When it comes to the genre of film noir, you know what to expect if you look closely enough. It's the same with the Western genre or the Science Fiction genre you go into one of these sorts of films knowing what to expect and the same can be said for film noir. Director Peter Medak basically uses Romeo is Bleeding as an example he knows what to put into a film noir and thus, it's no real surprise that masses of people don't like the film since the majority will not know what to look out for and why such content is included.
There are plenty of references to noir as a whole. The way the story is told through flashback, the blatant femme fatale, the protagonist/focus working as some sort of law enforcer and the way certain characters such as the mob boss, the 'rat' and of course the femme fatale are included. Romeo is Bleeding is no doubt an entertaining film with a smart idea and a basic if not effective plot but its look and feel is a little disappointing and as someone who has seen multiple film noirs and neo noirs, I found it to be a disappointment overall. The film feels like a cross between Angel Heart (1987) and Basic Instinct (1992) as its voiceovers and disturbing content is mixed in with a very dangerous female character.
Why I think Romeo is Bleeding leans more towards the film noir genre rather than the neo noir genre is because of its content. Jack (Oldman) is a law enforcer but not a lone private eye since he has his authoritarian buddies around him most of the time. He narrates his story in the same way Walter Neff does in Double Indemnity, telling us what happened from a safe place yet Walter was shot and injured physically, Jack is injured psychologically. Mona Demarkov (Olin) wears all the bright red lipstick and jewellery and is seductive enough to represent a femme fatale but it's at a very basic level she just wants to antagonise Jack rather than out and out get rid of him. Again, this is director Medak showing us he knows his stuff about noir without really convincing us these people are characters, more-so wax work model examples in a noir museum.
What I did find clever is that the main difference between film and neo noir is its content and how that is played with in Romeo is Bleeding. Neos are more violent and have more sex and profanity but Romeo is Bleeding doesn't have much of this until its climax. We see Sheri (Lewis), Jack's barmaid squeeze on the side, in lingerie at various points and we see Mona in bondage attire towards the end on top of Jack but we never actually see the sex. Jack also rather unfortunately loses one of his body parts at one point in the film but we don't see it get 'removed', just him turning up at home with a whole lot of blood in a certain place. I feel this is Medak's 'nod' to film noir in terms of censorship. Sure, there is blood but the aftermath of the taboo events are emphasised not the acts themselves. This is similar to Double Indemnity and other classic noir but more distant to neo noir such as Angel Heart and Basic Instinct where the violence and sex is full on, graphic and we see it all.
Romeo is Bleeding also utilises its location very well: The constant passing of L-trains, the graffiti covered walls, the way lights are missing their lamp shades when they need to but have them when required all act as great visuals to combine with the voiceovers and the sax music at various points to make and noir fan get excited. The film, however, just plods most of the time and although I found it interesting I feel the majority of people will dislike the film but that's probably because they see Gary Oldman is in it and realise it's a crime film and probably tell themselves it'll be good before even realise what they've got here. This is an exercise in noir both film and neo and should only be tackled by those interested and familiar with the genre(s).
There are plenty of references to noir as a whole. The way the story is told through flashback, the blatant femme fatale, the protagonist/focus working as some sort of law enforcer and the way certain characters such as the mob boss, the 'rat' and of course the femme fatale are included. Romeo is Bleeding is no doubt an entertaining film with a smart idea and a basic if not effective plot but its look and feel is a little disappointing and as someone who has seen multiple film noirs and neo noirs, I found it to be a disappointment overall. The film feels like a cross between Angel Heart (1987) and Basic Instinct (1992) as its voiceovers and disturbing content is mixed in with a very dangerous female character.
Why I think Romeo is Bleeding leans more towards the film noir genre rather than the neo noir genre is because of its content. Jack (Oldman) is a law enforcer but not a lone private eye since he has his authoritarian buddies around him most of the time. He narrates his story in the same way Walter Neff does in Double Indemnity, telling us what happened from a safe place yet Walter was shot and injured physically, Jack is injured psychologically. Mona Demarkov (Olin) wears all the bright red lipstick and jewellery and is seductive enough to represent a femme fatale but it's at a very basic level she just wants to antagonise Jack rather than out and out get rid of him. Again, this is director Medak showing us he knows his stuff about noir without really convincing us these people are characters, more-so wax work model examples in a noir museum.
What I did find clever is that the main difference between film and neo noir is its content and how that is played with in Romeo is Bleeding. Neos are more violent and have more sex and profanity but Romeo is Bleeding doesn't have much of this until its climax. We see Sheri (Lewis), Jack's barmaid squeeze on the side, in lingerie at various points and we see Mona in bondage attire towards the end on top of Jack but we never actually see the sex. Jack also rather unfortunately loses one of his body parts at one point in the film but we don't see it get 'removed', just him turning up at home with a whole lot of blood in a certain place. I feel this is Medak's 'nod' to film noir in terms of censorship. Sure, there is blood but the aftermath of the taboo events are emphasised not the acts themselves. This is similar to Double Indemnity and other classic noir but more distant to neo noir such as Angel Heart and Basic Instinct where the violence and sex is full on, graphic and we see it all.
Romeo is Bleeding also utilises its location very well: The constant passing of L-trains, the graffiti covered walls, the way lights are missing their lamp shades when they need to but have them when required all act as great visuals to combine with the voiceovers and the sax music at various points to make and noir fan get excited. The film, however, just plods most of the time and although I found it interesting I feel the majority of people will dislike the film but that's probably because they see Gary Oldman is in it and realise it's a crime film and probably tell themselves it'll be good before even realise what they've got here. This is an exercise in noir both film and neo and should only be tackled by those interested and familiar with the genre(s).