Final Project Video Essay Annotated Bibliography

Noir Sources

1. Citation: Dick, Bernard F. “Columbia’s Dark Ladies and the Femmes Fatales of Film Noir.” Literature Film Quarterly, vol. 23, no. 3, July 1995, p. 155. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=9510244287&site=ehost-live&scope=site.

Annotation: In this source, the author discusses the femme fatale role in films noirs and it delves into the specifics of when Columbia Pictures started making noirs and how they reinvented and created their own unique perspective for said femme fatales. I was drawn to this specific source as there is an aspect of evolution that was discussed within this source itself and that’s what I’m interested in analyzing. 

2. Citation: Grossman, Julie. “Film Noir’s ‘Femme Fatales’ Hard-Boiled Women: Moving Beyond Gender Fantasies.” Quarterly Review of Film & Video, vol. 24, no. 1, Jan. 2007, pp. 19–30. EBSCOhost, https://doi.org/10.1080/10509200500485983.

Annotation: This source delves into the Femme Fatale and the generally presumed gender roles and fantasies associated with said trait and how/why this trait originated as well as discussions revolving around women’s role in noir past the femme fatale archetype. I can see myself using this source in building onto explaining what this femme fatale trait is and what I mean by mystique.

3. Citation: BOOZER, JACK. “THE LETHAL FEMME FATALE IN THE NOIR TRADITION.” Journal of Film and Video, vol. 51, no. 3/4, 1999, pp. 20–35. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/20688218

Annotation: This source is a journal that discusses the changing views in sexuality and sex roles which was a result of war times which led to this evolution in the role women hold in society which also in turn led to the creation and evolutions of the femme fatale.

4. Citation: Beckman, Frida. “From Irony to Narrative Crisis: Reconsidering the Femme Fatale in the Films of David Lynch.” Cinema Journal, vol. 52, no. 1, 2012, pp. 25–44. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/23360279

Annotation: This source is more specific in which it speaks on the femme fatale in regards to David Lynch’s films which argues that “the figure of the femme fatale, associated by feminist film critics with the epistemological drive of causal and patriarchal narrative, attains a progressive potential when portrayed through the complex narrative temporalities of David Lynch’s Blue Velvet, Lost Highway, and Mulholland Drive.” I can see myself using this source as I plan on discussing Mulholland Drive as a film.

5. Citation: BRAMMER, REBEKAH. “Futuristic Femmes Fatales.” Screen Education, no. 80, Summer 2015, pp. 98–103. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=111508469&site=ehost-live&scope=site.

Annotation: This source tackles the femme fatale in Blade Runner and other futuristic interpretations of the femme fatale itself and how this ties into this futuristic narrative. This source would be a great point to tackle in the evolution of the femme fatale and it’s evolution.

6. Citation: Bronfen, Elisabeth. “Femme Fatale—Negotiations of Tragic Desire.” New Literary History, vol. 35, no. 1, Winter 2004, pp. 103–16. EBSCOhost, https://doi.org/10.1353/nlh.2004.0014

Annotation:  This source isn’t entirely focused on the femme fatale’s mystique, rather it was moreso focused on the way this trait shapes and molds with the narrative creating a specific structured way of feeling, playing into what the creator wants. This source will help me structure out how I’m going to word my meaning and definition of the role for the femme fatale.

7. Citation: TRENCH, MARIANNE SCHAEFER. “Fixing the Femme Fatale.” Publishers Weekly, vol. 266, no. 41, Oct. 2019, p. (Sp)10. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=139111250&site=ehost-live&scope=site

Annotation: This isn’t a traditional source, it’s a collection of stories and poems of women reclaiming this femme fatale role created by men and saying that they are worth more than this trait created for themselves. 

8. Citation: “Projecting Trauma: The Femme Fatale in Weimar and Hollywood Film Noir.” Women in German Yearbook: Feminist Studies in German Literature & Culture, vol. 23, 2007, pp. 224–243

Annotation: This source delves into the origin of the femme fatale due to the crisis of male identity due to WW1 and the way women were conducted and construed in this way. This source will be helpful as extra supplementary information for the creation of this trait.

9. Citation: Nelson, John S. “From Femme Fatale to Femmes Focales? Feminist Protagonists in Film Noir.” Conference Papers — Midwestern Political Science Association, 2006 Annual Meeting 2006, p. 1. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=27208968&site=ehost-live&scope=site

Annotation: This source talks about the future of women protagonists at a time where women weren’t prominently the protagonist and they discuss that women don’t have to be just femme fatales anymore. This source would be great to use at the end for the future of the trait.

10. Citation: Wager, Jans B. Dangerous Dames : Women and Representation in the Weimar Street Film and Film Noir. Ohio University Press, 1999

Annotation: This source is all about the femme fatale and delves into what makes them alluring, their mystique. This source will be supplementary in building onto my understanding and definition of the given femme fatale trait itself when I’m explaining what the femme fatale is itself.