Film noir: Characters

Like in many aspects of film noir, characteristics are similar throughout the genre. Their are two main characteristic's of film noir. A man, not seen as a hero, but rather an anti-hero, usually a normal, venerable and coy ex-detective who seems to be at the wrong place at the wrong time and comes into some sort of trouble or misunderstanding, leaving him involved in a downward spiral, he usually becomes a depressing character and ends up needing to find a life for himself again.

Needless to say, the character who manages to trap the hard-boiled detective is the femme fetal, typically a sexy, manipulative, flirty and dangerous woman - who seduces men into falling in love with her, and turn his world upside-down. She can then persuade him into doing her "dirty work" at any moment. The women in film noir are always projected as the more dominant person possibly reflecting male fears of female liberation and independence during the war years.