Film Noir

"The noir narrative confronts the protagonist with a rift in the familiar order of things or with a recognition that apparent normality is actually the antithesis of what it seems to be: it is brutal rather than benign, dehumanised not civilised. In the course of the story, it becomes clear that the things that are amiss cannot be dealt with rationally and cannot ultimately be put to rights."

~ Lee Horsley, Lancaster University

The Development of Post-war Literary and Cinematic Noir

Crimeculture (http://www.crimeculture.com/Contents/Film%20Noir.html)