Stylish cinema at IMA

(Credit: Kiss Me Deadly, United Artists/Photofest © United Artists)

Eddie Muller fancies himself a “cultural archaeologist,” but what he means is: “I go through trash.”

As president and founder of the Film Noir Foundation, he engages in an unending search for original prints of films from the 1940s and early ’50s, specifically film noir.

“I root around what other people have left behind, and it fascinates me,” he says. “The culture goes one way, and tends to be constantly reinventing itself, and the stuff that’s left behind we can learn from.”

In preserving the films, Miller says, he is also preserving the filmmakers’ original intentions — for their movies to be viewed in 35-mm film. On Jan. 14, appeared at the Indianapolis Museum of Art to introduce one of his favorite noir classics, “Criss Cross” (1949), a fatal-love-triangle flick starring Burt Lancaster and Yvonne DeCarlo. It was the second in the IMA’s “Noir and Neo Noir” Winter Film Series, which runs through February. Miller took a few minutes to discuss the importance of film noir and film preservation — and whether “Batman” can truly be considered noir.

What inspired you to get involved with this particular genre?
Film noir depicts the pivotal point at which America lost its innocence. We had become the best we were going to be, and it was downhill after that. That immediate post-World War II era is the height of American style in everything: architecture, clothes, design, movies, literature ... American literature was, I think, at its highest point. After that, things started going in a different direction, starting with the realization that things just weren’t going to keep getting better.

Then why do some people still love watching these films?
They can watch films from that era and not feel like they’re engaged in nostalgia, because the films are pretty cynical. And while there’s a great amusement factor and people laugh at them a lot, they’re not laughing because the films are naïve — they’re laughing at them honestly because they can’t believe how stylish and good the movies are. It’s almost like the laughter is saying, “Can you believe this is happening?” They’re laughing because we can’t do this today. Film noir as a style is over, and you cannot bring it back. But there are film noir stories, as far as what the movies or books are about. I’m always asking that question of people: Do you think noir has to do with the story, or the way the film looks? That debate is what keeps it interesting. People ask if Batman is noir. Is “The Dark Knight” noir? That’s what keeps it alive.

So then, is “The Dark Knight” noir?
It’s comic-book noir. I  have a hard time thinking of a guy in a latex suit having anything to do with noir. (Laughs) Having said that, I grew up reading “Batman,” and I love “Batman.” It’s a noirish version of “Batman,” and truth be told, there aren’t many characters more noir-ish than  Batman, or how Heath Ledger played the Joker.

You’re introducing “Criss Cross” for the Winter Nights series. Can you talk about that film? You put it as No. 2 on your list of top noir films.
It’s the ultimate and most uncompromising film noir, and it’s like a true noir love story. The director, Robert Siodmek, is the best noir director to work in Hollywood. He’s very unfairly unknown as compared to directors like Fritz Lang who are more synonymous with film noir. It’s just a great noir, spellbinding and brilliantly made. It feels like what noir is supposed to feel like.
 
Going?
The Winter Nights Film Series is at 7 p.m. Fridays through Feb. 25 at the Tobias Theater, Indianapolis Museum of Art, 4000 Michigan St. Tickets are $9 public or $5 members. Info: www.imamuseum.org.