Genre (C2)

• “I like playing with genres, it’s like a game for us, a joke” -WKW
• Neo- noir...
• What's the neo-noir genre?


  Describes contemporary films made in the manner of film noir – employing the genre’s stylistic, thematic and narrative conventions 
• Features of Neo-noir:


  Themes of crime and corruption

  Urban realism/characters alienation

  Chiaroscuro lighting

  B&W

  Expressionistic sets

  Sex and violence
• The social exploration of the darker side of society, themes of crime and corruption in FA:

  Story follows a hitman and his partner, and a criminal (the mute) 
• Urban realism that sees modern life as hell and reflects the characters’ alienation in FA:

  All characters lonely, set in HK –emphasis on fast pace of urban life 
• Expressionistic sets representing bleak psychological world in FA:

  Neon, visually overpowering/cluttered sets - mise-en-scene dominates
• Sex and violence in FA:

  Sex scenes, lots of murder scenes
• “Both characters seem to have just walked out of a noir film” - critic, Li