Having taken French for almost five years of my life, I had an idea of what film noir was and the kind of distinct characteristics that the dark movies shared. (Of course French textbooks and professors make sure to brag about French influence, duh.) I must say however, I wasn’t too fond of the genre, and didn’t really care to notice the lighting and shadows in movies. After reading Some Visual Motifs of Film Noir to actually learn about the styles of these films and then watching Christ in Concrete (1949) with lens that scrutinized the titled angles, dark and light contrast, claustrophobic spaces, and shadows, I realized how much intentional work goes behind creating all these effects and how every effect makes its own unique effort in delivering the dark atmosphere of the film.
Christ in Concrete fit Place and Peterson’s description of film noir so well that at times I wondered if the reading was solely based on this movie rather than all of the other ones made in Hollywood during the1940s and 50s. Despite the film’s happy moments here and there, the entire movie seemed to be blanketed by a dark menace revealed by creepy music and blurry frames. After getting some aerial views of Manhattan’s skyline and getting the sense that we were situated in New York City, the film suddenly threw us onto a dark, mysterious and abandoned street. This street was very different from the wondrous beauty of the city a minute ago. The sudden change in the two locations highlighted a contrast that forced us to especially notice the eerie nature of the street as well as the narrative that was to follow. Geremio’s entrance didn’t help enlighten the mood in anyway either. As he walked through the street, I found myself noticing his ridiculously visible shadow behind him. This scene must be low-key lighting at its best because it almost felt like someone was actually walking behind him. Geremio looked confused and drunk, and his emotions were made obvious by the various film noir techniques of off angle compositions of his apartment building and high shots that looked down on him as a victim. As Geremio made his way to his apartment, low-key lighting built a sense of claustrophobia as many shots showed him behind the stairways.
Even when the film gave hope of happiness and Geremio married Annuanziata, we were constantly reminded of the dark theme of the film. Geremio and Luigi were seen conversing behind what seemed like a plaid fence. Again, the film incorporated claustrophobia and the sense of a tightly closed space around the characters. Even Geremio and Annuanziata’s honeymoon, which should’ve been characterized with high-key lighting and brightness, was dulled down and made dark and dreary. The honeymoon almost seemed like a visit to a haunted house rather than a romantic getaway. An interesting editing technique that I noticed in the film, was the transition from one scene to another. I knew film noir consisted of dark frames that were heavily blurred to even cover the faces of characters many times, but who knew the transitions would be this way too? One scene would follow into the next scene by a blurred transition rather than a sudden cut. Perhaps this was an attempt to continue the film noir style. Whatever the case may me, it reminded the audience every second that they were in for a mysterious movie. Lastly, I’d like to discuss the mirror scene that takes place at the bar between Geremio and Kathleen. Place and Peterson mention the loss of the stability of a character in film noir when he looks into a mirror. Geremio is shown looking into a mirror at one of the most climatic moments in the film and his loss of stability can’t be any more obvious. At this point however, I’d like to guess that he’s diving up from his weakness because he runs back to his wife and family. Despite the dive towards realization and stability, I feel like the mirror foreshadowed Geremio’s death at the end of the film. Unfortunately, I can’t provide deep explanation as to why I was able to guess Geremio’s death. I just remember my 11th grade teaching pointing out the link of a character looking into a mirror during a film and how that foreshadows his death at the end. (We were watching The Great Gatsby and Gatsby looks into a mirror at one point during the film). Maybe looking into the mirror means the character is losing stability and thus he dies at the end?
I’d just like to end my blog by expressing my thoughts about the film. Unlike most old movies, I actually enjoyed this one. It just really really bothered me when Geremio died though. Just when everything seemed to work out well, Geremio met with the most ironic life incident. His death was so painful and I sat clenching my teeth, begging the movie not to kill Geremio. Whether Christ visited the Geremio family in concrete or Geremio himself became the Christ for his family, it was excruciating to see that it took the death of Geremio to get Annuanziata a home.
