Trailer for Brick

What is Noir?

After watching Brick, you may be wondering what exactly is noir?

To put it blatantly, noir is translated directly from the french language as "black." When put together with film, it is translated directly to "black film."  At some point in your life, you will (or have already) most likely watch(ed) a movie that can fit into the genre of film noir. Film noir is divided up into mainly two types of noir:

Here's a quick summary of the two:

Classical noir- Classical noir was basically the starting ground for film noir. It grew popularity in the 1940's and 1950's, developing after World War II. The films that premiered during this time reflected upon the general feeling America was going through in reaction the war. Feelings of negativity, pessimism, suspicion, anxiety, and hopelessness were reflected in these films. These classical film noirs derived from hard boiled crime fiction novels by Raymond Chandler, James M. Cain, and Dashiell Hammet. Movies considered classical film noirs are"The Postman always rings twice","Double Indemnity"," The Big Sleep", and "Murder, my sweet" to name a few. These were usually low budgeted movies, with very distinct cinematography that included black and white contrast,little violence, quick-paced dialogue, and obscure camera angles. The films usually included a private "eye" (or a private investigator), the femme fatale (a dangerous sultry women who uses her sexuality and seduction to get what she wants) and a confusing twisting plot line that usually ends unhappily. This type of noir set the basis for what is now considered film noir today.

Neo-Noir: Neo-noir arrived during the 1960's and 1970's. It's films used the same characteristics that classical noir had, but updated them with more modern settings and utilities. For example, instead of having the films in black and white, they would have it in color. Another example would be that elements such as voice-over narration would be completely cut out from the film. However they would still use conventions like obscure camera angles, quick-talking dialogue, and a dark atmosphere (clifford). The themes that were showcased in neo-noir films were similar to classical noir themes in the sense that they were both reflective of what the U.S. were going through in response to the war. Neo-Noir films are the more popular latter of noir films being made today. Films considered neo-noirs are "Chinatown", "LA Confidential", "Brick".

• Electric Noir (branch off of Neo- noir): Electric noir came about at the turn of the century, when film noir was crossed over with science fiction. An electric noir film would include a blend of "cyberpunk" culture (a science fiction genre that focuses on the high advanced technology and low life), a twisted timeline set with futuristic elements, and usually include a post-apocalyptic setting, for example "Earth 200,000 years later" (wikipedia.) Themes that are prominent in these types of films include nostalgia, pessimism, chaos, and confusion, which echoes themes in both classic and neo-noirs. Popular electric film noirs are "Blade Runner", "Pulp Fiction", and "Minority Report."

Characters of Brick: Brendan- Main Protagonist

Brendan Frye, played by Joseph Gordon Levitt, is the main protagonist of the film.With his scruffy hair, round spectacles, and hands always shoved in his pockets, Brendan gets an SOS call from his ex-girlfriend, asking him to help her. Still driven with love for her, he goes on a quest to find out information about her disappearance-- getting a couple bumps and bruises on the way.  Brendan, noted as an "adolescent Phillip Marlowe" (Gonsalves), a social outcast, doesn't fit into any of the stereotypical social cliques, and can be found eating lunch behind the schools port-a-pottys by himself. Like main protagonists in film noir, they have a flaw. Brendan has a past that haunts him, which is the past relationship he had with Emily. When Emily meets with Brendan for the last time, she asks him to please "just let me go", something that Brendan never actually answers. It is not until the final scene of the film where Brendan solves the case of her disappearance where he finally lets her go.
How is he similar/different to Phillip Marlowe?
Well, to start off, Phillip Marlowe is a prrivate detective, not a cop, who prefers to work with little or no help. He keeps to himself and is usually found alone. He is "morally upright" and never falls into the femme fatale's trap. He's quick talking, clever, and is driven to discover the truth in cases. He prefers to work alone in his cases without the aide of the police. He puts a mean tough front at first, and then as you get to know his character you realize his good intentions and strong morals.

Sound familiar? Let's break it down. Brendan is a social outcast, he prefers to be alone. Though he is solely working by himself in the film, he has a fellow peer, Brain, keeping a hidden eye out for him. He makes it clear in the film that he doesn't want any involvement of his vice principle (which can serve as a symbolism to the Law )  in the case that he's working on. He puts up a "hard-boiled" tough front, just like Marlowe, but is driven by his past love for his ex-girlfriend to find out the truth behind he disappearance (Levy).
Interesting how the two match up, isn't it?

Characters of Brick: Laura-The Femme Fatale

No, I am not talking about Britney Spears new album, if that's what you're thinking.
So, you may be wondering. What exactly is a femme fatale?
The Femme Fatale literally translates to fatal women in french. The femme fatale is usually a woman that plays opposite of the main protagonist in any noir film. She is considered dangerous, but not in an outwardly violent (murderous maybe) sort of way. She uses seduction and sexuality to entangle lovers into her own deadly plot, just to get what she wants. There's something mysterious about her, but her beautiful looks are enough for you to overlook that.

In Brick, Laura (portrayed by Nora Zhetner) who is seen as the popular girlfriend of highschool jock Brad Bermish, is the films "femme fatale." Though there are many mixed reviews on Noras portrayal of the femme fatale, her deceiving character fits teh description of a femme fatale, but in the form of a high school student. She uses subtle seductive techniques, like making herself vulnerable to Brendan by offering to help him with the case countless times, despite the fact that she is the one who stirred up this complex situation that Brendan is getting himself into.  At first, it seemed like she really did want to help Brendan, and throughout the movie we all get accustomed to her. She drives Brendan to the places he needs to be, follows his instructions, and even cares for him when he breaks down over his dead ex girlfriend. She becomes a likable character, even though something about her rises suspicion. Brendan never fully gave her his complete trust. He asked Brain to keep an eye on her, and was always very cautious around her. The only time he somewhat gave into her seduction was when he broke down over Emily in Tug's room while she was caressing him on the bed. She initiated the kiss, and Brendan, finally breaking down his hard emotionless front, let her kiss him.

The final scene supports the claim that Laura is the films' femme fatale when Brendan calls her out on her deceiving actions that lead to Emily's, Tug's and The Pin's death. When Brendan is asked to retell the tale to her, Laura continued to deny her actions, her eyes wide with artificial innocence, telling him that everything he's saying is false. It's not until Brendan gives her the news that he submitted a letter into the police, basically having her "walk into the slaughterhouse." Laura's character changes as soon as she finds out that she is now guilty of her crime. Her voice suddenly more confident than it was when she was trying to prove her innocence, she shares her side of the story to Brendan and finishes it off with calling him a "Mother--." We don't hear the 2nd part of the word, but I'm sure it wasn't pleasant.
Her sudden change in character reveals the deviousness and slyness that has been kept hidden from the audience the entire movie. Brendan was right to be suspicious of her, for she ended up playing 'villain' afterall. 

Characters of Brick: Brain, The Pin, Tug.

The Brain (portrayed by Matt O'Leary) :
 
Quirky, genius, and a fellow loner, Brain is a true friend of Brendan and serves as Brendans informative stable side kick. Brain seemingly knows everything about everyone at the school: where students eat lunch, their locker combinations, the highschool cliques that they're currently apart of. He is often found with his back up against a wall solving a Rubricks cube in under a few minutes, or studying at his "headquarters" aka the library. Brain is the first person Brendan went to for information on Emily and any other important students that are connected to her. He was asked to keep an eye out on suspicious figures like Laura, and keep the Vice Principle and cops out of Brendans business. He makes educated guesses that are pretty accurate and helped Brendan lead to more information about the case of Emilys disappearance. He was very supportive of Brendan and proved to be a very handy partner to him.
The Pin (portrayed by Lukas Haas): 

The pin, or the "Kingpin," is described as the towns local "spook story." One of the oldest characters in the film (which reminds us that this is again a high school setting, where the majority of characters are within the ages of 16-18), he is 26 years old and leads a drug dealing circle between all the local high schools in the basement of his mothers house. His image always includes a long black cape/jacket and walks with a duck-headed cane. In the film, he possesses the 10 bricks of heroin, where one of them that went "bad" lead to the deaths of Tug, Emily, and himself.
Tugger (portrayed by Noah Fleiss):

Tugger, is the Pin's henchman. He is a drug dealing thug, and was eventually found to have been in a past relationship with Emily. His temper is quick to rise and anyone that ticks him off will result in an abundance of beatings. He is also guilty of murder. He murdered Emily out of jealousy for the relationship she had with Dode, who was Emilys boyfriend at the time. He shot Dode in the head with a pistol after thinking that Dode was going to rat him out for murdering Emily, when really Dode thought the murderer was Brendan. It is implied in the film that the Pin is beaten to death by Tug.

Point of View in Brick

If you’ve ever taken an English class (which I’m pretty sure most of you are enrolled in one, or have taken one at some point), then you will have most likely come across the words ‘point of view.’ Point of view is a form of narration, it’s a way that the rhetor (speaker) conveys the plot to the audience. In most film and novel noirs, the storyline is often told in a 1^st person point of view, in the eyes of the main protagonist and sometimes accompanied by voiceovers to give insight on the characters thoughts and exerperiences.  In the novel, “The Red Winds” by Raymond Chandler, the story is told through the eyes of main protagonist Phillip Marlowe. We hear his thoughts, we see what he sees, and we trust that his experiences are credible. That’s the thing about 1^stperson point of views… although the character whos eyes were viewing through may not be credible (as in we can’t really trust if what he’s saying is actually true or not) the audience has no choice but to believe what he says since there isn’t an omniscient point of view to confirm that these actions are true.

In Brick, it is clear that the film is told in a first person point of view, through the experiences and eyes of Brendan Fyre. Although, the audience doesn’t get to hear the thoughts that run through Brendan’s head, it is still very evident that we as an audience are right there with him in ever scene. Brendan is almost never out of the cameras sight. The camera is in fact so close to Brendan, that everything we see is at his eye level and everything he experiences, we experience it too. When Brendan blacks out from getting punched the lights out of him by Tug, the camera blacks out also. When Brendan isn’t wearing his glasses, the camera is has an unfocused effect, giving the impression that we are in the eyes of Brendan. Once Brendan puts his glasses on, the camera is focused and we are able to see clearly. Another component that further supports the subjective point of view, is the flashbacks that we see in the movie. Many of the flashbacks are limited solely to the mind of Brendans. The flashback that Brendan experiences when he is on the lot of his highschool field having an argument with Emily is something that the audience can see only through Brendan. No one else was present in the scene other than Emily, and it is clear that we are viewing this flashback with Brendan as he walks on that lot. 

A small look into the Cinematography used in Brick

In film noir, the cinematography used is very distinct. They use “unbalanced and disturbing frame compositions, strong contrasts of light and dark, the prevalence of shadows and areas of darkness within the frame, the visual tension created by curious camera angles and so forth” (filmindustryowrks). However, Brick took on a more modern take on film noir cinematography. Rian Johnson wanted to give a fresh perspective on noir by avoiding the obvious noir elements like the “shadows of blinds on the walls, and soft focus on the female close ups.” He felt like films that try to imitate these noir characteristics are something we’ve seen “a million times but more importantly we’ve seen it imitated and parodied a million times.”

Although the director did his best to avoid imitating certain characteristics of noir, he did however manage to include obscure camera angles (which is a very distinct noir cinematic element) in the film. Gaining inspiration from the neo-noir film Chinatown, many of the scenes were shot at an odd angle. For example, the camera would focus on bizarre objects like Brendans boots as he’s walking on the pavement. Some other scenes like when Brendan is talking to the Vice Principle, the camera is shot at an angle that is looking upwards at them. Here’s some photos from behind the scenes of how they capture similar shots.

Notice how the camera is placed below the actors, almost on the ground and is constantly being shot at an upwards angle!

Another cinematic noir element is the use of shadows. Although it was very subtle, there were a couple of scenes where the lighting that they used created shadows on the actors faces. Lighting and shadows were a huge key element in film noir. These shadows were created using very little light and not many devices, considering the low funding the crew had for the movie. Here's an example:

Dialogue in Brick

One of the most obvious homages to noir in Brick, was the impeccable use of quick-talking witty language. Although these characters were high school students, in no way did they talk or act like high school students. Spitting out clever comebacks like "Throw one at me if you'd like hash-head. I got all five senses and I slept last night. That puts me six up on the lot of you" is something that you normally wouldn't hear from classmates walking by during passing period.
Though the dialogue may have sounded quite unnatural to your ears, it was also a challenge for the actors. The actors had to undergo some noir research themselves, but they didn't necessarily watch just noir films. They read some of Dashiel Hammet's works, watched Billy Wilder films, and films that "you wouldn't expect to go along with the feel of brick" like Singing in the Rain.  Johnson described the process of attributing the dialogue as "trying to put a tomato into a matchbox; it doesn't fit."  In other words, they kept the uneasiness and unnatural feel that the dialogue brought to the film.
Johnson figured that trying to make the dialogue seem realistic is not going to work out, so might as well keep it the way it sounds. Seeing these teenagers spew out ridiculously fast dialogue is something we aren't used to seeing. It's not exactly our familiar slang that we are all comfortable with.  This what gives the film it's "fresh" sound and makes it different from any other "teen flick."

The scripted Dialogue for the final scene of Brick

In case you missed some important sections, here's the entire story retold by Brendan to Laura in the field of their highschool (quoted from the actual script that Rian Johnson put out online. link is in sidebar):
"BRENDAN: Alright, from the top. You had your fingers in Brad Bramish for appearances and to keep him buying from the Pin, who you were hooked with. Emily came to you and Brad, you saw her for what she was, an insecure little girl trying to get in. She goes on the backburner. Meanwhile maybe you're getting bored, maybe just greedy, so when the Pin scores big with the bricks you take your shot. You hook one, take half, and cut it back to size, but you cut it bad. Maybe accidentally, maybe to down the Pin's operation, doesn't matter. You put it back, but poor Frisco doses off it and lands in a coma.
(voice strengthening) So now the Pin's fuming, maybe he's jealous of Brad, so he comes to Brad's crowd looking for blood, or at least a scape. You know trouble. There's going to be a war over this. And there's Emily. She trusts you. She wants in. It's duck soup.
....
You frame her for the bad brick, then you cut her loose. You turn on your heel and bite her in the throat. Last week on the payphone, Pico and Alexander, she saw something she was scared of. Tug's car driving by, the Pin driving, but she wouldn't have seen the Pin. No, she was across the street, angel. She saw the passenger side. She saw you. She saw you and ran like she saw some devil.
...
BRENDAN And she took the hit. Dode hid her away, but the Pin was on to her, tracked her down, told her to meet him, that they would make good. Gave her a time, and a place. And sent Tug. Just to get the straight. But maybe you had talked Tug up, or maybe he just blew a fuse, but Em sprung it on him that she had her kid, and he did what anyone could count on Tug doing - he hit her. She took the hit for you. You let her take it."


At the final scene of the movie, Brendan calls out Laura on her deceiving intentions. Throughout the movie, Laura has been a character that Brendan never fully trusted. Countless times she offers to help Brendan, and Brendan continued to reject her. It wasn't untill halfway through the movie that he began to let her help him but from a distance. 

A glossary of Brick Slang

Some of the unfamiliar words used in Brick (Levy):

Blow ” to leave, depart; e.g., Did she blow last night
Bulls ” cops; e.g., What first, tip the bulls; also, as a verb, to turn over to the cops; e.g., I bulled the rat.
Burg (or Burgh) ” town, city; e.g., He knows every two-bit toker in the burg.
Copped ” stole; e.g., She copped the junk.
Dose ” to take drugs; e.g., He dosed off the bad junk and it laid him out.
Duck soup ” easy pickings.
Gat ” gun.
Gum ” to mess things up; e.g., Bulls would only gum it.
Heel ” to walk away from (, and show your heels to); e.g., Im not heeling you to hook you.
Hop; Jake; Junk ” drugs.
Pick ” a ride in a car (as in pick-up); e.g., Did she get a pick
Reef worm ” a stoner (abbrev. of reefer).
Scape ” a patsy to take the blame (abbrev. of scapegoat).
Scraped ” begged off of, cadged from; e.g., Ask any dope rat where their junk sprang and theyll say they scraped it off [name]
Shamus ” a private detective.
Shine ” to wield (as with a weapon); e.g., He shines a blade.
Sprang ” originated; e.g., His gat sprang from Tuggers gang.
Take a powder ” to slip away; e.g., Whyd you take a powder the other night
Yeg ” (generic for,) a guy; e.g., Theyd probably find some yeg to pin it on.

Important Links!

A lot of the photos I put up here were from a tumblr dedicated to brick kept by the director. Click Here
If you want to look at the actual script of the movie in case you missed what was said, the director put out the script online!  Click Here 
Roger Ebert's Review of the Film Click Here

Some sites that helped create this blog:

Works Cited

Clifford, Laura. "Reeling: the Movie Review Show's Review of Brick." Welcome to Reelingreviews.com the Online Home of Reeling: the Movie Review Show. Web. 14 Mar. 2011. .

Crimeculture. Web. 13 Mar. 2011. .

Gonsalves, Rob. "Brick « Rob's Movie Vault." Rob's Movie Vault. Web. 13 Mar. 2011. .

Koban, Craig J. "BRICK." CrAiGeR's Cinema Corner. Web. 13 Mar. 2011. .

Levy, Emmanuel. "Welcome to Emanuel Levy » Rian Johnson on Brick." Welcome to Emanuel Levy. Web. 14 Mar. 2011. .

Smith, Kevin B. "Brendan Frye (Brick)." The Thrilling Detective Web Site. Web. 13 Mar. 2011. .