Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.
“The Second Coming” by William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)
Look around. Read the paper. Anarchy really is loosed upon the world, and most of that anarchy is of our own doing, our own choosing, our own making. Literary modernism got that, and some of the best works of the 20th century reflected upon our place in that dark, dark world. Film noir, a bit late to the party, nonetheless brought the party to all of us in a way that seemed like a punch in the gut, a slap to the face, a bullet to the brain. What are we to do in this noir-ish nightmare of a world? Succumb? Or overcome? What do each of those look like?
With the short excerpts below, I’ve tried to give a sense of the essence of each film and the moral and philosophical questions it raises.
Double Indemnity
When success isn’t enough, try crime. Walter Neff, insurance salesman, naively believes he can game the system, a system he knows well. What a sucker.
Walter Neff: Yes, I killed him. I killed him for money – and a woman – and I didn’t get the money and I didn’t get the woman. Pretty, isn’t it?
Is an understanding that your centre did not hold enough? Does the criminal justice system replace penance?
The Big Sleep
Bogey. Bacall. What more need I say? Maybe Raymond Chandler [author of the 1939 novel] and William Faulkner [cowriter of the 1946 screenplay]. It’s a dirty business, sorting through other people’s dirty laundry.
Vivian: Why did you have to go on?
Marlowe: Too many people told me to stop.
A hero, though a deeply imperfect one, is nonetheless always welcome in a dark world.
Touch of Evil
Charlton Heston is a Mexican cop; Orson Welles is a fat cop; Marlene Dietrich is a madam running a border bar. Does Quinlan have the courage of his convictions?
Pete Menzies: You’re a killer.
Hank Quinlan: Partly. I’m a cop.
Pete Menzies: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Drunk and crazy as you must have been when you strangled him. I guess you were somehow thinking of your wife, the way she was strangled.
Hank Quinlan: I’m always thinking of her, drunk or sober. What else is there to think about, except my job, my dirty job?
Pete Menzies: You didn’t have to make it dirty.
Hank Quinlan: I don’t call it dirty. Look at the record, our record, partner. Huh?
Pete Menzies: Sure, sure, sure.
Hank Quinlan: Well? All those convictions.
What balances the ledger of a bad man?
Chinatown
Jack Nicholson is a private-eye, maybe dirtier than even his client’s laundry. But his centre cannot hold.
Jake Gittes: How much are you worth?
Noah Cross: I have no idea. How much do you want?
Jake Gittes: I just wanna know what you’re worth. More than 10 million?
Noah Cross: Oh my, yes!
Jake Gittes: Why are you doing it? How much better can you eat? What could you buy that you can’t already afford?
Noah Cross: The future, Mr. Gittes! The future. Now, where’s the girl? I want the only daughter I’ve got left. As you found out, Evelyn was lost to me a long time ago.
Jake Gittes: Who do you blame for that? Her?
Noah Cross: I don’t blame myself. You see, Mr. Gittes, most people never have to face the fact that at the right time and the right place, they’re capable of anything.
It may be that we are all capable of anything. Is it that we’ve not found ourselves in the right time, the right place? What would you do, given the right circumstances?
Blood Simple
The Coen brothers’ first movie. Jealousy, murder, deceit. It’s the same old song. With a different beat.
Marty: I got a job for you.
Private Detective Visser: Uh, well, if the pay’s right, and it’s legal, I’ll do it.
Marty: It’s not strictly legal.
Private Detective Visser: [Thinks for a second] Well, if the pay’s right, I’ll do it.
If you can’t do it yourself, find someone who can. One lone woman stands against the darkness. Simple, really.
I love these movies! You will love these movies! With these five great films, your passion for noir will awaken. Go to the dark side with Light Changes to Dark: Film Noir at Toronto Pursuit in July 2026!