Film Noir, Bringing Darkness to Light: Film Review

The film “Bringing Darkness to Light” is a 2006 Film Noir that was directed by Gary Leva of Leva FilmWorks. It has thirteen parts, and the film is comprised of both black and white as well as color scenes from films old and new. It is 68 minutes but examines the topic in-depth despite the short running time. Film Noir was meant to be more realistic than other films, it was meant to explore the concept of deconstruction, convey doubt, insecurity, and the darkness that falls when the bad guy wins.

The 13 parts of “Bringing Darkness to Light” are an introduction, Into the Darkness, What It Is, What it Ain’t; Birth of a Bad Dream; Life is Cheap, Then You Die; The Guy Pulling The Strings; Masters of Darkness and Light; Cut to Black; Lullaby for the Damned; Method Behind the Madness; Caught in a Web; Can’t Cheat Fate; and the final fade out. There are several interviews, including those of directors and actors involved in film noir. Some of the content has been rarely seen, this is especially important given that some film scenes have shown because, despite the documentary set-up, the film seems very concise. It is well put together and serves a lot of justice in “bringing darkness to light” of the film noir genre - a genre that has produced such tantalizing films as Christopher Nolan's Memento.

Directors and other interviewees present different definitions of what “film noir” truly means and it is almost as if the documentary is several opinions about the film genre simply strung together. However, despite this, themes of film noir (cynicism, fatalism, the darker lighting that is now characteristic of this genre) are illuminated (ironically, given the grainy look of film noir). As a documentary, this is what the director(s) planned for the film. It is meant to showcase the how and why of the genre –or is it a style? - to bring the darkness of the film noir genre to the light of reality.

Work Cited

Leva, Gary, dir. Film Noir: Bringing Darkness to Light. Leva FilmWorks, 2006. Film.