"The Lost Weekend"Film Noir or Not

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Matt Cowell Film Noir

Sept, 8th 00 Dr. Greta A. Niu

“The Lost Weekend”

Film Noir or Not




Though “The Lost Weekend” is considered to be film noir, there are major differences between it and other classic film noir movies. What makes The Lost Weekend a film noir movie? As we have seen The Lost Weekend has no femme fatale, no mystery, murder, private eye, and none of the leading ladies is particularly sultry or sensual. However as I analyzed the film there are many key areas in which The Lost Weekend is similar to other film noir movies. As I took a closer look I found some interesting parallels between alcohol and the classic femme fatale. The use of lighting in The Lost Weekend is also extremely important to show the despair and demise of Don Birnam and is a trademark of film noir. I will also show how the internal struggle that Don is dealing with parallels other classic film noir movies. Finally I will prove that the ending in The Lost Weekend is a prime example of a film noir and that this movie is indeed film noir.

First, I believe that there is a femme fatale in this movie. Although we do not see a sensual woman who is manipulating men and using her sexuality as a tool to conquer men; we do have something in this movie that takes the place of the femme fatale. This substitute or alternate femme fatale has many of the qualities that a femme fatale posses. It is alluring, mysterious, controlling, manipulative, it makes men think irrationally, and it can also be deadly. What I am describing is the classic femme fatale character and in The Lost Weekend I believe that alcohol plays this role perfectly. Alcohol has become the alluring and sensual pleasure in Don Birnams life. Alcohol has such a controlling grasp on his life he can’t live without it. Don’s lust for alcohol and desire to posses it is in many ways similar to both Walter Neff’s desire for Phyllis in Double Indemnity as well as Michael O’Hara’s desire for Elsa Bannister in The Lady From Shanghai. Don’s lust for alcohol drives him to do irrational acts of desperation. For example he searches all day to find a pawn shop that is open so he can sell his typewriter in exchange for booze. Walter Neff’s desire for Phyllis drives him to ultimately murder her husband, and Michael O’Hara decides to kill Grisby in exchange for money and a chance at starting a new life with Elsa. This alone does not classify The Lost Weekend as film noir, however it is just one similarity.

The lighting in most film noir is typically moody, dark and is often used to show which characters are in control of the situation or in this case out of control. When Don is in the apartment and he sees the mouse the room is very dark. Helen enters the room and turns the lights on helping Don regain control of his consciousness and regain his grip on reality. Lighting is of extreme importance in a film noir movie and The Lost Weekend is no different. In many film noir light is used to cast shadows on figures while illuminating other parts of the frame. A good example of this would be in Double Indemnity when Water Neff enters Phyllis’s house after the murder. Phyllis is sitting in chair with the lights out, however there is light through the blinds in the window creating a moody atmosphere as streaks of shadow and light are sprayed across the walls. The use of lighting in The Lost Weekend is very similar in the scene when Don is in the alcoholics ward. There is light shining through the double door entrance to the ward and the window is crisscrossed with metal that creates diamond shapes. The light passing through the window creates a shadow on Don much as it did in Double Indemnity. The use of the lighting gives you the impression of prison bars in both instances. This use of lighting helps the viewer in that it builds upon the mood and gives a creepy feeling that something is just not quite right in the scene.

In many film noir movies there is also this internal conflict between good and evil. In The Lady From Shanghai Michael O’Hara is battling the desire and lust for Elsa and his need to escape her. Walter Neff is also battling his lust for Phyllis and his own morality. In The Lost Weekend Don’s internal battle is against his desire for alcohol and his desire to be a successful writer. Though the internal struggles for both Michael and Walter are against acts to commit murder or in Michaels case to confess to murder. Don’s struggle is not for someone else’s life but it is a battle for his own life. He is constantly struggling and losing to the desire to kill himself by use of alcohol. This desire ultimately causes him to purchase a gun to end his own life. All of these men are in a battle for their souls, each is lured into this struggle by the femme fatale which in Don’s case is the alcohol. At the end of Double Indemnity and The Lady from Shanghai both Water and Michael have lost the battle, neither of the men gets the girl or the money and both are worse off than they were before. This is not the case with Don however. At the end of The Lost Weekend we are left with a sense of hope that Don will conquer his battle against alcohol and become the great writer he wants to be.

This ending is not a typical ending for a film noir and is cause for debate that The Lost Weekend is not in fact film noir. At the end of the movie Don gets the girl, appears to win the struggle against his evil desires, and is headed toward a successful career as a writer. However in the movie there is a reoccurring theme. This theme or thematic element is the idea of the circle. A circle has no beginning and no end. The idea of a circle gives us the feeling that Don’s struggle is not over at the end of the movie, he is just back at the place where we saw him at the beginning of the movie. The most vivid example of this circle that Don can’t escape is when he is back at his brother’s apartment and he sees the mouse chewing through the wall. A bat then appears at the window and flies inside the room. The bat begins flying circles around Don’s head and it then sees the mouse trying to escape from the wall and pounces on the mouse killing it in bloody fashion. This vivid and disturbing scene gives us a visual picture of the internal battle that Don is going through. Don is represented by the mouse trying to chew it way out of the wall. This symbol of the mouse is portraying Don as he is struggling to free himself from the addiction of alcoholism. The bat is the vicious cycle of alcoholism and the hopelessness of Don’s plight. However you view the ending this movie it is a wonderful example of film noir. This ending may not be as dark as other film noir movies, however the thematic material certainly paints a darker picture of Don’s future than do other film noir movies.

Though The Lost Weekend may not appear to be a film noir movie if you breakdown the details in the movie it is a clear example of film noir. From the lighting, the psychologically dark theme of man’s struggle against himself as well as the hopeless ending, it is clear that is movie lends itself to the film noir genre. I believe that this movie is the best example of film noir we have seen so far. This movie dealt with a much darker and much more real theme than any other film noir movie. Not only was the lighting moody and dark, but the film also portrayed the dark and

deep chasm of the human mind and showed it’s viewer the horrible side of our mental struggles. This movie I believe stands apart from the other film noir movies in that is gives us a more accurate glimpse into the human battle against our own self-destructive nature and our desire to better ourselves.



Kaplan, E. Ann, “Women in film noir”, British Film Institute, 18Pages 47 - 6



Wruck, Neal, “The Lost Weekend” Review, www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/601005740/10-6515408-461768?v=glance, May 15th, 00

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