In most film noir, you may be able to pick out a teaspoon of nobility in even the most nihilistic, rotten protagonist --- they’re in the situation because of their attraction to someone, or due to desperation, or the breaks are against them. Or sometimes, because of the structure of the world around them. From this season’s own short list, witness the hard luck of Al in Detour as his ride is killed falling out of a car. Bart can’t leave Laurie and her homicidal tendencies behind in Gun Crazy. Marlowe wrestles with covering up a murder for love in The Big Sleep. The Swede is played for a sap in The Killers because he took the wrong course after giving up boxing. I mean, pick your reasons.
But occasionally in the genre, a protagonist is so unsympathetic, so outside the mainstream of human values that he (always he) plows on for the basest of reasons in his quest for money, or ease, or freedom, or carnal satisfaction. Combine that with a story that is beset by nihilism, directed by someone who was understandably bitter about their life’s turnings, populated with actors with a story to tell, and you have a bitter stew of noir that’s difficult to watch, let alone understand. Please stay in your seats. I present to you the wonderfully named Night And The City. The most noir of titles…
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