Noir Fiction is the Soul of Cyberpunk
โMost film and literary critics are entirely wrong about their definitions of noir, a genre which famously โ but erroneously โ has itโs roots in the American hard-boiled private eye novel. In fact, the two subcategories of the mystery genre, private detective & noir fiction are diametrically opposed, with mutually exclusive philosophical premises.
Noir works, whether films, novels, or short stories, are existential, pessimistic tales about people, including (or especially) protagonists, who are seriously flawed and morally questionable. The tone is generally bleak and nihilistic, with characters whose greed, lust, jealousy, and alienation lead them into a downward spiral as their plans and schemes inevitably go awry. Whether their motivation is as overt as a bank robbery, or as subtle as the willingness to compromise integrity for personal gain, the central figures in noir stories are doomed to hopelessness. They may be motivated by the pursuit of seemingly easy money or by love โ or, more commonly, physical desire โ almost certainly for the wrong member of the opposite sex. The machinations of their relentless lust will cause them to lie, steal, cheat, and even kill as they become more and more entangled in a web from which they cannot possibly extricate themselves. And, while engaged in this hopeless quest, they will be double crossed, betrayed, and ultimately ruined. The likelihood of a happy ending in a noir story is remote, even if the protagonistโs own view of a satisfactory resolution is the criterion for defining happy. No, it will end badly, because the characters are inherently corrupt and that is the fate that inevitably awaits them.
The private detective story is a different matter entirely. Raymond Chandler famously likened the private eye to a knight, a man who could walk mean streets but not himself be mean and this is true of the overwhelming majority of those heroic figures. They may well be brought into an exceedingly dark situation, and encounter characters who are deceptive, violent, paranoid, and lacking a moral center, but the American private detective retains his sense of honor in the face of all the adversity and duplicity with which he must do battle..
"Film noir blurs the distinction between hard-boiled detective narratives and true noir stories by employing similar design and camerawork techniques for both genres, though the discerning viewer will easily recognize the opposing life views of a moral, even heroic, often romantic detective, and the lost characters in noir who are caught in the inescapable prisons of their own constructions, forever trapped by their isolation from their own souls, as well as from society and the moral restrictions that permit it to be regarded as civilized.โ - Otto Penzler (from The Best American Noir of The Century Short Story Collection)
Now I understand the distinction between true Noir and hard-boiled detective fiction.
I, like many people, mistakenly thought that hard-boiled detective stories and Film noir are the same. Hard-boiled is a part of Film Noir. But Noir itself is not hard-boiled. And when I watch a detective flick, I dont get the same feeling I get when I watch noir.
My whole adult life I have been searching for this feeling that permeates the art that I love. Sadness is a part of it. Itโs also romantic.
It is a sort of doomed romance. That is definitely on the right track. The feeling is in The Weekndโs music. And Nicholas Winding Refnโs great film Drive.
Cyberpunk introduced me to this feeling. Which is why I had such a hard time figuring out what it was. Cyberpunk doesnโt blatantly tell you itโs secrets. It only hints, and talks about the future.
I found a lot of old films had this feeling. My research about writing and classic films finally gave me the answers I was looking for. It isnโt just something I made up. It is real. The French named it. It is simple. It means โblackโ. Noir.
If you take the genre conventions of noir โ the heroic criminal protagonist, the femme fatale co-star, the corrupt society โ and you change the charactization โ from the prohibition era to a near future dystopian milieu, then you have cyberpunk, in itโs essence.
Therefore, I hypothesize, that by studying noir, and the ways in which authors innovated and subverted the genre, we can get to the core and reinvent noir fiction and cyberpunk itself.
When I first thought about making a list of films, I just wanted to call it 'Movies for Lonely Hearts.โ Something good to watch after a break up or when you are depressed. I didnโt realize these films would have anything in common.
But these are all of the modern films that instilled this profound feeling of beautiful sadness โ that is probably naturally a part of who I am โ and, it turns out, are the best place to start learning about writing cyberpunk. Noir. By my estimation, the influence for all great popular stories of our times.
Some of these may not seem like noir at first glance, but trust me..
Oldboy (2003, go for the original South Korean version. Only way to watch it.)
A History of Violence (2005)
Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang (2005)
No Country For Old Men (2007)
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