into the scene.
Reflective comment:
Eventually I would like to add some photographs or examples of each character from both neo-noir and just film noir films that we have watched as a class.
