Bezdroża i długie trwanie filmu noir
Detours and the Longue Durée of Film Noir

Summary/Abstract: Patrycja Włodek’s book “Wszystko noir?”. O inspiracjachi wariantach – życie po życiu film noir [“Everything Noir?”:On Inspirations and Variants – Life after Life of Film Noir](2022) is an analysis of selected figures and aspects of filmnoir, combining a reflection on classic cinema with a dis-cussion of recent works in the genre. The author limitsher perspective to American cinema and looks for recur-ring tropes (e.g., femme fatale and homme fatale), as well asexamples of thematic and narrative use of the concept ofgaslighting. Particularly noteworthy is the author’s consid-eration of film noir as a trend embedded in specific spaces(e.g., rural-noir, Cal-noir) and open to merge with othersubgenres (stoner noir). However, limiting the field of studyto American cinema prevents the analysis of film noir frombeing more deeply embedded in a global context. At the sametime, the author does not question the enduring popularityof crime thrillers and the cultural and ideological functionthey serve today. The book’s value, however, is its referenceto a rich array of works outside the film noir canon.

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