Through a Noir Lens

Biesen’s timely book connects the evolution of the noir style to key changes in film and digital technology, providing a persuasive visual chronology from the 1940s into the 2020s. Through an impressive synthesis of primary source research and stylistic analysis of case study films that encompasses both classic and neo-noir, Through A Noir Lens is an important contribution to the vibrant film noir discourse in American film and media studies. -- Emily Carman, author of <i>Independent Stardom: Freelance Women in the Hollywood Studio System </i> Meticulously researched and elegantly presented, Through a Noir Lens offers an authoritative history of the persistence (in different forms) of noir style from the 1940s to the present. Biesen pays full attention to aesthetic choices, but the book is unique in its expert understanding of how the noir ‘look’ has both survived and prospered, while adapting to changing technologies, industrial forms and modes of reception. -- Brian Neve, author of <i>The Many Lives of Cy Endfield: Film Noir, the Blacklist, and Zulu</i> Through a Noir Lens continues Sheri Chinen Biesen’s groundbreaking work on the development of film noir and its dynamic interplay with new technologies and formats, adding both breadth and nuance to our understanding of the remarkably persistent and adaptable film style. Here Biesen traces noir’s development from its 1940s origins through the Technicolor and television eras and, most strikingly, into the digital age. This is the first in-depth investigation of noir’s pervasive impact on original streaming programming, and it promises to change our conception of both film noir and contemporary media. -- Thomas Schatz, author of <i>The Genius of the System: Hollywood Filmmaking in the Studio Era</i> Biesen’s keen attention to how technological advances shaped film aesthetics enlightens . . . Film scholars will want to add this to their shelf. * Publishers Weekly * A must for devoted movie lovers but an enjoyable reward for general film buffs as well. * Library Journal * Biesen provides readers with an excellent overview of film noir’s technological evolution. Highly recommended. * Choice Reviews *