bruce wrote:
This begs the question: If noir represents the tragic view of
the universe, the idea of "comic noir" is a contradiction in
terms. Unless, I would guess, you have a comic scene, like
the gravedigger scene in Hamlet, within the overriding tragic
arc. Humor within a tragic viewpoint is black humor,
reflecting a morbid bitterness. I'm thinking of the tone in
many noir works, like The Maltese Falcon or Farewell, My
Lovely.
But here's the puzzle, for me: With The Postman Always
Rings Twice, the viewpoint is inevitably tragic, with a
tragic ending, yet there is a bitter, almost humourous, irony
at the end. Cape Fear, on the other hand, has a happy
ending.
*************** Great points! The big-picture humor in noir
is indeed black humor, graveyard humor. The sound you hear in
the background is fate laughing at the futility of the human
struggle.
And your puzzle between THE POSTMAN and CAPE FEAR depends on
your definitions. If your definition of noir doesn't require
the sound defeat of the protagonist at the end, then it can
have a happy ending and fate doesn't necessarily get the last
laugh. For me, I subscribe to Jack Bludis's "screwed"
(referring to the protagonist) definition for noir, so I
wouldn't call CAPE FEAR noir. CAPE FEAR would have been noir
if told from the con's viewpoint.
And yes! The ending to THE POSTMAN is indeed a humorous
irony. They finally quit their selfish scheming and actually
love one another, and all of a sudden Cora is dead and Frank
is condemned to death for a murder he did not commit. You
gotta love it!
miker
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