Detours and Lost Highways

ÊDetours and Lost HighwaysÊ begins with the Orson Welles film ÊTouch of EvilÊ (1958) which featured Welles both behind and in front of the camera. That movie is often cited as the end of the line noir's rococo tombstone...the film after which noir could no longer be made or at least could no longer be made in the same way... It is my belief Hirsch writes that neo-noir does exist and that noir is entitled to full generic status. Over the past forty years since noir's often-claimed expiration it has flourished under various labels. Among the movies he discusses as evidence: ÊChinatownÊ (1974) ÊBody HeatÊ (1981) John Woo's Hong Kong blood-ballets (e.g. ÊThe KillerÊ 1989) and the pulpy oeuvre of Quentin Tarantino. ä ÊWashington Post Book WorldÊ