Rethinking the Femme Fatale in Film Noir: Ready for Her Close-Up

The 'femme fatale' figure in film noir has long served as a central defining feature of these rich and compelling films of the post-war American period. In Rethinking the Femme Fatale in Film Noir, Julie Grossman shows the extent to which the women often labelled as 'femmes fatales' are in fact sympathetic modern women, whose stories of strength, wit and privation command fascination. This study undertakes to erode the category of the 'femme fatale' in favour of careful close readings of film noir and a larger consideration of the drawbacks of labelling women as angels and 'femmes fatales', a perverse cultural inheritance from the Victorian era. Moreover, the book offers a case for reorienting attention in studies of film noir away from the narrow construction of the 'femme fatale' phantom and toward a more open receptivity to the vibrant women, the compelling female narrative, and the imagery sympathetic to both that, Grossman argues, are all commonly on offer in film noir.

Author: J. Grossman
Publisher: Palgrave MacMillan
Published: 11/01/2009
Pages: 190
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 0.76lbs
Size: 8.52h x 8.13w x 0.62d
ISBN: 9780230233287

Review Citation(s):
Choice 09/01/2010

About the Author
JULIE GROSSMAN is Interim Dean of Arts and Sciences and Professor of English, Communication and Film Studies at Le Moyne College, New York, USA. She is co-editor of A Due Voci: The Photography of Rita Hammond and has published articles on film noir, Francis Ford Coppola, Todd Haynes, Oscar Wilde and Karen Finley, and Thomas Hardy and Henry James.