The femme fatale in Ela e outras mulheres (2006) by Rubem Fonseca and in O lobo atrás da porta (2013) by Fernando Coimbra
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.22475/rebeca.v14n1.1044Keywords:
Femme fatale, Film noir, The wolf behind the door, Belinha, ViolenceAbstract
Focusing on the figure of the femme fatale, this paper aims to analyze how the short story Belinha by Rubem Fonseca and the film The wolf behind the door (2013), directed by Fernando Coimbra, are inspired by this essential film noir character. The article is divided into three sections: in the first one, the femme fatale as a trope of American film noir from the 1940s and 1950s will be analyzed in short and also the way it evolved in the context of neo-noir; in the second one, after briefly contextualizing Rubem Fonseca’s work in the context of Brazilian literature, within crime fiction in particular, we will look at how the author evokes the figure of the femme fatale in the short story Belinha; finally, the film The wolf behind the door will be analyzed, taking into account the centrality of the femme fatale figure and how the film is inspired by the conventions of film noir. By looking at the role of the femme fatale in these two stories, we will try to understand how they relate to the figure of classic film noir, but also how the figure has evolved, both in cinema and in literature, while remaining relevant in contemporary times.
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