Femme Fatales In Cinema

I've come over all nostalgic.

They don't make movies like they used to. One of the genres not explored much today and when it is, it is usually misused in cinema is the femme fatale.

She was a staple of 40s film noir. One definition - The femme fatale has been portrayed as a sexual vampiress; her charms leach the virility and independence of lovers, leaving them shells of themselves. They also got the best lines in the films. And all it took was a cutting word or a look.

One of the reasons for the rise of the femme fatale in the 1940s cinemagoers of the day were women who were working hard in the factories for the war effort whilst the men were away fighting the wars.

Whenever there has been an attempt to make movies these days with what is perceived as a femme fatale, she tends to come off looking like an icy psychopath (Sharon Stone in Basic Instinct or Glenn Close in Fatal Attraction).

The 40's femme fatale was always elegantly dressed, not a hair out of place, beautifully written dialogue, witty when they had to be, deadly in thought and deed and in complete control - until they got their comeuppance at the end of the movie that is.

My favourite femme fatales are:-

1. Virginia Mayo - White Heat
2. Linda Fiorentino - The Last Seduction (not a 1940s movie, but she was so good)
3. Rita Hayworth - Gilda
4. Barbara Stanwyck - Double Indemnity
5. Lana Turner - The Postman Always Rings Twice
6. Marilyn Monroe - Niagara


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v =PgUBtHKfkfM


I love movies where women play strong, intelligent characters (sadly lacking in a lot of today's movies), but I have a special place in my little old heart for femme fatales.

There was a retrospective at the BFI that I missed (dammit Janet).


http://www.birds-eye-view.co.u k/472/retrospective/femmes-fat ales-season-bfi-southbank.html