Film noir is is my favourite silver screen genre. I’ve seen every A-list film noir multiple times, and most of the B-movies, too. I’ve wanted to do a podcast conversation about it since I started Personal Landscapes.

These downbeat stories of ordinary lives gone hopelessly astray crackle with hard-boiled dialogue. They're set in modern urban wastelands, usually at night, in claustrophobic rooms where the actors are framed in tight shots that create a mood of entrapment.

The classic period only lasted from 1941 until the mid-1950s, but their visual style continues to influence movies today.

Who better to guide us through it than Foster Hirsch, film historian and author the definitive study, Film Noir: The Dark Side of the Screen. 

We spoke about film noir’s roots in hard-boiled fiction, how German Expressionism shaped its aesthetic, and what was happening in 1950s Hollywood as noir — and the studio system — came to an end.

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