The Big Sleep by Howard Hawkes reflects upon a society in which “Ever since the Depression, disillusionment and fear had been building” (Night of The Soul: American Film Noir). Chiaroscuro lighting, rain slicked streets and the hardboiled detective all characterise this film as a Noir production, “A study in depravity” (New York Times).
Phillip Marlowe is the defining hard-boiled detective of the Noir genre, his pursuit of justice compromised by his vices of drinking, smoking and womanising. His willingness to break the law, as seen when he breaks into Geiger’s house, is indicative of a morally ambiguous world which is unsure about the inevitability of justice. Hence Marlowe “the best man in his world and a good enough man in any world” (Raymond Chandler) reveals the corrupt nature of post WW2 society where even the detective is susceptible to human foibles.
The isolated setting, a convention of the Golden age, is also transforms to reflect the morally degraded society. The “squalid hotbed of blackmail, gambling, flesh-peddling, and drug-dealing” (Isaac Anderson) as depicted by Hawkes is isolated from human warmth or morality, offering the characters no respite from the prevalence of crime which is thinly disguised by societies glamourous façade. This convention has thus been subverted to represent the increasingly systemic nature of crime in society which, while controllable in the short term, is an intrinsically human urge that can never be eliminated.
With the Film Noir movement, the crime began to be used to drive to a deeper focus of social exploration, which increasingly is the defining feature of the crime fiction genre in the modern era. BS criticises the increasingly independent role of women in the post war era by depicting Carmen as the femme fatale, with the “ability to express herself in sexual terms…she uses sex as a device to have power over men.” (J. McKahan). This was in reaction to women, in WW2, venturing out of the home, and into traditionally male dominated roles, a transition rejected by returned servicemen after the war.
The denouement of the Big Sleep sees Mars ironically shot by his own men. Hence 1940’s society’s belief that order will triumph over chaos in the short term is dramatically reinforced. Succeeding this, however, Hawkes has broken the convention of the bleak, existential Film Noir film Noir mold and in doing so has spoken volumes on the film’s context of composition. The climax sees Marlowe and Vivian embracing in a passionate kiss. This is reflective of the capitalist imperative selling the Bogart/Bacawll romance to an audience which demanded hope in a period of little joy. Hence, it is apparent that the Big Sleep is not indeed Film Noir, but rather Film Gris.
Perhaps something about the Real Inspector Hound. (the genre has evolved such that its is recognised as a genre in its own right, and hence its conventions can be parodied [for conventions to be parodied, they must exist]).
LA Confidential written in the early 1990s, elaborates on the theme of the inevitability of justice and in so doing provides a striking example of evolution of the genre. LAC rejects the possibility of a just outcome and highlights the fragility of justice in the pluralistic, morally bankrupt society of the 1990s. The detectives are fallible and corrupt, far from the righteous sleuth of Sherlock Holmes time. The erratically violent Bud White, an extension of the traditional hard boiled detective, is in his own words “the guy brought in to scare the other guy”. Jack Vinsense, the “celebrity crime stopper”, will break the law to achieve his own financial ends. Even Ed Excely who portrays the righteous sleuth, discards the moral high ground when he protects the corrupt police force to better his career saying ‘maybe there can be two heroes’.
LAC manipulates the convention of the crime to make a comment on the all pervasive nature of corruption in modern society. Even the police chief and government officials are involved in illegal dealings and murder. Hence, the sarcastic opening reference to “paradise on earth….city of angels,” mocks the reality of an intrinsically criminal society.
Snow Falling On Cedars composed in 1992 represents a hybridisation of genres – romance, detective thriller and court room drama, and is not actually a crime fiction text at all. With crime so commonplace in late 20th Century society, its nature is barely worthy of exploration and consequently the ‘crime’ in SFC is not actually a crime at all. A mystery is established however and this allows Gutterson to drive to a deeper focus. Hence the conventions of the crime fiction genre are used as a vehicle to express the politically correct attitudes and desire for historical accuracy present during the context of composition.
Critics suggest it is part of the ‘apologist movement’ of the early 1990’s, which exposed the mistreatment of Japanese/Americans post WW2, the social context of the setting. Hence SFC explores the impact of social and individual prejudice on the delivery of justice to Kabuo, who is charged on circumstantial evidence, reflecting society’s predilection to act on prejudice rather than fact. The snow storm is symbolic of this, representing the truth being covered up for ‘justice’. The courtroom, a typical setting for a crime fiction text, is filled with racial undertones. The “god-damn Japs” sat at the back of the courtroom, simply because “San Piedro’s community required it of them”. Furthermore, Kabuo is shunned as a social outcast – the courtroom has a “carnival atmosphere” as though the “accused man” is a freak show. Red herrings are used to further explore the racial segregation of the Japanese in 1950’s society. The proposed motive for Kabuo to kill Heine was his dealings over the strawberry farm. When these are recounted, it is revealed that Eta Heine referred to Kabuo as “the Jap”, or “somebody”, almost refusing to acknowledge that he is a person.
Ishmael, the reluctant detective, is indicative of this new breed of crime novel. Not actually a detective at all, he is inadvertently drawn into the case for personal reasons, and ends up solving it. Upon revealing the truth, however, he is plagued by his pre-existing hatred of Kabuo, who married his childhood girlfriend, and so the focus is drawn from solving the ‘crime’, the main focus of Golden Age texts, to Ishmael’s internal battle with his conscience – a battle that resonates with the reader in the pluralistic, morally ambiguous society of the 2000s.
At the climax of the novel, Ishmael has a moral dilemma and some reluctance in handing it information that will save Kabuo to the police. Thus Guterson challenges the reader to consider the nature of justice and the manner in which it is served. “Everything else is ambiguous. Everything else is emotions and hunches. At least the facts you can cling to,” realises Ishmael, when finally deciding not to sacrifice justice for his own self interest. The importance of individuals acting on their values and sense of right is reinforced by Nels - “human beings must act on reason… The shape of Kabuo Miyamoto’s eyes… must not influence your decision”.
“Fiction in any form is always intended to be realistic” (Raymond Chandler, The simple art of murder). The progression of the crime fiction genre from Sherlock Holmes through the Film Noir period to modern day texts such as LA Confidential and SFC confirms that Chandler’s words apply equally to crime fiction. Underpinned by its trademark conventions the genre has evolved to embrace a myriad of changing social contexts and issues through texts which have blossomed from the simple ‘who dunnit’ texts of Arthur Conan Doyle and Agatha Christie to complex socio-psychological dramas of the modern day. Throughout this evolution the texts have provided a mirror on society that reflects the values and social constructs of their time.
