How does the male protagonist in the movie "Drive" differ from typical film noir male protagonists?

Seminar Paper , 2017 , 16 Pages

American Studies - Miscellaneous

Masculinity in the movie "Drive" is not illustrated according to the genre conventions and may signify a shift of the genre's stereotypical manliness towards a more family oriented and in general softer male. In this term paper, film noir as a mode in the 1940s, specifically the role of the male protagonist, will be examined and applied to the movie "Drive". First of all, it is important to provide a theoretical foundation. Therefore, the main elements that mark a film noir as such and its historical background will be briefly portrayed. Afterwards it will be discussed in how far the movie can be seen as a product of film noir or not, where the possibility of it being a Neo-noir is taken in to consideration. This is obligatory information for the following chapters hence they observe the protagonist of the movie, with respect to his correspondence with the characteristic hard-boiled male in film noir. Concluding, the analysis of the protagonist´s character in comparison to the typical hard-boiled male is going to be evaluated and it will be pointed out what effect it has on masculinity.

The following chapter will provide the main characteristics of film noir. Even if it is difficult to identify a film noir as such, there are certain elements to be portrayed, which can be classified as typically noir. The main object of enquiry in this paper will be the character of the masculine protagonist. Nevertheless it is important to also get an overview of the other characters except the male antihero, as they are in constant interaction with him. On top of that the chapter will illustrate common themes and narrative as well as cinematic strategies of film noir. This theoretical introduction will serve as basis for the analysis of the protagonist´s character and is essential as it will be examined in how far the protagonist of the movie "Drive" differs from the characteristic film noir male protagonist.

Table of Content

1.

Introduction ... 3

2. Film Noir Conventions ... 4

3.

Drive

as a Neo-Noir ... 7

4. Analysis of male protagonist ... 10

4.1 Profession and ethical standards ... 10

4.2 Driver - a hardboiled male? ... 13

5. Shift of masculinity ... 15

6. Works Cited ... 16

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1. Introduction

Masculinity in the movie

,,Drive"

(2011

)

is not illustrated according to the genre

conventions and may signify a shift of the genre´s stereotypical manliness towards a

more family oriented and in general softer male.

In this term paper, film noir as a mode in the 1940s, specificly the role of the male

protagonist, will be examined and applied to the movie

"Drive"

(2011). First of all, it is

important to provide a theoretical foundation. Therefore, the main elements that mark

a film noir as such and its historical background will be briefly portrayed. Afterwards it

will be discussed in how far the movie can be seen as a product of film noir or not,

where the possibility of it being a Neo-noir is taken in to consideratiom. This is

obligatory information for the following chapters hence they observe the protagonist of

the movie, with respect to his correspondence with the characteristic hard-boiled male

in film noir. Concluding, the analysis of the protagonist´s chraracter in comparison to

the typical hard-boiled male is going to be evaluated and it will be pointed out what

effect it has on masculinity.

---

2. Film Noir Conventions

The following chapter will provide the main chracteristics of film noir. Even if it is difficult

to identify a film noir as such, there are certain elements to be portrayed, which can

be classified as typically noir. The main object of enquiry in this paper will be the

character of the masculine protagonist. Nevertheless it is important to also get an

overview of the other chararcters except the male antihero, as they are in constant

interaction with him. On top of that the chapter will illustrate common themes and

narrative as well as cinematic strategies of film noir. This theoretical introduction will

serve as basis for the analysis of the protagonist´s character and is essential as it will

be examined in how far the protagonist of the movie

,,Drive"

differs from the

characteristic film noir male protagonist.

After the second world war, french film critics discovered a new style of films, when

showing American films in french theatres was legalized again (cf. Belton 222). They

coined the term "Film Noir" to describe a specific trend in American black and white

films of the fourties and fifties. The productions were completely different than the

former American Hollywood productions as they featured different camera angles,

different lighting and even a new narrative style (cf. Belton 228). However film noir can

not be seen as a genre, as it is a mixture of different movie genres. It was influenced

by philosophical tendencies of existentialism, surrealism, nihilism and poetic realism,

where nihilism is very present in film noir. This senselessness in life can be perceived

in most films noirs, because everything seems fathomless and arbitrary that a very

negative atmosphere is communicated. The mysterious and dark mood which is

evoked in film noir ocurrs because the filmmakers attempted to illustrate the post-war

times in an authentic way. Apart from that fim noir also thematises the "isolation of the

individual in industrialized, mass society" (Belton 226). Furthermore the genre can be

seen as an opposite to the American Dream (cf. Selmann 15), as it portrays the world

as a dangerous, dark and sad place and is said to cause a feeling of anxiety among

spectators. Concluding, the term "noir" does refer to the content as well as to the visual

elements of the films. Even if products of the genre do not encompass social criticism

explicitly they should raise awareness about the predominant power imbalances and

major social and economic difficulties. In general film noir was, to a great extrent,

inspired by the American hard-boiled and pulp-fiction as "[...] nearly 20 percent of the

films noirs made between 1941 and 1948 were adaptions of hard-boiled novels [...]"

---

(Belton, 221/222). Topics like crime, murder, violence or corruption were adapted from

the hard-boiled fiction. American movies like

"The Maltese Falcon"

(1941) and

"The

Big Sleep"

(1946), based on the novels written by Dashiell Hammett and Raymond

Chandler were seen as representative for the genre in America´s fourties and fifties.

In film noir the private eye is indispensible - a circumstance clearly caused by the

influence of detective novels. The first character type to be introduced is the male

antihero, who is usually the protagonist and can, but does not have to be a detective.

He strays the world of the film on his own, as he is not the social type. On top of that

he seems to be a middle-class person of intellect and cultivation, but prestige does not

mean anything to him (cf. Selmann 15). He can either be a highly aggressive and

egoistic person or be loyal and act responsibly, the spectrum is very wide. Even if the

profession of a private eye is archetypical for the male protagonist in fim noir he can

also have a different profession. Overall it is important to see him in contrast to the

executionary power (police) as he may have a personal interest or financial motivation

to investigating and oscillates between law and disorder. Another typical type of

protagonist is the amnesiac, who "eptomize[s] the social estrangement and

psychological confusion that had settled the formally healthy American psyche after

the war" (Belton 227), who is very similar to the "noir psychopath" (Spicer 88) . They

can both play the role of the criminal, who is obviously essential for the plot, as without

him the detective-like character would be superfluous. Nonetheless they have to be

distinguished from the prototypical gangster, who belongs to a gang and strives after

wealth and appreciation of others. This image seemed outdated for the American

society living in the post-war times. The audiende craved for a rounder character, a

person who seems to be trapped in his own world, trying to escape, and is

psychologically more complex than the gangster. As opponent to the male antihero,

acts the femme fatale. She does not reflect the role of a woman in the post-war times,

as she is definately not the soft, caring mother and could rather be described as a

beautiful, independent, strong, dark, cold and sexually charming human being. In the

daytime she might seem like a normal independent, solitary woman who follows her

job but especially in the nighttime her criminal tendencies are revealed. The male

protagonist is usually tempted by her sexuality, where the indepence and strength of

the women embodies a threat to the patriarchal system. Thus it is the interplay of

intimidation and attraction of danger that ties the man to her. She often suceeds in

seducing and uses her power over the man for her own end. This deviousness is also

---

one of her characteristic traits but moreover is she ruthless, because she would do

almost everything to geht her will or use somebody for her own interests. Above all,

film noir depicts a world of characters trapped in circumstances that they did not wholly

create and form which they cannot break free, characters hopelessly isolated and all

but immobilized in moral dilemmas (cf. Conard 93). The setting is mostly a big

american city with its scary and dangerous night hours. As consequence, anonymity,

corruption and violence are frequent topics of the genre. The narration is shaped by

an elliptic structure, is very complex and mostly has a rather unhappy ending.

Elements like flashbacks or voice-overs are often employed to illustrate the

entanglement of the plot thus creating a higher density. As the plot is often predictable

the anachronistic presentation of events is not problematic for the viewer. Other than

that, frequent devices like the voice-over or the point-of-view shot, which mostly

illustrate the protagonists perspective, can give the movie an overall subjective

undertone. Viewers can definately benefit from that as they get an insight into the

protagonist and may sympathize with him. This anticipation of subjectivity through

cinematic techniques is also direct criticism of the conventional angles and elements

in Hollywood films (cf. Selmann 221-225). Since classical film noirs were shot in black

and white, it was much easier to present a dark mood than it is now with color movies.

When speaking of cinematic techniques in film noir lighting has to be the most

important device. Playing with light and shadow is used to convey the genre´s dark

and mythical tone but also goes in line with the anonymity in the city, because only the

silhouette of a person can be seen but not its whole outward appearance nor its

character. Majority of the scenes in film noir are set at nighttime so light is merely

existant, or just present in a dimmed form. Regarding light, rain also plays an important

role for the aesthetics of the genre. In films noirs it is mostly raining or has just stopped

raining so that with the influence of lowkey lighting and shadows the rain looks like a

black paste on all surfaces and the whole setting seems to be covered with a thick,

dark veil. This clearly goes in line with the atmosphere of desillusionment and despair

in the post-war time.

• Author: Greta Deinert (Author)
• Publication Year: 2017
• Pages: 16
• Catalog Number: V387517
• ISBN (eBook): 9783668615212
• ISBN (Book): 9783668615229
• Language: English
• Tags: film noir, driver, ryan gosling, filmanalysis, masculinity