Café Noir
Deliberately written in an oneiric, low-key yet brutally spot-on style, “Café Noir” is a brilliant poetic evocation of the “film noir” genre. It is “dream-like, strange, erotic, ambivalent and cruel”, the five qualities generally – but not universally – attributed to the genre. It is an attar of Cain, R. Chandler and Hammett. “Annette” could very well be Stanwyck or Hayworth, and the hapless home renovator Thelma’s Darryl or Louise’s Harlan.
I wouldn’t presume to nitpick the meter in L12. Scan it carefully…. And that killer-diller couplet – not only café noir and film noir, but black humor at its best. I haven’t guffawed so much in a long time. This one’s a wrap!
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