There is no prompt forthis essay but it is only the culmination of your class knowledge. For a class focused on written and cinematic Noir concepts, the goal is to unpack "Noir" through its history,...

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Title: Discussion and Analysis on Classical Noir
Contents
Introduction    3
Classical Noir    4
Kasdan's Body Heat and the Birth of Neo-Noir    5
Discussion    6
Analysis    8
Conclusion    10
Work Cited    11
Annotated Bibliography    12
Introduction
Nino Frank, a prominent French cinema critic, invented the term "film noir" in 1946 after seeing a tendency in early 1940s American crime films emphasizing dark, dismal, and disillusioned themes. As the people pondered on the Great Depression of the 1930s and the terrible, awful war that followed, the trend reflected popular emotion. Pessimism, existentialism, distrust, and dread afflicted the nation. Furthermore, as the Cold War heated up, fears were heightened by an increasingly unstable economy, paranoia showed itself in the form of McCarthyism, and the unthinkable fear of nuclear war loomed as an ever-present possibility. With its explicit homage to the 1944 film noir masterpiece Double Indemnity, reproduction of classic noir cinematographic techniques and style, and use of classic noir character archetypes, Lawrence Kasdan's Body Heat illustrates classical film noir's imprint on current popular cinema. Despite the fact that the classic noir cycle ended at the end of the 1950s, cinema noir's atmosphere and aesthetic endured. The neo-noir genre was ushered in by a mixture of ideological upheaval stemming from the 1960s liberal movement, dread and anguish about the Cold War and the required proxy conflicts the US was embroiled in, and the revamping of the Hays Code. In 1981, the Body Heat is a neo-black embodiment; its clear recognition of the classical noir through recycling parts of the plot and cinematographic elements of Double Indemnity, while diverging from the classical fatal fall of the noir, is a clear illustration of the progression of classical noir in the 1940s towards neo-noir at the end of the 20th century. This paper briefly compares and contrasts the qualities of classic noir and neo noir before arguing for Body Heat's incorporation in the neo noir genre.
Classical Noir
The black-and-white classic noir era in Hollywood (1941–1958) reflected the anxiety of its viewers. Classic noir films were set in metropolitan locations to provide a caustic indictment of contemporary society, and featured characters that were modernized, ruthless, ruthlessly efficient, and unconcerned about governmental corruption and organized crime (Smith).
They were frequently modelled on hard boiled fiction novels from the 1930s, which included a middle-class sarcastic male investigator, brutality, and sexual overtones. In a typical classic noir film, an arrogant private investigator with shaky morals, quick senses, and a tumultuous past fell in love with a gorgeous and deceptive "femme fatale" character and became the fall guy for the crime of passion they committed to be together. The “femme fatale” was often a married, attractive, promiscuous siren who deceived the investigator. Until she double crosses the investigator, the noir plotline maintains the psychologically and sexually domineering femme fatale character firmly in charge. The plot then follows the investigator as he becomes absorbed by the intricate, never-ending investigation, which eventually leads him to unearth proof of corruption and his lover's betrayal through flashbacks. Both the investigator and the femme fatale usually meet their demise in the conclusion, with both of them dying. Because of the threat freed women presented to the male-dominated workplace during and after World War II, the femme fatale is constantly penalized for her overt ownership of her sexuality and drive to demand more for herself (Birkle). These videos underlined the hazards of the trend supporting women's growing economic, political, social, and sexual liberties as a result of their financial independence, as well as reminding wives to stay faithful while their husbands were away fighting in the war (Birkle).
High contrast lighting evocative of German expressionism, views establishing depth, rapid cuts, and wet, urban scenes all contributed to the film's somber tones. Pictures taken outdoors included deep shadows late at night, rainy urban alleyways, neon signs, and low-key lighting, while shots taken inside showed low-key lighting, venetian blinds, and compact congested places (Phillips). Most scenes included “in between” areas like office corridors and boardwalks, since classic noir emphasized modernity's love of movement, another implicit indictment of modern society.
Kasdan's Body Heat and the Birth of Neo-Noir
In the early 1970s, the noir mood underwent a transformation in response to shifting socioeconomic structures and expectations. Beginning in the 1970s, this comeback took the shape of "neo noir" cinema, in which directors aware of their cinematic background rehashed traditional noir plots, developed hybrid plots, and made parody (films which consisted wholly of borrowed motifs and techniques from classic noir). The advent of traditional film noir was socially and culturally reflected by this new age of noir cinema. The American public has, again, been disappointed and anxious. Youth disappointment at the longevity and moral ambiguity surrounding American involvement in the Vietnam war and the decades of cold war, nuclear danger and fiscal uncertainty, the threat of Terror, the millennium dystopia and cultural upheavals have led to an agony in history (Hammond).
Classical noir's complicated narratives, hard boiled tradition, cynical protagonists and femme fatales, lengthy tracking shots and deep focus, rainy scenes, brutality, expressionist lighting, first person narration, and themes of betrayal were all incorporated by neo noir films.
    However, because filmmakers were conscious of classic noir's recurrent motifs and qualities, neo noir was intrinsically self-reflexive, sensitive to postmodern thought, and ultimately significantly distinct from classic noir. In addition, the Hays code's demise, in reaction to a more liberalized public, allowed for the expansion of sexual undertones. Neo noir films included full-fledged sex sequences, rather than relying on wistful touches and provocative one-liners in post-coital situations to portray the sexual tension between the protagonist and the femme fatale as in classic noir.
Another important distinction between classic and neo noir is how they address the femme fatale archetype. The original noir portrayed a female criminal who had to suffer or die for her...