Laced with graphic intimacy that seems real rather than staged or stylized, Betty Blue (original title: 37º2 le matin), released in 1986 and directed by Jean-Jacques Beineix, is the story of the tormented, passionate life and love between a handyman who's also a writer, and his young, beautiful, but wild and unpredictable girlfriend Betty. This is a highly intelligent, beautifully photographed, and very smartly directed film, and though not intentionally "noir" in any way, and follows few, if any, noir conventions, it strikes a lot of the same notes. If frank sexuality bothers you, avoid this film, but otherwise, sit back and enjoy a stylish, hard look at love handicapped by mental illness, and a relationship that slowly dissolves in spite of its passion. And, as we know, in noir-land losing is a way of life...
Chinatown (1974) starring Jack Nicholson, Faye Dunaway and John Huston, is one of the best of modern film noir. Nicholson, as private detective Jake Gittes uncovers a web of dirty dealing, incestuous lust and corrupt politicians, while Faye Dunaway, who is forever chewing the scenery, is good. The script, which won writer Robert Towne the Academy Award, moves throughout the myriad plot points without getting bogged down or self-conscious, and director Roman Polanski, who's made some other great movies in his career, is at his very best, even doing a cameo as a criminal who teaches Gittes a painful lesson. This is a sprawling story of an emerging L.A. during the time when the early 20th century power grab was on. If you've missed this one you've been in the cultural cave...
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