Somewhere in the Night: Film Noir and the American City

by Nicholas Christopher

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Acclaimed novelist and poet Nicholas Christopher explores the cultural identity of film noir in a seamless, elegant, and enchanting work of literary prose. Examining virtually the entire catalogue of film noir, Christopher identifies the central motif as the urban labyrinth, a place infested with psychosis, anxiety, and existential dread in which the noir hero embarks on a dangerously illuminating quest. With acute sensitivity, he shows how technical devices such as lighting, voice over, and show more editing tempo are deployed to create the film noir world. Somewhere in the Night guides us through the architecture of this imaginary world, be it shot in New York or Los Angeles, relating its elements to the ancient cultural archetypes that prefigure it. Finally, Christopher builds an explanation of why film noir not only lives on but is currently enjoying a renaissance. show less

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20+ Works 1,821 Members
Nicholas Christopher was born in New York City and educated at Harvard where he studied poetry with Elizabeth Bishop and Robert Lowell. He is the author of sixteen books, including the novels Veronica, The Soloist, and Tiger Rag. His selected poems, Crossing the Equator, was published in 2004, and his first novel for children, The True Adventures show more of Nicholas Zen, was published last year. He lives in Manhattan with his wife, Constance, and teaches at Columbia. show less

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Genres
Nonfiction, General Nonfiction, History
DDC/MDS
791.43655Arts & recreationRecreation, sports, and performing artsMovies, TV, VideoMotion pictures, radio, television, podcastingMotion picturesSpecial aspects of films; film adaptations, film genres {class specific films in 791.437}Films dealing with humanitySocial themes
LCC
PN1995.9 .F54 .C54Language and LiteratureLiterature (General)Literature (General)DramaMotion pictures
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Languages
English
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Paper, Ebook
ISBNs
4
ASINs
1