The whole book is written in a noirish style that compliments the. The best part of this book is reading an extensive biography of each actress that covers their entire career and personal life. Its definitely not your straightforward actioner of alien abduction. If youve fallen behind the curve on noir fiction, nows the time to get on board that train, because some of the greatest novels ever written have fallen into this beloved, chameleonic genre. From august 23 to september 28, 2014 at the phoenix art museum in arizona, dark city is a part of the show infocus. A place where the men and women who created film noir often find themselves dangling from. Explore the darker reality of the city of angels in this omnibus of photographs and ephemera. Reliable information about the coronavirus covid19 is available from the world health organization current situation, international travel. The wicked women of film noir eddie muller, author. Internet archive contributor internet archive language english. Hilarious humor, albeit of a generally dark variety.
The book has become standard reading for many psychiatrists and psychologists, and many of the theories of both sigmund freud and carl gustav jung were based on it freud never actually met schreber, though. Dec 16, 2019 the evocative image, brought to popular attention in the book dark city. It entwines classic silver screen fictions with intriguing factual backstories about the people who created the moody and. The high point of selbys dark city is a filmography of 490 classic film noir titles. Where trailers from the past, from recent to long ago, from a time before youtube, can be enjoyed by all. In dark city dames, acclaimed film historian eddie muller profiles six women who made a lasting impression in this cinematic terrainfrom veteran bad girls audrey totter, marie windsor, and jane greer to unexpected genre fixtures evelyn keyes, coleen gray, and ann savage.
Wallis, directed by william dieterle, and starring charlton heston in his hollywood debut. Dark city is a 1998 neo noir science fiction film directed by alex proyas and starring rufus sewell, kiefer sutherland, jennifer connelly, richard obrien, and william hurt. Copiously illustrated with film stills as well as original posters, the book also lists taschens top 50 noir classics. Martins griffin, 1996, a history of adultsonly cinema in america, and his other books include dark city dames and the art of film noir. Each entry includes a brief synopsis as well as information on the film s year of release, studio, producer, director, main actors, and running time. Dark city borrows heavily from the concept of fleetinglyimprovised men which are found within schrebers memoirs. Dark city by alex proyas is a great visionary achievement, a film so original and exciting, it stirred my imagination like metropolis and 2001. Alex proyas dark city turns 20 today, a science fiction masterpiece that is at once undeniably influential in its field yet still overlooked by many fans of the genre. Film noir by foster hirsch and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at. Dark city by alex proyas is a great visionary achievement, a film so. Oclcs webjunction has pulled together information and resources to assist library staff as they consider how to handle. The book s strength lies in mullers portraits of these women today.
Dark city was nominated for the edgar award from the mystery writers of america as best criticalbiographical work of 1998, and it has become one of the most popularly acclaimed works on the classic film. Sewell plays john murdoch, an amnesiac man who finds himself suspected of murder. Dark city the lost world of film noir eddie muller. View all images 9 download images 7 table of contents. Dark city truly does explore the lost world of film noir in a way that makes the entire genre come alive.
An outstanding history of film noir, dark city is a book i would recommend to all film fans. Also included are appendices listing every film noir by both director and chronological order, offgenre noirs, and other films bearing important relationships to the. Dark city is a 1998 sciencefiction film directed by alex proyas, starring rufus sewell, william hurt, kiefer sutherland, jennifer connelly, and richard obrien a man sewell wakes up in a bathtub with no memorieshe doesnt even recall that his name is john murdoch until he checks his wallet. Film noir united states history and criticism publisher st. Dark city is a journey through the world of classic film noir, from world war ii to 1960, guided by pop culture critic eddie muller. Eddie mullers dark city is a righteous, ripsnorting riff on the ultimate cinematic genrefilm noir. Hiding in the city, dark, immense and cold, is easy, until he starts to notice incongruities, and foreboding strangers try to catch him. Numerous and frequentlyupdated resource results are available from this search. Dark city is noir czar eddie mullers entertaining and informative exploration of film noir. Film noir was a genre or, some prefer, a cycle of films that thrived predominantly in hollywood crime films in the early post world war ii years, as men w film noir is a style of photography that intrigued me, when creating a rebranding project at university it was my sole inspiration for a sho. F54 m86 1998b this attractive book is a study of classic film noir, which is broken down into chapters that represent the key settings and character types of film noir.
Dark city considers the same theme in a film that creates a completely artificial world in which humans teach themselves to be themselves. Dark city 1950 dark city 1998 dead reckoning the deep end detour d. A place where the men and women who created film noir often find themselves dangling from the same sinister heights as the silverscreen. The cast also features lizabeth scott, viveca lindfors, dean jagger, don defore, ed begley, jack webb and harry morgan.
This is the best noir book i have ever read and it should be effective and fascinating reader for almost anyone, whether they are used to exploring the dark city or are just thinking of moving there. This film and roman noir website features noir works in depth. The term film noir, french for black film literal or dark film closer meaning, was first applied to hollywood films by. Dark city is a 1998 neo noir science fiction film directed by alex proyas and starring rufus sewell, kiefer sutherland, jennifer connelly, and william hurt. Oct 10, 2016 the dark city isnt a title i came up with. Since film noir is essentially an urban phenomenon, muller looks at film noir as if it were a city, and focuses chapters on different noir themes or aspects, relating them to the different sections of dark city. I can almost 100% guarantee that you will not be bored with this film, too much is going on for that to happen. Dark city is a 1950 american film noir crime film produced by hal b. Dark city 1950 is commonly listed by film experts as an important film in the noir canon. Aug 21, 2014 welcome to the fandango movieclips trailer vault channel. Therefore, that makes the task of choosing a movie more difficult.
The lost world of film noir by eddie muller goodreads. Eddie muller film noir was the dark side of the movies happilyeverafter mythology. This is the best noir book i have ever read and it should be effective and fascinating reader for almost anyone, whether they are used to exploring the. It is an unique effort along the lines of kafka, metropolis, and city of lost children.
The way dark city fuses science fiction with classic filmnoir detective imagery and kafkaesque fantasyallegory is stylish and boldly visionary. Or post to your blog and anywhere else you feel it. Dark city by alex proyas resembles its great silent predecessor metropolis in asking what it is that makes us human, and why it cannot be changed by decree. This book displays a salutary knowledge of the underpinnings of the genre. But only the dark corner and dark passage are shady. The screenplay was written by proyas, lem dobbs, and david s.
The first section has a lengthy analytical essay as well. I highly recommending this book for your film noir collection. Or post to your blog and anywhere else you feel it would be a good fit. Classic film noir classic films good girl classic hollywood old hollywood film noir photography detective the big sleep dark city. This isnt a book of film theory, but a guided tour of this deliciously cynical genre that was the unique product of a disintegrating studio system, volatile politics, and simultaneous postwar disillusionment and hubris. Please share it in your social networks facebook, twitter, email etc by using social media buttons at the side or bottom of the blog.
The films setting, an unnamed city in permanent nightfall, shifts and twists along with its plot. Sep 19, 2017 film noir itself was an important genre for legitimizing cinema as an artform the use of shadows for terror, the seductive placement of limbs, glances, and the way someone smoked a cigarette. The book is lavishly illustrated with more than 200 black and white photos, and a color insert featuring classic film noir movie posters. If it is true, as the german director werner herzog believes, that we live in an age starved of new images, then dark city is a. Eddie muller, who led readers on a guided tour of the. Dark city story synopsis dark city is considers the inspiration for the matrix. Dark city is an interesting film, and is worth watching, but unfortunately, the overall message is what we see recycled so often gnostic myth wherein man recovers the supposed truth that he is god.
Hal was a computer that understood everything, except what it was to be human and have emotions. The evocative image, brought to popular attention in the book dark city. The book surveys the lives of these formidable women during the. A place where the men and women who created film noir often find themselves dangling from the same sinister heights as the silverscreen avatars to whom they gave life. Ebert did commentary tracks for the original dvd of dark city and the forthcoming 2006 directors cut. The first section has a lengthy analytical essay as well as detailed plot descriptions and credits for 25 classicssuch as the maltese falcon, laura, and detective story. Eddie muller, who led readers on a guided tour of the seamier side of motion pictures in grindhouse. Chaumeton in their 1955 book panorama du film noir americain 19411953 a panorama of american film noir. The story combines science fiction with film noirin more ways than we. The most complete reference to the dark 40s and 50s stylistic dramas.
Also included are film stills and poster reproductions. Each entry includes a brief synopsis as well as information on the films year of release, studio, producer, director, main actors, and running time. Eddie muller, a writer and designer, is the creative director of st. First off, this film plays as a hybrid between a film noir, and scifi. A list of their film noir credits will appear after the actresses career notes. Scott put his own unique spin on both the original book and the form of film noir itself. Francis studio, producing storytelling in all media.
The most complete reference to the dark 40s and 50s stylistic dramas twice the coverage of competition. H q he walked by night high sierra the killers lady from shanghai laura leave her to heaven the maltese falcon mildred pierce moment in time murder, my sweet the naked city novocaine out of the past phantom lady pitfall nr. Dark city directed by william dieterle, the dark corner, the dark mirror, dark passage and dark waters all are consider noir and share a similar monikers. Also included are appendices listing every film noir by both director and chronological order, offgenre noirs, and other films bearing important relationships to the noir cycle. Both films are about false worlds created to fabricate ideal societies, and in both the machinery of the rulers is destroyed by the hearts of the ruled. Explore the dark and brooding elegance of film noir with this essential handbook to the genre, exploring key noir themes and their most representative movies. Heumann, eastern illinois university, usa alex proyass 1998 film, dark city, opens in darkness, in a space lit only by stars and patches of blue that seem to represent the blue world dr. Scott put his own unique spin on both the original book. Film noir is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish hollywood crime dramas. However, formatting rules can vary widely between applications and fields of interest or study. Welcome to dark city, urban landscape of the imagination. Webb and morgan both went on to costar in the popular police drama television series dragnet.