Learn for Pleasure Courses Tutors Blog
Tutor Led Online Learning Short Courses About Us Log In
(FILM010) Film Noir
Overview
Course start date: To be confirmed
Course end date: To be confirmed
Price: £150
Tutor(s): Andrea Standon
Course Code: FILM010
Level: Non-accredited, non-credit bearing
Assessments/Exams: None. Throughout the course you will be given ideas
and questions to respond to in the online discussion area. Participation in
online discussion is encouraged, but not compulsory.
Duration: 11 weeks
Estimated Student Study Time: 2 – 5 hours per week are recommended,
but time spent is flexible and at your discretion.
Fee: £150.00
Pre-Requisites: None
Delivery: Online Distance Learning
Late Entrants: If this course is not full by the start date then late entrants
will be accepted for up to two weeks after the start of the course. As a late
Learn
entrantfor
you canPleasure
choose to catch up on the Cmaterial
o u r s e s youThave
u t o r smissed
B l oor
g you
can skip the missed weeks and concentrate on the material at the point
Tutor Led Online Learning Short Courses About Us Log In
where you join the course, but unfortunately we cannot offer fee reductions
or course extensions for late entrants.
Films List**
**Please note: All courses are subject to sufficient numbers of students
registering before they are confirmed as running. Therefore, after booking
your place you are advised not to purchase any films or texts until you have
received confirmation that the course is running.
This course was previously taught by Andrea Standon when it was
offered by the University of Exeter*. If you studied it with the
University of Exeter* you might not wish to study it again with
Learn for Pleasure as although we have revised and updated our
courses where necessary, it will likely be substantively the same.
Summary
Join us as we investigate film noir – the classic genre of private detectives and
femme fatales inhabiting the shadows of murder and betrayal.
The major period of noir falls between The Maltese Falcon in 1948 and A Touch of
Evil in 1958, but this course extends beyond this period, in order to study the
influence of the genre on contemporary cinema.
Together we will study a selection of key films, chosen in order to explore the
political, philosophical and artistic elements which shaped this enduring and
influential form of cinema.
Syllabus Plan
Week 01: Introduction to Film Noir: the Influence of Early Cinema
Week 02: Conventions of Character and Narrative in Film Noir – The Maltese
Falcon, the first Noir
Week 03: Film Noir: Visual Style and Representation
Week 04: Double Indemnity and Sunset Boulevard
Learn
Week 05: for Pleasure
Film Noir and Existentialism Courses Tutors Blog
Week 06: The Killers and Kiss Me Deadly
Tutor Led Online Learning Short Courses About Us Log In
Week 07: Melodrama and Film Noir
Week 08: The Impact of Psychoanalysis, Textual Analysis and Criticism
Week 09: The Influence of Film Noir: Re-Makes, Retros and Neo-Noir
Week 10: Film Noir and Science Fiction
Week 11: Final Thoughts: Conclusions on Film Noir
Course Content in Depth
Week 01: Introduction to Film Noir: The Influence of Early Cinema with
particular reference to Soviet Montage and German Expressionism
Focus films:
Metropolis (Fritz Lang 1927)
The Cabinet of Dr Caligari (Robert Wiene 1920)
M Fritz Lang(1931)
Week 02: Conventions of Character and Narrative in Film Noir
Focus film:
The Maltese Falcon (John Huston 1941)
Week 03: Visual Style and Representation.
Week 04: Classic Noir.
Focus films:
Double Indemnity (Billy Wilder 1944)
Sunset Boulevard (Billy Wilder 1950)
Week 05: Film Noir and Existentialism.
Focus film:
The Lady from Shanghai (Orson Welles 1947)
Week 06: The Killers and Kiss Me Deadly
Focus films:
Learn for Pleasure
The Killers (Robert Siodmak 1946)
Courses Tutors Blog
Tutor LedKiss Me Learning
Online Deadly (Robert Aldrich 1955)
Short Courses About Us Log In
Week 07: Melodrama and Film Noir.
Focus films:
Mildred Pierce (Michael Curtiz 1945)
Scarlet Street (Fritz Lang 1945)
Week 08: The Impact of Psychoanalysis and Textual Analysis and
Criticism
Focus film:
The Dark Mirror (Robert Siodmak 1946)
The Night of the Hunter (Charles Laughton 1955)
The Sweet Smell of Success(Alexander Mackendrick 1957)
Week 09: The influence of Film Noir: Re-makes, Retros and Neo-Noir.
Focus films:
China Town (Roman Polanski 1974)
Taxi Driver (Martin Scorsese 1976)
The Man Who Wasn’t There (Coen Bros. 2001)
Week 10: Film Noir and Science Fiction
Focus film:
Blade Runner (Ridley Scott 1982 / 1992)
Week 11: Final thoughts: Conclusions on Film Noir.
Focus film:
Brick (Rian Johnson 2005)
Films List***
***Please note that you will need to acquire your own copies of the following
Learn for
films as they will Pleasure C o ucourse
not be provided as part of the r s e s material.
T u t o r s All courses
Blog are
subject to sufficient numbers of students booking before they are confirmed as
Tutor Led Online Learning Short Courses About Us Log In
running. Therefore, after booking you are advised not to purchase any films
until you have received confirmation that the course is running.
You are welcome to omit study of certain films if you wish.
Metropolis
M
The Maltese Falcon
Double Indemnity
Sunset Boulevard
The Lady From Shanghai
The Killers (1946)
Kiss Me Deadly (1955)
Mildred Pierce (1945)
Scarlet Street (1945)
The Dark Mirror (1946)
Night of the Hunter (1955)
Louis Malle’s Ascenseur pour l’échafaud (Lift to the Scaffold – 1957)
Chinatown
Taxi Driver
The Man Who Wasn’t There
Blade Runner (1982)
Brick (2005 dir. Rian Johnson)
PLEASE FOLLOW & LIKE US
Learn for Pleasure
Course Start Dates
Courses Tutors Blog
Tutor Led Online Learning Short Courses About Us Log In
13th January 2025 - courses open
for registrations.
22nd April 2025
22nd September 2025
Subscribe to our newsletter
To be notified of special offers,
news, new courses, and new
tutors, please subscribe to our
newsletter.
By subscribing you confirm that
you have read and agree to the
Privacy Policy [opens in new
window] and the Terms &
Conditions [opens in new window].
Email
First Name
Last name
SUBSCRIBE
Learn for Pleasure Courses Tutors Blog
Tutor Led Online Learning Short Courses About Us Log In
Terms & Conditions Privacy Policy © Learn for Pleasure
Contact *Learn for Pleasure is not affiliated in
any way with the University of Exeter.
