Film gris (; French for "grey film"), a term coined by experimental filmmaker Thom Andersen, is a type of film noir which categorizes a unique series of films that were released between 1947 and 1951. They came in the context of the first wave of the communist investigations of the House Un-American Activities Committee, often made by associates, fellow travellers and supporters of the convicted Hollywood Ten."Film Gris": Crime, Critique and Cold War Culture in 1951 on JSTOR
Thematic elements Films gris offer a leftist criticismRehabilitating the Hollywood Left in Thom Andersen and Noël Burch’s Red Hollywood (1996/2014) - Senses of Cinema of society in general, and of capitalism in particular. They typically examine such themes as the psychological damage of class, the false promises of middle class happiness, and the pitfalls of materialism."Un-American" Hollywood: Politics and Film in the Blacklist Era edited by Frank Krutnik, Steve Neale, Brian Neve, Peter Stanfield-Google Books The politically-active John Garfield was frequently cast by producing partner Bob Roberts as the leading actor in this sub-genre.
Distinction from film noir Film gris differs from film noir in some of the following ways: Film gris is more pessimistic and cynical than film noir. The dividing line between crime and law enforcement is often blurred. Films gris tend to blame society for crime, rather than the individual. Audience identification is often with the collective in a way atypical of Hollywood films. The femme fatale’s motives are more obvious and easier to identify than in film noir.Historical Dictionary of Film Noir by Andrew Spicer-Google Books
List of films gris Andersen identifies the followingMUBI as films gris:
1947 Body and Soul 1948 Force of Evil They Live by Night 1949 Thieves' Highway Knock on Any Door We Were Strangers 1950 The Asphalt Jungle The Breaking Point The Lawless Night and the City Try and Get Me! (The Sound of Fury) 1951 The Prowler He Ran All the Way
List of film gris directors Jules Dassin Abraham Polonsky Nicholas Ray John Huston Joseph Losey John Berry Cy Endfield
See also Neo-noir Message picture United States in the 1950s
Sources Andersen, Thom. "Red Hollywood." Literature and the Visual Arts in Contemporary Society. Eds. Suzanne Ferguson and Barbara S. Groseclose. Columbus: Ohio State University Press. (1985). Hirsch, Joshua. "Film Gris Reconsidered." The Journal of Popular Film and Television 34.2. (2006). Maland, Charles. "Film Gris: Crime, Critique, and Cold War Culture in 1951." Film Criticism 26.3. (2002).
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