THE

FEMME FATALE The phrase is French for "deadly woman". A femme fatale tries to achieve her hidden purpose by using feminine wiles such as beauty, charm, and sexual allure. There are differing theories as to the origins of Femme Fatale. Sometimes, the femme fatale is closely tied to fears of female witches and misogyny. Others say Femme fatale is an example of female independence and a threat to traditional female gender roles. THE FEMME FATALE IN ART & FILM The femme fatale exists in many Figure 1 Edvard M unch, Madonna, 1894 cultures. In ancient legend there was the Sphinx, in history there was Cleopatra. M G Lewis wrote about the very powerful femme fatale Matilda in the Monk (1796), and John Keats followed with La Belle Dame sans Merci 1819). She appeared in most 19th century gothic fiction. Towards the late 19th century it became fashionable to paint her, and she moved naturally into film, creating a balance of good and bad female characters. Film noir is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and sexual motivations. Hollywood's classic film noir period is generally regarded as stretching from the early 1940s to the late 1950s. Film noir of this era is associated with a low-key black-and- white visual style that has roots in German Expressionist cinematography. Many of the prototypical stories and much of the attitude of classic noir derive from the crime fiction that emerged in the United States during the Depression.
Figure 2 Franz von Stuck, The Sin, 1893

From the American film audience perspective, the femme fatale often was foreign, usually of Eastern European or Asian ancestry. She was the sexual counterpart to wholesome actresses such as Lillian Gish and Mary Pickford. Notable silent cinema vamps were Theda Bara, Helen Gardner, Olga Petrova, and Pola Negri.
Figure 4 Lillian Gish Figure 3 Pola Negri

During the film noir era of the 1940s and 1950s, the femme fatale flourished in American cinema. Examples include the overly possessive and narcissistic wife Ellen Brent Harland, portrayed by Gene Tierney in Leave Her to Heaven (1945), who will stop at nothing to keep her husband's affections. Another noir femme fatale is Phyllis Dietrichson, who seduces a hapless insurance salesman and persuades him to kill her husband in Double Indemnity (1944). Based on another novel by James M. Cain is Cora in The Postman Always Rings Twice, in which she manipulates John Garfield to kill her husband. She remains a key character in films such as To Die For, with Nicole Kidman and Basic Instinct with Sharon Stone. In contemporary culture, the femme fatale survives as heroine and anti- heroine, in Nikita and Moulin Rouge as well in video games and comic books. Jessica Rabbit (voiced by Kathleen Turner) from Who Framed Roger Rabbit? is a parody of the femme fatale. Elektra from Marvel Comics, Catwoman and Poison Ivy from the Batman series, and Mystique from X-Men are all examples. In video games, Ada Wong of the Resident Evil series and Mileena from Mortal Kombat are a couple of examples of a femme fatale.