Crime Film Research Articles

Modernization noir in Greek cinema of the 1990s and early 2000s: New topographies and temporal tensions

The focus of this article is the examination of the Greek crime film during the 1990s and early 2000s. The main question concerns if and how certain crime narratives from the 1990s and early 2000s responded to ideological discourse of ‘modernization’ that prevailed at the time. The analysis of three films (Apo tin akri tis polis, O hamenos ta perni ola and Sti skia tou Lemmy Kosion) with neo-noir features, unveils a field of representations produced in contrast to the period’s mainstream discourse of uplifting transformation, which was closely linked to Greece’s entry to the Eurozone and to the preparations for the Olympic Games. These films provide a critique of the city’s transformation into a metropolis, and of the subsequent transmutation of its societal tapestry not only within a European environment but also within the cultural logic of late capitalism. The ‘modernization noir’, as named in the article, includes two narrative trends: the first negotiates the arrival of new ethnicities, which transform the city and produce new hierarchies and topographies; the second self-consciously uses the genre in its ‘neo’ phase to comment on the transition between old and new.

The reception of American and French film noir in post-war Greece, 1945–58

The aim of this article is to examine the distribution, promotion and critical reception of American and French film noir in Greece from 1944 to 1958 and to shed light to the reasons of the belated appearance of Greek noir examples. It is based on archival research that was made in the framework of the project ‘Film noir in Greece: Reception, assimilation, and imitation of a US film genre, from the post-war period until today’ (National & Kapodistrian University of Athens), financed by the Operational Programme Human Resources Development, Education and Lifelong Learning, P.A. 2014–20. Crime thrillers that were retrospectively labelled as film noirs, were not only known and enjoyed by the Greek public from 1945 onwards, but also their conventions and imagery were used in the journalistic discourse, showing a wider diffusion to society that was not only limited to communities of cinephiles. From this perspective, we examine the vocabulary and terminology invented and established by Greek reviewers and distributors, in order to describe the key features of the films that today we classify as film noir. We discuss how emblematic films that today form the canon of film noir were received at that time, as well as the negative discourses that appear at the same time in the public sphere, especially around issues of ‘moral panic’, violence and delinquency. Furthermore, the distinction in the reception of French vs. American films enables us to apprehend the different ideological stances towards these films and to understand why French crime films were more influential in Greece than their American counterparts.

On the cultural circulation of contemporary European crime cinema

Considering the transnational prominence of European cinema, European crime films present an interesting case. As a genre, crime “is clearly the most popular genre across Europe for novels, television series and films”, and crime fiction productions are abundant on a national level in most European countries (Bondebjerg et al. 223). Crime fiction, therefore, appears as the genre most able to facilitate transborder cultural exchange and communicate “Europeanness” at local, national, regional, and transnational levels. This is surely the case of television productions where “crime drama seems to be a powerful, cross-cultural phenomenon with the noteworthy possibility of travelling internationally” (Hansen et al. 3). However, while crime novels and television series have been receiving much critical attention—especially within the context of Nordic Noir—crime films are absent from most of the scholarly discussions and struggle to gain cross-border popularity. It can be argued that crime drama on television has profited from a changed transnational production and distribution culture which has not benefited European crime films in the same way.

DETECting the “noirification” of European popular narratives across film, fiction and television

The article explores the transcultural dimension of European crime narratives by looking at the specific role of cinema in this context. Building on the research conducted by DETECt scholars in different areas of contemporary popular culture—especially literature and television—it first discusses the link between the more and more widespread use of the “noir” label and the increasing cultural legitimation of the crime genre. The article then argues that this phenomenon echoes the emergence of a new “European quality crime film” in recent years. While stressing the potential contribution of the genre to the circulation of European cinema, the evident limits of its impact in this field are also examined. Finally, it looks more closely at the transnational circulation of contemporary Italian crime films to assess to what extent they have been able to find a transnational audience on a continental level. In this context, the importance to look beyond theatrical distribution and the centrality of intermedial exchanges are highlighted, indicating new directions for research.

Cosmopolitan crimes

German crime films usually only find wide international circulation when they deal with either the two World Wars or the country’s unique position during the Cold War. Victoria (Sebastian Schipper, 2015) is an exception. The film, shot in one continuous take, tells the story of a young woman from Madrid who meets four local Berliners outside a nightclub in the middle of the night and ends up robbing a private bank with them. Without an established auteur or any sizeable star power attached to it, the film managed to travel widely within Europe, made possible by Creative Europe’s funding schemes for distribution. The first section of the article examines the struggles of German crime films to cross the borders, despite the abundant national production of crime films, television series, and literature. The second section focuses on the importance of the distribution scheme that helped Victoria travel and explores how the policies of the MEDIA programme have shaped the European cinema landscape. In the third section, the paper examines how Victoria evokes images and discourses of European society such as disenfranchisement, solidarity, and precarity set in a cosmopolitan Berlin. By analysing the promotional texts, this final section explores how Victoria’s ideal combination of genre, auteurial ambitions and “added European value” granted the film access to support mechanisms which are usually out of reach for a film.

The Troubles crime thriller and the future of films about Northern Ireland

Troubles-based crime thrillers were once a staple of Hollywood cinema in the 1990s. However, these types of films have become something of a subgenre of European crime films in the last few decades given that films produced over the period have all been produced and financed by either the United Kingdom, Ireland, France or Germany. Owing to both the financial and critical success of these films, relative to other types of films about Northern Ireland, and the more market-driven approach adopted by policymakers, the crime thriller genre has also become the primary way that audiences engage with cinema about Northern Ireland. Although some encouraging developments have come with this transition away from, at times, exploitative Hollywood-produced films, continued reliance on genre in this new dispensation—specifically the crime thriller—is still a development that is not without problems. The type of films about the conflict produced today also contrasts significantly with those produced during the “first wave” of Irish cinema in the 1980s.

Capturing European crime

As “shop windows” for newly produced but not-yet-released films, the study of festivals is one measure by which it is possible to assess the nature, presence and relative quantity of European crime films made in any given year. This article explores the presence of European crime films at European film festivals by examining the complete festival programmes from Cannes, Berlin and Venice. These three festivals are widely regarded as the most prestigious and largest in Europe (forming part of the global “Big 5” alongside Sundance and Toronto) and as such are premier destination for films of all types, particularly European productions. The prestige and visibility afforded by them means that they are key sites of exhibition, marketing and potential distribution to any film that is programmed there. The aim is to begin substantiating the numerical, national and transnational make-up of European crime cinema by using its presence on the European festival circuit as means to highlight its contemporary production status. A systematic analysis of all films programmed at Cannes, Venice and Berlin in order to identify the European crime films present identified a total 289 films (8.05% of the total films programmed at these festivals) out of 3587 films surveyed across a five-year period (2016–2020).

Scriptwriting for Interactive Crime Films

In recent years, the increasing number of interactive films being released, has highlighted the need for further development of methods and criteria that can guide the earlier stages of development, such as the scriptwriting process. Following the framework of interactive storytelling as a spectrum, it is acknowledged that writing a script for an interactive narrative that involves branching path options for navigating through the story, or multiple endings, is becoming more common and presents its own challenges. In this context, this paper examines established criteria used for assessing narrative quality and examines currently available software for interactive scriptwriting, identifying their affordances and limitations. Accordingly, we present Scapegoat, a short interactive crime drama, based on the model of British homicide investigations, and with the objective to investigate in practice the application of the criteria for narrative quality, together with the processes and elements of scriptwriting that can lead to a strong engaging story. We propose an approach that can efficiently incorporate crucial information of the interaction design, it can be effectively communicated to the crew and cast and used throughout the production lifecycle of the film. We highlight the crucial role of the on-set script supervisor for ensuring the interaction design is not compromised, and continuity is retained. We also discuss recommendations for further developments, including the importance of engaging the crew and cast early in the development process, together with future work into the requirements of interactive commissioners for television and film, and the need for standarisation in the industry.

Analysis of the Film “Manslaughter” by Using Semiotic Paradox

“Manslaughter” is a crime film released in mainland China on December 13, 2019. Once released, the film has attracted much attention from the audience, surpassing many works released during the same period. The setting of the film and the use of screen language are the magic weapons for the success of the film by gaining favor from the public. This film will be elaborated on based on the field of semiotics.

Kryminał, komedia, parodia — przekroczenia gatunkowe w filmie kryminalnym „Na noże” Riana Johnsona

The article deals with the problem of genre transgressions in contemporary crime cinema. The issue is discussed using the example of the film Knives Out, directed by Rian Johnson. The author briefly discusses the development of criminal literature in a detective version and its way to the cinema screen, focusing at the same time on changes taking place in the field of portraying a detective. In the next step, the author discusses the character of investigator Benoit Blanc, one of the film’s protagonists. His figure to some extent fulfills the model of a classic detective, but at the same time questions it in many respects.
 The author points out that the way of presenting Blanc is dictated by modifications in the structure of the film itself, which deviates from the formula of classic crime cinema, where social themes appear, enriched with comedy and parody themes.
 In conclusion, the author notes that the detective crime film subgenre still offers many opportunities for formal, narrative and aesthetic experiments. As a result, it is eagerly used by creators looking for new forms of expression, which is particularly important in the context of the weight of the genre and the commercial requirements of the audience.

Crime Film and the City: Imagining Toronto through Entanglements of Place, Culture, and Crime

ABSTRACT Crime films set in Toronto over the past two decades represent the city through a lens of crime and criminality and establish a cultural identity for it within the national imaginary. Drawing on material from interviews with key film directors as well as visual and narrative film analysis, this article traces three predominant images of Toronto: 1) a cold, prosperous, post-industrial center for a calculated, sophisticated pursuit of criminality; 2) a cosmopolitan, creative city where crime is akin to a craft; and 3) a multicultural metropolis of distinctive ethnic enclaves linked to criminal collectives. The analysis reveals how each image presents different facets of the global, post-industrial city, while drawing attention to its ambivalence. In these images, Toronto becomes a place where emerging cultural economies entwine with symbolic forms of criminal activity, new middle-class lifestyles have unintended criminal effects, and the promise of multicultural urbanism is dashed by the policing of incommensurable differences.

Hallmark’s Happy Crime Films

ABSTRACT This article highlights the significance of the crime genre to the resurgence of the made-for-TV-movie, especially the Hallmark Channel’s romance movies. Typical assessments of Hallmark movies as brimming with positive affect encourage us to take a closer look at the representational strategies that make such happiness possible in stories otherwise concerned with violence and death. I draw upon theories of melodrama and film to identify which experiences are considered common or shared in these predominantly white, upper-class worlds, and how they create an orientation against which guilt and justice are determined. I also situate these made-for-TV-movies in relation to discussions about the status of filmmaking in Canada, as examples of the distinct shift in emphasis in Canadian cultural policy that now sees cultural texts as products and prioritizes commercially viable—and internationally desirable—media (as distinct from “national cinema”). I combine these critical perspectives to track the ways in which Hallmark combines high body counts, low violence, and often White homogeneity into happy crime films—and what the mass production of them tells us about the present and future of filmmaking in Canada.

Complicit masculinity and the serialization of violence: notes from Australian Cinema

ABSTRACT This article argues for a revised understanding of 'complicity' as a undertheorised position and relationship within the social organisation of gender. The concept of ‘hegemonic masculinity’, developed by R.W. Connell and others, has been influential for understanding masculinities as shared ideals embedded within gender power relations, but scholars have paid less attention to Connell’s attendant concept of ‘complicity’, which does not require a shared ideal to be honoured or emulated. To develop a critical account of complicity, this article draws on Iris Marion Young’s distinction between series and groups and considers ways that persons with diverse relationships to masculinities may nevertheless contribute to collective forms of domination. Young’s approach is placed in dialogue with studies of mateship and violence in contemporary Australian cinema, noting the ways that complicity and coercion can be masked through the language of mateship. As key examples, the article considers two Australian true crime films that explore the complicity of adolescent boys with the collective violences of men: David Michôd’s Animal Kingdom (2010) and Justin Kurzel’s Snowtown (2011).

Does Perceived Stress of University Students Affected by Preferences for Movie Genres? an Exploratory Cross-Sectional Study in China.

This study aims to explore whether different preferences for movie genres were related to different perceived stress of college students. An online questionnaire was designed and it was filled out by 1,549 students voluntarily. The 10-item perceived stress scale (PSS-10) and multinomial logistic regression were used to access the perceived stress and the association between the movie preference genres. Over 90% of participants had mild to serious levels of stress. Differences were found between participants with different stress perception states in terms of smoking history, active exercise, and sleep duration (p < 0.05). The participants who showed a preference for suspense movies more probably had lower stress [relative risk ratio (RRR)1 = 0.34, RRR2 = 0.26, p < 0.05], while students who showed preferences for crime film and disaster film more probably had higher stress (RRR = 2.03, p < 0.05, RRR = 3.15, p < 0.05). And the significant gender gap in different film genre preferences was observed in this study (p < 0.05). The males who showed preference for horror movies were more probably to have moderate stress (OR = 3.68, p < 0.05), and females who showed a preference for disaster movies were more probably to have high stress (OR = 3.27, p < 0.05). The perceived stress of Chinese university students is high after 1.5 years of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. The personal preferences for certain film genres were significantly associated with perceived stress. As different film genre preferences, such as the preference for disaster, crime, and horror, are associated with high perceived stress, it may turn out to be useful to pay more attention to an individual’s film viewing. The teachers need to be concerned with the media usage history and preferences of their students and may advise students with high-level stress to avoid potentially harmful media content.

Samuel Khachikian and the Crime Thriller in Iran

Abstract Samuel Khachikian was the most successful director of crime films in Iran during the genre’s heyday in the late 1950s and early 60s. Debates among critics about his films highlight how the crime film was able to thrive as a prestige form in the years before boundaries had solidified between commercial films and intellectual films made in Iran. Film noir, from its earliest transatlantic imaginings to its recent global circuits, has consistently engaged with an imagined elsewhere through its modernist style. In many parts of the world, it allowed a kind of performance of exuberant cinephilia while also attracting attention about its originality. In Tehran, as elsewhere, the genre accompanies the global circulation of modern design with strong, but mixed, feelings.

Cinema as a form of composition

Cinema as a form of composition

Fearing the Effect of Hollywood, Bollywood, and Lollywood Films on Crime in Punjab

This study examines public perceptions about the influence of crime films on crime in Punjab, Pakistan. It examines if public perceives there is a positive association between crimes viewed in Hollywood, Bollywood, and Lollywood films and real crimes in Punjab. The researchers reviewed literature on social cognition theory, and crime and criminality in films. They prepared an online survey questionnaire for data collection through social media during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown. The reliability of the instrument was determined through Cronbach’s alpha test. Descriptive analysis helped in understanding demographics of the participants. Pearson Product Moment Correlation test and Independent Sample t-tests were conducted to compare and examine the effects of Hollywood, Bollywood and Lollywood crime thrillers on viewers in Punjab. The results indicated 72 percent of variance in Crime Fascination, Inspiration, Learning, and Urge to Commit a Crime after viewing films. The study found that the public perceives Hollywood, Bollywood and Lollywood crime thrillers inspire and increase crime fascination and an urge to commit a crime in viewers. They believe the impact of Bollywood crime thrillers is stronger than the impact of Hollywood crime thrillers on viewers. Women learn how to commit a crime faster than men while film crimes more easily inspire men than women and they experience a greater urge to commit a crime.

Unpiecing the Jigsaw: Compulsive Heterosexuality, Sex Crime, Class and Masculinity in Early 1960s British Cinema

This article explores the discursive intersections of masculinity, class and heterosexual desire in the still undervalued British police procedural film, Jigsaw. It considers the film both as an example of a new style of cinematic crime narrative and as a significant conjectural text in which ‘compulsory heterosexuality’ and marriage, especially in their post-war and mid-century forms, are re-articulated, here as compulsive heterosexuality: a masculine drive that can ultimately lead to sexual murder. The film's low-key naturalistic style owes much to the newly realist television drama of the period, while its identification of middle-class masculinity as the locus of transgression carries cultural resonances well beyond the ostensible project of the film's narrative. Released in 1962, Jigsaw was in effect squeezed between, on the one hand, the British New Wave and, on the other, the pop musicals and London-focused films that dominated cinema in the UK in the mid-1960s. However, the casting of dependable Jack Warner as the investigating detective and its Brighton setting mark it out as an important text situated on the cusp between older versions of the crime film and the new permissiveness. Jigsaw's interrogation of the problematic sexual behaviour of two ostensibly middle-class, middle-aged men is therefore particularly interesting, especially when placed within the context of the cultural anxieties about marriage, the increasingly fluid class system of the early 1960s and an emergent youth culture.

A Study on Viewers' Viewing from the Angle of Desire—An Interpretation of Xiaofeng Li 's "Calm sea"

As a visual feast, the sound and light images created by film viewing have different interpretation meanings for different levels of viewers.As the latest work directed by Li Xiaofeng, "calm sea" not only continues the framework of the previous crime film with the nature of the author's film, but also contains the spiritual core that the obsessive can only leave the scene, which is of far-reaching significance.In this film, the protagonist and the outsider are in the unity of opposites, leading their own viewing behavior and self-examination under the peep of desire, and stripping the cocoon of visual images to reveal the source of pleasure obtained by the viewers from the perspective of desire.

Ghosting in the outback Noir

Who was the ‘jolly swagman’ in Waltzing Matilda, Australia’s unofficial national anthem? In this essay I argue that the ghost of the swagman can be heard in a number of recent de-colonising crime narratives. Outback Noir is a relatively recent genre category that describes a new wave of Australian crime films that highlight Indigenous and white relations and take a revisionist approach to traditional history. These films often feature redemption stories that highlight effective collaborations between Indigenous and white policing practices. Uncovering a rural communities’ dark, repressed secrets in order to solve a current problem is a common trend in Outback Noir cinema. I examine Patrick Hughes’ 2010 film Red Hill as an early provocative example of Outback Noir and as modern reimaging of the Waltzing Matilda narrative with the swagman’s avenging ghost exposing the social fractures and corruption that are destroying rural communities. I argue that the Outback Noir genre with its focus on revenge-redemption narratives shapes the cultural dialogue around putting the ghosts of the colonial past to rest.