‘Shadow of Evil’ opens at Winchester

Kirk Baird

Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2003 | 8:18 a.m.

Classic film noir is the subject of a five-week film festival, "Shadow of Evil."

The festival kicks off at 7 tonight with "Shock Corridor," and runs at 7 p.m. each Wednesday through March 5 at the Winchester Theater, 3130 South McLeod Drive.

The other films and debut dates:

"Sweet Smell of Success" on Feb. 12.

"Shadow of a Doubt" on Feb. 19.

"Rififi" on Feb. 26.

"Touch of Evil" on March 5.

"Film noir is a very interesting film style," said Patrick Gaffey, cultural specialist with the Winchester Community Center. "Most of the visual elements come from German expressionist film ... where they use all sorts of looming shadows and distort the sets to make them seem more disturbing."

In the 1930s Jews working in the German film industry fled to the United States, bringing their knowledge of the film technique with them.

"It's where we got some of our best directors and cinematographers," he said.

Once the filmmakers were firmly ensconced in the United States, they began to apply their cinematic style to film versions of hard-boiled detective novels by authors such as James M. Cain and Raymond Chandler.

"So it was kind of a blend of American stories and German techniques," Gaffey said. "The result really produced a very modern film style (that) emerged during World War II."

The term "film noir" originated in France. After the German occupation ended in 1944, the French were flooded with five year's worth of American films.

"The French were amazed at the way American films had changed," he said. "Early American films had been known for its sunny optimism. After the war the French were seeing all these American films that were claustrophobic, paranoid and pessimistic. They were very surprised.

"It was the French film critics who gave the name 'film noir,' meaning 'dark film,' meaning it was filled with shadows but the point of view was dark, too."

While film noir is typically associated with black-and-white films of the 1940s and '50s, the style continues to remain popular among directors.

"The genre has never died," Gaffey said. "It just keeps going. The Coen brothers have made great noir films, like 'Fargo,' 'Blood Simple' and 'The Man Who Wasn't There,' and 'Body Heat' was noir through and through."