Brief overview
Neo noir films are noir films with a twist. This could mean that they have the same plot as noir films, the same typical characters, ect. This twist could be anything from the everyman being a woman (like in bound,) to it being set in the future (like in blade runner)
Red Riding Trilogy
The red riding trilogy is typical to the neo-noir film genre. It has the typical character costumes. It also starts the film with the ending which is very typical to film noir. This film has a very typical everyman because he is a journalist which isn't a particularly exciting job. This film features a brownish filter which makes it feel older.
The red riding trilogy is not typical because the everyman is not middle-aged. The plot is also driven by a crime investigation about a little girl. It isn't not typical to see little girls in film noir. The background music features acoustic guitars. Usually the background music is jazz. The red riding trilogy is also not filmed in black and white.
Blade Runner
Bladerunner is classed as neo-noir because it has an everyman. It is also set at night time, is in an urban city an dis raining which sets the dark mood of a film noir. It is also an american film which fits the noir pattern as noir films are typically american. They also have guns and smoking in the beginning scene.
Blade runner is not typical noir because it is set in the future and has flying cars and robots. This strongly goes against typical noir because typical noir is set in the 1940s. The music in blade runner is also synthesised. The music being electronically produced goes against film noir as it usually uses jazz music. Blade runner is also not shot in black and white.
Bound
Bound conforms to the typical conventions of noir by starting at the end. Some of it is also set in a bar which is a typical place for the everyman to be. Bound also uses dramatic music and jazz, which is typical for noir. The style for the everyman is typical because they have a job which isn't very exciting. Bound is also set in an urban city. Bound also includes a typical femme fatale and smoking.
Bound is however a neo-noir because it doesn't conform to some of the conventions of a noir film. The main thing that makes this a neo-noir is that the everyman is a woman. This makes women seem positive in the noir genre which isn't what happens in regular noir because in noir they made sure to make the women seem far less important than men in terms of job roles, whereas the woman in this is a plumber, not a housewife. The everyman is also not wearing a typical outfit. Instead of wearing a suit with a fedora/trilby she wears a leather jacket and a standard shirt.
Sin City
Sin city conforms to some of the typical film noir conventions. One of these is the femme fatale as she wears red lipstick and has a tight dress which is also bright. The femme fatale is also smoking. Sin City starts with an ending like most noir films. There is also an old fashioned car. Sin City is set in an urban area where it's raining to set a dark mood. The everyman also narrates over some parts of the film which is very typical.Sin City is also black and white which is very typical in noir.
Sin city is however classed as neo-noir because it doesn't meet certain conventions of typical noir. An example of this is the added colour. In certain areas they add bright colour. This happens in the beginning when the femme fatale has red lipstick and a red dress but everything else in the scene is in black and white. The opening credits are also animated and in a comic book style which doen't fit film noir because of the lack of technology used in usual film noir. The everyman is also too old for typical film noir. Everymen are usually middle aged so that the target audience of middle aged men can relate to them.
Misflits
In Misfits; season 4 episode 4, they created a neo-noir episode. They made this episode a neo-noir by focusing around a character who was a very typical femme fatale. The femme fatale was typical because she manipulated typical men. She is also typical because when she is being focussed on they added a black and white filter, slow motion and had her smoking cigarettes which is also very typical in noir. The episode started at a bar which is a place very often used in noir film. The everyman and the femme fatal both ended up being dead which is also typical in noir.
This Misfits episode is classed as neo-noir instead of regular noir because they used full colour for a majority of the episode. They also added zombies into the episode which is not usually seen in typical noir film. The characters in Misfits are also English and not american like in usual film noir.
