Out of the Past

In most stories of film noir, a man finds himself in the wrong place at the wrong time. Sometimes this predicament is of his owns making, and sometimes it is just bad luck. He must make a decision, and inevitably, it is the wrong one. Sometimes this decision has to do with a female, or sometimes the promise of wealth or fame; or sometimes it is just the promise of simple survival. "Out of the Past" (1947) is the story of a man who tries to break with his past and his weakness and start over again in a town, with a new job and a new girl. For one thing that make Out of the Past stand out among the rest is the fact that it breaks down the standard noir basics and either puts them to a new use or reinvents them. In addition to unsettling narrative themes of ambiguity and violent death, certain stylistic characteristics immediately come to mind when discussing film noir such as the extravagant femme fatale and shadows.

The visual look and feel of the film contributed to the unsettled sense of claustrophobia, distortion in the story and off-balance feel to the world. Film noir is known for urban locations and deep shadows, as well as interiors, such as seedy apartments, stuffy bars, hotels or boxing rings. Out of the past uses its light and shadow to full advantage because the use of darkness, harsh and low-key lighting dominates the atmosphere of the film. The director of the film learned all about the use of shadows and lights, and following the knowledge from three previous films, he created brilliant effects distorting the view of the image, as well as drawing the viewer into the picture and creating a sense of immediacy with the image. He often uses shadows in a very physical way, such as using spidery tree branches to separate Jeff and Ann as they say goodbye for the last time in the film. In the same way Out of the Past makes even a Mexican nightclub (in what could be a sunny, vacation resort) look seedy and shadowy. The shadow, heighten the characterizations (notice how Jeff moves between areas of extreme lightness or darkness, or how Kathie nearly always emerges from the shadows). For instance, the lighting at the cabin (pretty much solely from the fireplace) heightens Kathie's excitement as she sees Fisher and Jeff rough each other up. Also, effectively contrasted by use of shadows is between the bright and sunny world of Bridgeport and the dark, corrupt streets of San Francisco.

Many films noir occur in a world where women, often in the central role, are glamorous and dangerous; seductive sirens whose actions are marked by duplicity and aimed at satisfying a desire for wealth and power, while the male protagonists are frequently weak, confused and morally equivocal, susceptible to temptation, and incapable of acting heroically. A ruthless "femme fatale" character is responsible for the hero's downfall. Kathie is one of the greatest examples; she can con anyone with her sexy appeal and charm, but the only thing she cares about is keeping her-self out of trouble and in a comfortable position. She is the downfall of at least two men without