30 March 2010
Another thing that caught my interest was the use of this French word “noir” ( literal means black) in some movie reviews. Interestingly, in the number of instances that the noir appears, it was observed that noir is always primed to collocate with the word film giving FILM NOIR!
I found this really strange because to call a film “film noir” because my intuition tells me that the implied meaning of the noir here seems to suggest that the film must be “dark, sinister and evil.” Anyway, that was my first guess based on intuition. I am not a movie addict so this is the reason why this word stikes as something novel for me. It is just like the previous post where I talked about Hitchcockian.
From the concordance sampler, I had numerous instances where the word noir is collocated with film (N-1).
Next, I proceeded to check the definition of the meaning of noir to check if my speculation of the definition of the word is right.
MW says:
Main Entry: film noir
Pronunciation: \-ˈnwär\
Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): plural film noirs \-ˈnwär(z)\ or films noir or films noirs\-ˈnwär\
Etymology: French, literally, black film
Date: 1958
: a type of crime film featuring cynical malevolent characters in a sleazy setting and an ominous atmosphere that is conveyed by shadowy photography and foreboding background music; also : a film of this type
Hmm, from here, it appears that my guess is partially correct.
However, this definition does not quite align with the another site that I visited. I managed to chance upon this site by coincidence because I was searching for a dictionary of cinematic terms. And miraculously, I managed to find out. According to this dictionary, it says that film noir is defined as :
a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize moral ambiguity and sexual motivation. Hollywood's classic film noir period is generally regarded as stretching from the early 1940s to the late 1950s. Film noir of this era is associated with a low-key black-and-white visual style that has roots in German Expressionist cinematography, while many of the prototypical stories and much of the attitude of classic noir derive from the hardboiled school of crime fiction that emerged in the United States during the Depression era.

The definition given by this dictionary is alot more detailed than the one given by Merriam Webster as there were details that was not present in the MW dictionary. Perhaps this is an obvious indication that the term film noir is very unique only to cinematic discourse and is not a pharse that we would usually hear and write unless our job is to write a movie –review. Just like linguistic terms, medical terms where jargons of these sorts are found only in dictionaries specially catered to a particular genre and topic. Anyway, this was certainly a very interesting phrase that I have come across and I’m glad to have picked up or learnt a new phrase today.

I forgot to add my last 2 blog posts on my blog!!!
30th March 2010
I was reading this movie review on one of the movies called the Shutter and I came across this very interesting word “Hitchcockian”. It really stuck me as something interesting because one I never knew such a word existed and secondly, the moment I saw this word, I immediately thought of Alfred Hitchcock, a highly acclaimed movie director and producer. Anyway, this review wrote “Twin screenwriters Chad Hayes and Carey W. Hayes play with some interesting ideas regarding twin characters, as well as some squeal-inducing moments of Hitchcockian force.
So I decided to check the dictionary to see if this word exists. Interestingly, this word does not appear in any of the respectable and widely acclaimed dictionaries like the Merrian Webster or the OED. Yet when I googled the word Hitchcockian, I actually get several sample sentences with the word Hitchcockian.
1. Four Modern "Hitchcockian" Horror Films You Must See - Associated ...
9 Mar 2010 ... Alfred Hitchcock was the master of psychological suspense. But there seem

1. Broadway's Hitchcockian Comedy The 39 Steps Extends One Week ...

Hitchcockian Thrillers.
a Hitchcockian nightmare with a persistent, stomach-turning sense of disquiet
Also, from the concordance sampler, I managed to get 2 data.
-formulaic approach to repliating the Hitchcockian thriller falls flat with a movie that is
- back to his scintillating best with a Hitchcockian comedy thriller. [p] Julia mckenzie and
From the data obtained, I realized that Hitchcockian acts as an adjective and it modifies a noun. What comes after Hitchcockian always have to be a NP that is related to a genre under the domain of movies. Perhaps, this is a cinematic term, I thought to myself. To confirm this, I randomly typed definition of Hitchcockian and interestingly Wikipedia gave a very detailed definition of what Hitchcockian is defined as.
Wikipedia- Hitchcockian is a general term used to describe film styles and themes similar to those of Alfred Hitchcock's films.
Elements considered Hitchcockian include:
• The cool platinum blonde (often a central figure of Hitchcock's films).
• The presence of a domineering mother in her child's life (e.g. Psycho).
• An innocent man accused (again used in many of Hitchcock's films).
• Restricting the action to a single setting to increase tension (e.g. Lifeboat, Rear Window, Rope).
• Characters who switch sides or who cannot be trusted.
• Tension building through suspense to the point where the audience enjoys seeing the character in a life-threatening situation, such as the windmill scene from Foreign Correspondent.
• Average people thrust into strange or dangerous situations, such as in North by Northwest or The Man Who Knew Too Much.
• Bumbling or incompetent authority figures, particularly police officers.
• Use of darkness to symbolise impending doom (dark clothing, shadows, smoke, etc)
• Strong visual use of famous landmarks (Statue of Liberty, Mount Rushmore, Forth Rail Bridge, Golden Gate Bridge, Albert Hall, British Museum, Piccadilly Circus, etc.)
• Mistaken identity, such as in North by Northwest and The Wrong Man.
• The use of a staircase as a motif for impending danger or suspense.
• Use of a macguffin or plot device that remains unexplained, such as the microfilm in North by Northwest.
From here it can be concluded that Hitchcockian is a unique term in cinematic discourse only. Outside the genre of movies, we can rarely see this word being used. Perhaps, it would be even better that such words, though its usage is very limited and constrained only to a certain genre can be codified in the more prestigious and reference dictionaries for future references.
Wikipedia- Hitchcockian is a general term used to describe film styles and themes similar to those of Alfred Hitchcock's films. Elements considered Hitchcockian include:
• The cool platinum blonde (often a central figure of Hitchcock's films).
• The presence of a domineering mother in her child's life (e.g. Psycho).
• An innocent man accused (again used in many of Hitchcock's films).
• Restricting the action to a single setting to increase tension (e.g. Lifeboat, Rear Window, Rope).
• Characters who switch sides or who cannot be trusted.
• Tension building through suspense to the point where the audience enjoys seeing the character in a life-threatening situation, such as the windmill scene from Foreign Correspondent.
• Average people thrust into strange or dangerous situations, such as in North by Northwest or The Man Who Knew Too Much.
• Bumbling or incompetent authority figures, particularly police officers.
• Use of darkness to symbolise impending doom (dark clothing, shadows, smoke, etc)
• Strong visual use of famous landmarks (Statue of Liberty, Mount Rushmore, Forth Rail Bridge, Golden Gate Bridge, Albert Hall, British Museum, Piccadilly Circus, etc.)
• Mistaken identity, such as in North by Northwest and The Wrong Man.
• The use of a staircase as a motif for impending danger or suspense.
• Use of a macguffin or plot device that remains unexplained, such as the microfilm in North by Northwest.