The genre that made shadows sexy and cynicism cool—explained by the legends who lived it.
Film noir, which enjoyed particular success in the 1930s and 1940s, is probably the most profound genre of classic Hollywood cinema. Eckhart Schmidt tries to show the background and developments and speaks, among others, with directors such as Richard Fleischer and Robert Wise as well as with "femme fatale" actresses. Filmmakers of the following generations explain how the style and themes of noir continue to shape cinema today.
Direction
Schmidt's patient, reverent interviews with fading legends.
Production
Rare archival footage of noir sets and techniques.
Director
Eckhart Schmidt
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
The title references German film criticism's gendered reading of noir iconography—trenchcoats for masculine alienation, furs for feminine danger.
Eckhart Schmidt was himself a genre director in 1970s Germany, making this as much fan letter as scholarship.
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