Space and Place

Otis College of Art and Design Space and Place in the Cinematic City: LA Noir Instructor: Albright Paper #2 Length: 4-5 pages (12 pt font, times new roman, double-spaced) DUE: 11/17/10 (at the beginning of class) With its sprawling freeways, gritty underworld and treacherous terrain, Los Angeles has become an iconic city for film noir. For the last unit, write an analysis that critically examines some of the architectural, geographic and cultural characteristics of this style of film. You may chose from one of the following topics; however, feel free to combine aspects from each topic to form your analysis. You may also write on another topic that pertains to film noir or hardboiled fiction, but you must approve it with me ahead of time. 1) In her essay, ¡§Big Lebowski: A Bowling Ball,¡¨ Erica Rowell compares The Big Sleep to the Big Lebowski. Do you agree that The Dude is a modern day Marlow? What are some other similarities and differences? While you may incorporate some of Rowell¡¦s comparisons, you should also include your own analysis of the two films and discuss why both films are quintessential to the cultural milieu of the city. You should also analyze passages from Chandler¡¦s novel, The Big Sleep to further contextualize your argument. 2) In his book, Film Noir: The Spaces of Modernity, Edward Dimendberg examines centripetal space and centrifugal space in relation to film noir. Using his essay as the framework for your paper, discuss the relationship between Los Angeles architecture and film noirs such as The Big Sleep and The Big Lebowski. You may want to consider the narrative and thematic significance of the car, the freeway and the post-war suburban sprawl that came to define Los Angeles. In this respect, Norman Klein¡¦s discussion of the myth of the freeway metropolis and Edward Dimendberg¡¦s analysis of centrifugal and centripetal space may also be useful. 3) In his book, Film Noir: The Spaces of Modernity, Edward Dimendberg writes, ¡§the city serves as a character or agent throughout his fiction, its isolated particulars derailing the reader from the plot. Juxtaposing long shots and close-ups, Chandler's prose functions akin to cinematic montage by alternating different scales and perspectives. Had they never been adapted for the screen, his narratives still would remain illustrious screenplays of twentieth-century Los Angeles¡¨ (167). As we have discussed in class, film noir has its roots in the hard-boiled fiction of Los Angeles writers such as Raymond Chandler, Dashiell Hammett, and James M. Cain. Using one or more noirs from the second half of the class as your focal point, discuss how the characters, styles and themes in their fiction that have come to embody Los Angeles. You may also include examples from other noirs from the first half of the course such as Chinatown, Double Indemnity, and Who Framed Roger Rabbit. Your essays should include incorporate at least two of the following sources: 1) Edward Dimendberg, Film Noir: The Spaces of Modernity 2) Norman Klein, LA Noir and Forgetting 3) Alain Silver and James Ursini, LA Noir: The City as Character 4) Erica Rowell, ¡§Big Lebowski: A Bowling Ball¡¨ 5) Robert Towne, ¡§Preface and Postscript to Chinatown¡¨ 6) Raymond Chandler, The Big Sleep Please cite your sources correctly using MLA citation. All outside sources must be approved by me in advance and please avoid using wikipedia. Since this is an exercise in analyzing, synthesizing, and making connections with the course materials, please do not include outside sources (especially online sources that are not from a peer reviewed scholarly journal) unless they are essential to your argument.