A Little Neo-Noir, Prince Charles Cinema

Stark lighting, hardboiled detectives, slick dialogue; these are the signifiers of the film noir, a genre of cinema which enjoyed its heyday in the American cinema of the 1940s. The neo-noir, as the name suggests, is a more contemporary version of this genre, which refashions the tropes of the film noir for a contemporary context, and with the benefit of improved technology.  This September - November season, The Prince Charles Cinema will be showing a selection of four classics of the neo-noir genre, a cause for celebration for fans and newcomers alike.  
Directed by William Friedkin, and based on a novel by a former secret service agent, To Live and Die in L.A. is a classic neo-noir, starring Willem Dafoe in his break-through role as a cold-blooded counterfeiter. Expect fasting-talking, razor-sharp dialogue, as well as one of the greatest car chases of all time.
Thief (1981) is Michael Mann’s directorial debut. Moody and atmospheric, this film tells the story of a professional jewel thief, desperately striving, but unable, to escape the life of crime. Broodingly sound-tracked by German electronic pioneers, Tangerine Dream.
Jack Nicholson stars in Roman Polanski’s Chinatown (1974) as a 1930s private detective who stumbles upon a conspiracy more sinister and far-reaching than he could ever have expected. Stylish and suspenseful, Chinatown suggests a particular nostalgia for the early film noir.  
The most recent of the four films, Drive (2011) stars Ryan Gosling in a career-defining role as a stuntman, moonlighting as a getaway driver. Bold, anxious and gripping, this is a neo-noir for the 21st Century.