Besides the lighting, film Noir cinematography is often distorted, skewed and uncomfortable to look at, to put the viewer in unease. This reflects the tone of noir. In the film Chinatown, many shots directly showed the conventions of Film Noir. For example, at the time 57:28, there is a slightly high angle on Mrs. Mulwray. In this scene, Mrs. Mulwray is smoking and sitting on the chair. And she has something in her mind. When the correct emotion, scene, and effect are applied, the high angle lens will make the subjects appear fragile or weak. Utilizing high angle can make the scene more dramatic.
Sound is an important element in the film noir. From silent film to sound film, the audience's sense of hearing is more important than ever before. As for noir movies, heavy, jazz music is normally used within noir films to give the film an edge of sophistication but mystery as well. Sound plays an important role in the atmosphere of the film Chinatown. From the perspective of sound, the heavy background music is another important element of the noir films. The Chinatown uses this element ingeniously to make the film to be a great noir film., the heavy background music was sounded at the time 1:00:12. This background is jazz, adding the mystery of the story and creating a suspense atmosphere. In general, the storyline is deeper with the background music goes on.
Femme fatale is a critical convention of noir movies. As for the modern noir film Chinatown, the beautiful woman in this film is Mrs. Mulwray, she is not a traditional femme fatale. In the film, at the time 57:01, Gittes opens the door then sees Ms. Mulwray is smoking, standing near the window and looking towards outside. This is not the first time they meet, but this shot is a significant one in the film. According to this shot, Mrs. Mulwray seems is thinking of something. Mrs. Mulwray could have been sitting and waiting for Gittes, but she stood by waiting for him. It looks like she was too anxious or nervous to sit and wait for Gittes. When Gittes opened the door, Mrs. Mulwray was smoking with a graceful posture in black elegant dress, and she was looking out of the window. This shot increased the mystery of the beautiful female,and it could be regarded as a classic shot of this film. Mrs. Mulwray is more diversified and she is full of thoughts and personalities, by comparison to Kathie in Out of the Past. “Overlooked in Davis' gloss on Chinatown, problems of sexuality and subjectivity-and of their intimacy with violence have long been viewed by feminist critics as film noir's principal themes and, moreover, as the imperatives shaping its visual and narrative structure.” (Deutsche 33) Though Mrs. Mulwray has a beautiful appearance and looks stern, she is not a cruel and merciless woman, and she is a victim and a fragile woman who cannot protect herself well. She needs protection and has a crumbling heart under a cool appearance. To a certain extent, she has a strong character and does not take the initiative to hurt anyone.Audiences will fell pity about her miserable experiences.
Other conventions could be a focus on the costume aspects, such as guns, tribe hats, trench coats, smart suits with ties, cigarettes, red lipstick and smart polished shows are also linked with the noir genre. In the film, at the time 57 :11-59:53, Mrs. Mulwray was smoking all the time. At time 58:40, she lights another cigarette unnaturally because she already got one on. This shot shows her nervous about her father and the case. So cigarettes often represent that character in the film is nervous or anxious. Gittes always wear a suit with tie and tribe hat. This kind of small things or details help a lot to portray characters.
Works Cited
Deutsche, Rosalyn. "'Chinatown," Part Four? What Jake Forgets about Downtown." Assemblage, no. 20, 1993, pp. 32–33. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/3181686.
Fitzmaurice, Tony. " Chinatown and the End of Classical Hollywood.” Irish Journal of American Studies, vol. 7, 1998, pp. 149–161. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/30002411.
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