E-Books →Mean Streets and Raging Bulls The Legacy of Film Noir in Contemporary American Cinema

Mean Streets and Raging Bullsis divided into two sections. In the first, the evolution of film noir is contextualised in relation to industrial transformation, as well as the political, social and cultural history of the United States from WWII to the mid-1990s. In the second, the evolution of neo-noir and its connection with classic film noir is illustrated by detailed reference to films representative of the decades in which they were made: Chinatown, Night Movesand Taxi Driver in the seventies; After Hours, Blood Simpleand Sea of Love in the eighties; and Reservoir Dogs, Romeo is Bleedingand One False Move in the nineties.
Not only do these films suggest noir's continuing exploration of the collective anxieties of US society, but they also reflect a sustained tradition of artistic creativity and technical virtuosity nurtured within the confines of genre cinema. Such a tradition is epitomised by the work of Martin Scorsese whose influence on the post-sixties history of the genre is considered in some detail.