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Matt Cowell Film Noir Sept, 28th 2003 Dr. Greta A. Niu “The Lost Weekend” Film Noir or Not Though “The Lost Weekend” is considered to be film noir, there are major differences between it and other classic film noir movies. What makes The Lost Weekend a film noir movie? As we have seen The Lost Weekend has no femme fatale, no mystery, murder, private eye, and none of the leading ladies is particularly sultry or sensual. However as I analyzed the film there are many key areas in which The Lost Weekend is similar to other film noir movies. As I took a closer look I found some interesting parallels between alcohol and the classic femme fatale. The use of lighting in The Lost Weekend is also extremely important to show the despair and demise of Don Birnam and is a trademark of film noir. I will also show how the internal struggle that Don is dealing with parallels other classic film noir movies. Finally I will prove that the ending in The Lost Weekend is a prime example of a film noir and that this movie is indeed film noir. First, I believe that there is a femme fatale in this movie. Although we do not see a sensual woman who is manipulating men and using her sexuality as a tool to conquer men; we do have something in this movie that takes the place of the femme fatale. This substitute or alternate femme fatale has many of the qualities that a femme fatale posses. It is alluring, mysterious, controlling, manipulative, it makes men think irrationally, and it can also be deadly. What I am describing is the classic femme fatale character and in The Lost Weekend I believe that alcohol plays this role perfectly. Alcohol has become the alluring and sensual pleasure in Don Birnams life. Alcohol has such a controlling grasp on his life he can’t live without it. Don’s lust for alcohol and desire to posses it is in many ways similar to both Walter Neff’s desire for Phyllis in Double Indemnity as well as Michael O’Hara’s desire for Elsa Bannister in The Lady From Shanghai.
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