The Pocket EssentialFilm Soleil

D.K. Holm’s new book Film Soleil discusses a subgenre of neo-noir films coined by the author: “For want of a better term I have called it “film soleil” to distinguish it from noir proper.” Holm contrasts film soleil with film noir: “If traditional film noir is night and shadows, then film soleil is daytime and sunny.” He cites Chinatown as the key transitional film separating noir from soleil, though he argues that Blood Simple marks the true birth of the subgenre: “The string of sunlit crime films officially began in 1984 with the release of Blood Simple... heralding the arrival of a new cinematic style.”