Genre Studies: Crime

In any society of moderate civilization, there will always be those who seek to undermine that same society, to twist it in order to reach their own goals. However, these criminals, and the crimes that they commit, are simply a part of such societies, and while they cannot be tolerated, their existence must be accepted. Film, as one of the most culturally imbedded mediums of artistic depiction, naturally has a nook for such specimens of the world’s underbelly. The crime genre, while perhaps not as mainstream as others, has certainly endured some unique stages of cultural shifting, and today, still remains quite viable.
The first filmmaker to begin forming crime into a genre was D. W. Griffith, with his film The Musketeers of Pig Alley (1912). And while this perhaps this film in particular was not the very first film with crime as a main theme, it was the first film to actually leave an impact in its wake, inspiring many other directors to explore the theme. Some noteworthy examples include such films as The Regeneration (1915), Underworld (1927, which actually won the first Oscar for original screenplay), and The Racket (1928), all films taking a slightly different stance then Pig Alley, but still building upon the same conventions.
In the 1930’s the genre came into popular acceptance with the prominent success of several crime films. Little Caesar (1930), The Public Enemy (1931), and Scarface: The Shame of a Nation (1932), all possessing gangsters as the primary protagonists, secured crime as a definite genre and began the American mythology surrounding the underworld. However, the genre soon took an interesting turn as the Hay’s Code took hold of the film industry due to the studio’s fear of government control. Fear, as history has so often showed us, is usually accompanied by unwarranted censorship, which in this case was the heart of the issue. Criminals could no longer have the glorified on screen presence they previously possessed, no matter how dramatically their sins caught up with them in the end. But, as always, art endures, and, instead of spelling out the end of the crime genre, filmmakers simply created loop holes. In this case, film noir was born.
Previously, the genre had several simple conventions. Namely, the film’s focus would (duh) be criminal in nature. The film would usually focus on a group of criminals in general, or a specific killer or gangster (usually drawn from history), the protagonist or protagonists operating outside the law. They would usually be, regardless of infamy, sympathetic characters, as most protagonists are want to be, and the film would usually chronicle both their rise, and inevitable fall. Expansive cities make up most of the mise-en-scene, and both power and material possessions would usually be key to the plot. Additionally, actual upholders of the law, police or government officials were usually viewed with an ineffectual or corrupt perspective.
With the emergence of film noir, many of these conventions, while still being considered a part of the crime genre, were changed. One of the earliest examples of film noir is John Huston’s The Maltese Falcon (1941), a film following the exploits of a private detective Sam Spade in his search for a priceless statuette of a falcon. As this description alludes to, the focus in character is one of the first of these convention shifts. Where we saw actual criminals featured as the protagonists in earlier crime films, the protagonist in Falcon is a private eye, a career we would normally associate with one who upholds the law. But, this is just one of many of the afore mentioned loopholes. While the protagonist is indeed an “upholder” of the law, which satisfies Hays’ censorship code, Spade is seen consistently stretching laws and conventional means of police work, as well as getting involved in or turning a blind eye toward various criminal activities, which satisfies the audience’s appeal in the genre.
Another significant difference is the way the plot proceeds. Whereas most crime films are rather complex in regards to plotting compared to other genres, in film noir these complexities are amped up a few notches due to the mystery solving aspect of the story. Most crime films are pretty straightforward in nature, albeit still rather complex, usually a steady progression to power or material wealth. Or both! In the Falcon however, the plot requires your full attention in order to follow what is happening. And even then, it is still an accomplishment to know what has actually transpired at the end of the film.
Finally, it should be noted as well that the women in film noir are stereotyped slightly different than most other crime films. Here the women, while still usually viewed with whatever perspective happens to be accepted in the current culture (fainting at the site of blood and such), are much more pivotal within the plot. In the Falcon, the female protagonist, while still the love interest, naturally, is a symbol of seduction and treachery, a cultural idiom based in the fear of women outside the home. Additionally, just the fact that there is a female protagonist is a relevant factor. Women mainly placed in support roles within crime films for the most part until the late sixties.
But for all the ways in which film noir briefly changed the conventions of the genre, it still retained enough of them to be a recognizable piece of the genre itself. Returning to the Falcon, we still see money as the primary driving force within the film. While most upholders of the law would be portrayed as valuing the protection of society’s mandates as being payment enough for services rendered, Falcon gives evidence to its genre in the Sam Spade character, who is driven the entire film by simple greed. And while power is not as important to the protagonist in this particular film, he is constantly surrounded by power in its various forms. Although, one could certainly argue that with the obvious control his manipulations give over these other characters, he is actually the most powerful of the bunch and therefore power is just as much a motivation for him as greed.
The setting is Chicago, a major city, which fits in with the conventional mise-en-scene. In addition to this we also see a lot of violence within the film, although, once again due to the Hay’s code, it is certainly not as graphic as other films in the genre. The film is rife with, for the most part, completely ineffectual upholders of the law, Spade consistently out witting them at every available opportunity. And betrayal, a motif seen in most crime films that I did not mention with the other conventions, is a large part of the film as well.
Now, jumping forward, we come to the apex of the crime genre, incarnated in Francis Ford Coppola’s film, The Godfather (1972) some ten fifteen years or so after the end of the noir era. Here we see the crime genre as it was meant to be, before the influence of the Hay’s code. Material wealth and power are still the primary driving force behind the character’s motives, although we see two noticeable differences. First, in comparison to the film noir aspect, gains are seen by standard operating outside of the law method we saw originally. Besides this however, family has become another character motivation. The safety of family members, revenge for those that might have fallen, or simple pride in a family name or people have become equal character motives to the more simplistic money and power motives previously used. This is especially seen in the Godfather, the Corleone family and its machinations the entire subject of the film.
The focus has shifted back to gangsters, instead of the private eye focus of film noir. We once again see the celebration of crime within the film, although the standard rise and fall of the primary protagonist is much more subdued. In the Godfather, we actually see this change taking place as an internal progression, Al Pacino’s character within the film slowly losing his innocence and naiveté as he becomes more and more involved in the “family business.” In conjunction with this shift, we also see much less of the mystery elements seen in the noir films of the past. Violence is still a major part of the film, in this case though much more graphic due to the MPAA taking form as the new incarnation of the Hay’s code. Upholders of the law are also still seen as ineffectual in nature as well, although the focus has shifted more towards corruption rather than incompetence, is more political rather than law enforcement based. Additionally, the focus on women changed, the Godfather’s script pushing women back into support roles.
The mise-en-scene still possess a city setting, this film taking part in New York city instead of Chicago, but is actually much brighter in nature, and not just because it is in color. While the Falcon was made in the modern era, the Godfather was created in the postmodern era, and there are several small shifts marking that particular evolutionary step within the genre. As mentioned the lighting is much brighter in the Godfather, the sets much more colorful. This stems not only from the general glorification of these sympathetic criminals that our culture’s mythology provides for, but also signals the switch from the more dreary worn out perspective of crime seen in the modern era in contrast to the more colorful, exciting perspective of today. This artistic shift can also be seen in the minor changes in the plotting of either film. In the Falcon we see the protagonist’s more moral actions take place despite less than moral motives, resulting in a static ending. In the end of the film no lasting change has taken place, giving a hopeless feeling to the film, indicative a modern perspective. In the Godfather, we see extremely immoral actions take place, despite moral intentions, the characters’ sense of “justice” for example, but which result in actual change taking place. Whether for better or worse, we witness actual change taking place within the characters, as well as the ending situation compared to that of the beginning of the film, which is indicative of the new post modern era.
Today, the crime genre still remains a vital aspect of the art. Both the mystery branch stemming from the noir period and the original vision of the gangster focus still thriving within the industry. And, in more recent times, the caper branch, its actual roots tracing back to the fledgling years of film noir, has become, perhaps the most popular branch of the genre with today’s audience. Still, experiments are still being made, and with the ingenuity and drive of the indie class and the vivid exploitation of the studios, it is only a matter of time before a new branch emerges. We can only look forward.