“A femme fatale is an irresistibly beautiful woman who uses her sexuality to seduce men and lure them into dangerous situations to serve her own selfish interests.They are defined as women of great seductive charm, mysterious, duplicitous, subversive, double-crossing, gorgeous, energized, intelligent, powerful”
The “Playground” for the femme fatale was usually or though not exclusively portrayed in the film noir genre where the contra character was more than likely a male either in legitimate or non legitimate business with a large circle of business colleagues and friends.
Film noir, was the highly successful style of filmmaking which peaked in the 1940s, and focused on crime, corruption, and a cynical look at humanity. These key thematic elements are only part of what a standard noir is made of. Speaking to genre, film noirs also tend to be thrillers, crime dramas, or gangster films. Moreover, and to get more existential, noirs often explore the isolation of humanity, and, conversely, the claustrophobic nature of humanity’s limited existence, which ultimately points to an unbalanced society/social structure.
As far as narratives go, film noirs are often set in urban areas, like major cities, which include, architecturally speaking, juxtapositions in size, shadows, and have plenty of back alleys for dodgy deals and criminal enterprise. This set factor connects with the quintessential lighting of a noir, which is low-key, grimy, grungy and emphasizes shadow. Also, noirs tend to break nonlinear storytelling by relying on flashbacks. Jazz music is often a part of a standard noir, setting the mood from the audible perspective.
Most importantly, there is always an antihero; a fraudulent man, who, somehow, gets involved with the underbelly of humanity, but, thankfully, has a moral compass unlike the femme fatale, the sexy female character of a noir, who instigates corruption, motivates the antiheroes wrongdoing, and often completely lacks any morals or social standard. She is a vamp, she is exotic, alluring and overtly sexual a drug of choice, the drug that is the femme fatale........A Poem.
Her perfume like opium
Captivates my mind
Her ample curves
A favourite of mine
Invitation only
A secret best kept
Venture into the abyss
A hornets nest
The temptress is beckoning
Seductions her art
Her charms beguile me
Fool for a tart
Femme Fatale
Lips honeysweet
Mistress of untruths
Death in defeat.....
© M.J.Sabine 2018