Eye For Film >> Festivals >> SSFF >> 2011 >> American Way Of Death: American Film Noir 1990 to 2010
View other San Sebastian Film Festival Films by strand: Culinary Zinema, Horizontes Latinos, Made in Spain, Official Selection, Velodrome, Zabaltegi-New Directors, Zabaltegi-Pearls, Zabaltegi-Specials
Collateral and The Indian Runner
The American
(Country: US, UK; Year: 2010; Director: Anton Corbijn; Writer: Rowan Joffe, based on the novel by Martin Booth; Stars: George Clooney, Irina Björklund, Lars Hjelm, Johan Leysen, Paolo Bonacelli, Giorgio Gobbi, Silvana Bosi, Thekla Reuten, Guido Palliggiano, Samuli Vauramo, Antonio Rampino, Violante Placido, Filippo Timi, Ilaria Cramerotti, Angelica Novak), Official Site
An assassin tries to escape his past.
Basic Instinct
(Country: US; Year: 1992; Director: Paul Verhoeven; Writer: Joe Eszterhas; Stars: Michael Douglas, Sharon Stone, George Dzundza, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Denis Arndt, Leilani Sarelle, Dorothy Malone)
A cop has a dangerous liaison with a suspected murderess.
Before The Devil Knows You're Dead
(Country: US; Year: 2007; Director: Sidney Lumet; Writer: Kelly Masterson; Stars: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ethan Hawke, Albert Finney, Marisa Tomei, Rosemary Harris, Aleksa Palladino, Michael Shannon, Amy Ryan, Brian F O'Byrne, Blaine Horton, Arija Bareikis)
Damage limitation after a jewellery heist goes wrong.
Collateral
(Country: US; Year: 2004; Director: Michael Mann; Writer: Stuart Beattie; Stars: Tom Cruise, Jamie Foxx, Jada Pinkett Smith, Mark Ruffalo, Peter Berg, Bruce McGill, Irma P Hall, Barry Shabaka Henley, Javier Barden, Emilio Rivera)
Hitman hires a taxi driver in L.A to drive him to his human targets.
Ghost Dog: The Way Of The Samurai
(Country: Japan, US, Germany, France; Year: 1999; Director: Jim Jarmusch; Writer: Jim Jarmusch; Stars: Forest Whitaker, John Tormey, Cliff Gorman, Henry Silvaa, Isaach de Bankole, Tricia Vessey)
A modern-day contract killer in New York, who works according to the Samurai code.
Strange Days and Mystic River
Goodfellas
(Country: US; Year: 1990; Director: Martin Scorsese; Writer: Nicholas Pileggi, Martin Scorsese; Stars: Robert De Niro, Ray Liotta, Joe Pesci, Lorraine Bracco, Paul Sorvino, Frank Sivero, Tony Darrow, Mike Starr, Frank Vincent, Chuck Low, Frank DiLeo, Henny Youngman, Gina Mastrogiacomo, Catherine Scorsese, Charles Scorsese)
Biopic of mafiosi Henry Hill and his rise and fall through the mob.
Hard Eight (Sydney)
(Country: US; Year: 1996; Director: Paul Thomas Anderson; Writer: Paul Thomas Anderson; Stars: Philip Baker Hall, John C Reilly, Gwyneth Paltrow, Samuel L Jackson, F William Parker, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Nathanael Cooper, Wynn White)
A veteran gambler takes a young drifter under his wing.
Heat
(Country: US; Year: 1995; Director: Michael Mann; Writer: Michael Mann; Stars: Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Val Kilmer, Jon Voight, Tom Sizemore, Diane Venora, Amy Brenneman, Ashley Judd, Mykelti Williamson, Wes Studi, Ted Levine, Dennis Haysbert, William Fichtner, Natalie Portman, Tom Noonan)
A cop and a career thief end up on a collision course.
Homicide
(Country: US; Year: 1991; Director: David Mamet; Writer: David Mamet; Stars: Joe Mantegna, William H. Macy, Vincent Guastaferro, Ving Rhames, Rebecca Pidgeon)
A Jewish detective finds his loyalties and sense of identity questioned when he investigates a murder with anti-Semitic overtones.
The Indian Runner
(Country: US; Year: 1991; Director: Sean Penn; Writer: Sean Penn; Stars: David Morse, Viggo Mortensen, Valeria Golino, Patricia Arquette, Charles Bronson, Sandy Dennis, Dennis Hopper, Jordan Rhodes, Enzo Rossi, Harry Crews, Eileen Ryan, Trevor Endicott, Brandon Fleck, Kathy Jensen, James Devney, Benicio Del Toro)
A State patrolman tries to keep his troubled Vietnam veteran brother on the straight and narrow...
Hard Eight and Red Rock West
King Of New York
(Country: US; Year: 1990; Director: Abel Ferrara; Writer: Nicholas St John; Stars: Christopher Walken, David Caruso, Laurence Fishburne, Victor Argo, Wesley Snipes, Janet Julian, Joey Chin, Giancarlo Esposito, Paul Calderon, Steve Buscemi, Theresa Randle, Leonard L. Thomas, Roger Guenveur Smith, Carrie Nygren, Ernest Abuba), Official Site
A drug lord aiming for redemption sparks a mob war.
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
(Country: US; Year: 2005; Director: Shane Black; Writer: Brett Halliday, Shane Black; Stars: Robert Downey Jr., Val Kilmer, Michelle Monaghan, Corbin Bernsen, Dash Mihok, Larry Miller, Rockmond Dunbar, Shannyn Sossamon, Angela Lindvall, Indio Falconer Downey, Ariel Winter)
Small time crook is groomed for Hollywood with hilarious consequences.
Little Odessa
(Country: US; Year: 1994; Director: James Gray; Writer: James Gray; Stars: Tim Roth, Edward Furlong, Moira Kelly, Vanessa Redgrave, Paul Guilfoyle, Natalya Andreychenko, Maximilian Schell, David Vadim, Mina Bern, Boris McGiver, Mohammed Ghaffari, Michael Khmurov, Dmitry Preyers, David Ross, Ron Brice), Official Site
A contract killer finds a reunion with his family hard to handle.
Last Man Standing
(Country: US; Year: 1996; Director: Walter Hill; Writer: Walter Hill; Stars: Bruce Willis, Bruce Dern, William Sanderson, Christopher Walken, David Patrick Kelly, Karina Lombard, Ned Eisenberg, Alexandra Powers)
A mysterious stranger arrives in a small town and begins to play two rival gangs off against one another...
L.A. Confidential (LA Confidential)
(Country: US; Year: 1997; Director: Curtis Hanson; Writer: James Ellroy, Brian Helgeland, Curtis Hanson; Stars: Kevin Spacey, Russell Crowe, Guy Pearce, James Cromwell, Kim Basinger, Danny DeVito, David Strathairn, Ron Rifkin, Matt McCoy, Paul Guilfoyle, Paolo Seganti, Elisabeth Granli, Sandra Taylor, Steve Rankin, Graham Beckel, Simon Baker)
Hard-boiled expose of Fifties corruption in the City of Angels.
Summer Of Sam and One False Move
Menace II Society
(Country: US; Year: 1993; Director: Albert Hughes, Allen Hughes; Writer: Allen Hughes, Albert Hughes, Tyger Williams; Stars: Tyrin Turner, Larenz Tate, June Kyoto Lu, Toshi Toda, Samuel L. Jackson, Anthony Johnson, Brandon Hammond, Glenn Plummer, Reginald Ballard, Khandi Alexander, Eugene Lee, James Pickens Jr., Nancy Cheryll Davis, Jullian Roy Doster, Jada Pinkett Smith)
A young hustler finds it hard to escape the ghetto.
Memento
(Country: US; Year: 2000; Director: Christopher Nolan; Writer: Christopher Nolan; Stars: Guy Pearce, Carrie-Anne Moss,
Joe Pantoliano, Mark Boone
Junior, Jorja Fox, Stephen
Tobolowsky)
Man with memory damage
searches for the rapist who
murdered his wife.
Miller's Crossing
(Country: US; Year: 1990; Director: Joel Coen; Writer: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen; Stars: Gabriel Byrne, Albert Finney,
Marcia Gay Harden, John
Turturro, Jon Polito, J E Freeman,
Mike Starr, Al Mancini, Richard
Woods, Steve Buscemi)
Moral ambiguity in the mob.
Mystic River
(Country: US; Year: 2003; Director: Clint Eastwood; Writer: Brian Helgeland based on the novel by Dennis Lehane; Stars: Sean Penn, Tim Robbins, Kevin Bacon, Laurence Fishburne, Marcia Gay Harden, Laura Linney, Emmy Rossum, Tom Guiry, Kevin Chapman, Adam Nelson, Spencer Treat Clark, Cameron Bowen, Eli Wallach)
Murder mystery in Massachusetts resurrects memories of child sex abuse.
New Jack City
(Year: 1991; Director: Mario Van Peebles; Writer: Thomas Lee Wright, Barry Michael Cooper; Stars: Wesley Snipes, Ice-T, Allen Payne, Chris Rock, Mario Van Peebles, Michael Michele, Bill Nunn, Russell Wong, Bill Cobbs, Christopher Williams, Judd Nelson, Vanessa Williams, Tracy Camilla Johns, Anthony DeSando, Nick Ashford)
A cop tries to infiltrate a crime gang.
The Silence Of The Lambs and Basic Instinct
New Jersey Drive
(Country: US; Year: 1995; Director: Nick Gomez; Writer: Nick Gomez, Michel Marriott; Stars: Sharron Corley, Gabriel Casseus, Saul Stein, Gwen McGee, Andre Moore, Donald Faison, Conrad Meertins Jr., Devin Eggleston, Koran C. Thomas, Michele Morgan, Samantha Brown, Christine Baranski, Robert Jason Jackson, Roscoe Orman, Heavy D)
Two young joyriders end up aiming for a head on collision with the cops.
One False Move
(Country: US; Year: 1992; Director: Carl Franklin; Writer: Billy Bob Thornton, Tom Epperson; Stars: Bill Paxton, Cynda Williams, Billy Bob Thornton, Michael Beach, Jim Metzler, Earl Billings, Natalie Canerday, Robert Ginnaven, Robert Anthony Bell, Kevin Hunter, Phyllis Kirklin, Meredith 'Jeta' Donovan, Jimmy Bridges, Phyllis Sutton, Derrick Williams)
A small town sheriff prepares to to apprehend a trio of criminals heading his way.
Panic
(Country: US; Year: 2000; Director: Henry Bromell; Writer: Henry Bromell; Stars: William H Macy, John Ritter, Neve Campbell, Donald Sutherland, Tracey Ullman, Barbara Bain, David Dorfman)
A hitman with a mid-life crisis meets a girl more messed up than him.
Pride And Glory (Pride & Glory)
(Country: US, Germany; Year: 2008; Director: Gavin O'Connor; Writer: Joe Carnahan, Gavin O'Connor; Stars: Colin Farrell, Edward Norton, Jon Voight, Noah Emmerich, Jennifer Ehle, John Ortiz), Official Site, Trailer
A family of New York cops is caught up in corruption.
Red Rock West
(Country: US; Year: 1993; Director: John Dahl; Writer: John Dahl, Rick Dahl; Stars: Nicolas Cage, Dennis Hopper, Lara Flynn Boyle, JT Walsh)
A drifter is mistaken for a hitman and falls in love with the woman he’s supposed to kill...
We Own The Night and Heat
Reservoir Dogs
(Country: US; Year: 1992; Director: Quentin Tarantino; Writer: Quentin Tarantino, Roger Avary; Stars: Harvey Keitel, Tim Roth, Michael Madsen, Steve Buscemi, Quentin Tarantino, Eddie Bunker, Chris Penn, Lawrence Tierney, Randy Brooks, Kirk Baltz, Steven Wright)
Quentin Tarantino’s ultra-cool reworking of the tired old heist genre.
Se7en (Seven)
(Country: US; Year: 1995; Director: David Fincher; Writer: Andrew Kevin Walker; Stars: Brad Pitt, Morgan Freeman, Richard Roundtree, R. Lee Ermey, John C. McGinley, Julie Araskog, Kevin Spacey, Gwyneth Paltrow, Andy Walker, Daniel Zacapa, Bob Mack, Gene Borkan, Michael Reid Mackay, Richard Portnow, Cat Mueller, Heidi Schanz)
Morgan Freeman and Brad Pitt are cops who investigate a series of killings connected by the seven deadly sins.
The Silence Of The Lambs
(Country: US; Year: 1991; Director: Jonathan Demme; Writer: Ted Tally, based on the novel by Thomas Harris; Stars: Jodie Foster, Anthony Hopkins, Scott Glenn, Anthony Heald, Ted Levine, Frankie Faison, Kasi Lemmons, Brooke Smith, Paul Lazar, Dan Butler, Lawrence T. Wrentz)
Outstanding thriller about serial killer mind games.
Strange Days
(Country: US; Year: 1995; Director: Kathryn Bigelow; Writer: James Cameron, Jay Cocks; Stars: Ralph Fiennes, Angela Bassett, Juliette Lewis, Tom Sizemore, Michael Wincott, Vincent D'Onofrio, Glenn Plummer, Brigitte Bako, Richard Edson, William Fichtner)
Forbidden memories on disk, yours for the right price.
Summer Of Sam
(Country: US; Year: 1999; Director: Spike Lee; Writer: Victor Colicchio, Michael Imperioli, Spike Lee; Stars: John Leguizamo, Adrien Brody, Mira Sorvino, Jennifer Esposito, Michael Rispoli, Saverio Guerra, Brian Tarantina, Al Palagonia, Ken Garito, Bebe Neuwirth, Patti LuPone, Mike Starr, Anthony LaPaglia, Ben Gazzara, Roger Guenveur Smith)
Spike Lee focusses his camera on the summer when Son of Sam roamed the streets.
L.A. Confidential and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
Suture
(Country: US; Year: 1993; Director: Scott McGehee, David Siegel; Writer: Scott McGehee, David Siegel; Stars: Dennis Haysbert, Mel Harris, Sab Shimono, Dina Merrill, Michael Harris, David Graf, Fran Ryan, John Ingle, Sanford Gibbons, Mark DeMichele, Sandra Ellis Lafferty, Capri Darling, Carol Kiernan, Laura Groppe, Mel Coleman)
Half-brothers Vincent and Clay meet for the first time at their father’s funeral. Vincent plans to kill Clay, pass his corpse off as his own and start a new life elsewhere with his father’s inheritance. Clay survives the bomb explosion, but he loses his memory and has to have his face rebuilt.
Texas Killing Fields
(Year: 2011; Director: Ami Canaan Mann; Writer: Don Ferrarone; Stars: Jessica Chastain, Chloe Moretz, Sam Worthington, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Stephen Graham, Annabeth Gish, Sheryl Lee, Jason Clarke, Leanne Cochran, Donna Duplantier, Sean Michael Cunningham, Becky Fly, D'Arcy Allen, James Hébert, Elise Fyke), Official Site
A homicide detective in a small Texan town, and his partner, transplanted New York City cop Detective Heigh, track a sadistic serial killer dumping his victims' mutilated bodies in a nearby marsh locals call The Killing Fields.
Training Day
(Country: US; Year: 2001; Director: Antoine Fuqua; Writer: David Ayer; Stars: Denzel Washington, Ethan Hawke, Scott Glenn, Tom Berenger, Harris Yulin, Snoop Dogg, Raymond J. Barry, Cliff Curtis, Emilio Rivera, Dr. Dre, Peter Greene, Macy Gray)
Denzel Washington exposes the corruption and violence of the LAPD.
Underneath
(Year: 1995; Director: Steven Soderbergh; Writer: Don Tracy, Steven Soderbergh, Daniel Fuchs; Stars: Peter Gallagher, Alison Elliott, William Fichtner, Adam Trese, Joe Don Baker, Paul Dooley, Shelley Duvall, Elisabeth Shue, Anjanette Comer, Dennis Hill, Harry Goaz, Mark Feltch, Jules Sharp, Kenneth D. Harris, Vincent Gaskins)
A compulsive gambler tries to win back his ex... but faces trouble from her new squeeze, who is a local hood.
The Usual Suspects
(Country: US, Germany; Year: 1995; Director: Bryan Singer; Writer: Christopher McQuarrie; Stars: Stephen Baldwin, Gabriel Byrne, Benicio Del Toro, Kevin Pollak, Kevin Spacey, Chazz Palminteri, Suzy Amis, Pete Postlethwaite, Dan Hedaya), Trailer
Five criminals thrown together in a police line-up decide to team up for a high-stakes job.
Miller's Crossing and Zodiac
We Own The Night
(Country: US; Year: 2007; Director: James Gray; Writer: James Gray; Stars: Joaquin Phoenix, Eva Mendes, Mark Wahlberg, Robert Duvall, Alex Veadov, Dominic Colon, Danny Hoch, Moni Moshonov), Official Site, Trailer
A nightclub manager is caught between his relatives in the police force and his contacts in the Russian mafia.
Wild At Heart
(Country: US; Year: 1990; Director: David Lynch; Writer: David Lynch, based on the novel by Barry Gifford; Stars: Nicolas Cage, Laura Dern, Diane Ladd, Willem Dafoe, Harry Dean Stanton, J E Freeman, Isabella Rossellini, Grace Zabriskie, Crispin Glover, Calvin Lockhart)
Sailor and Lula go on the run, after Lula's mum bids to kill her daughter's beau.
Zodiac
(Country: USA; Year: 2007; Director: David Fincher; Writer: James Vanderbilt, based on the book by Robert Graysmith; Stars: Jake Gyllenhaal, Mark Ruffalo, Anthony Edwards, Robert Downey Jr., Brian Cox, John Carroll Lynch, Richmond Arquette, Bob Stephenson, John Lacy, Chloë Sevigny, Ed Setrakian), Trailer
A cop, a reporter and a cartoonist become obsessed with a serial killer in 1970s San Francisco.
59th New York Film Festival early bird highlights Futura, Jane By Charlotte, James Baldwin: From Another Place and The Velvet Underground
Eye For Film continues to support festivals both locally and across the world. At the moment, we're covering:
DOC NYC
New York's celebration of factual film
Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival
One of the largest film gatherings in northern Europe
French Film Festival
The UK's longest running celebration of Francophone cinema
Cannes Film Festival
Archive of festival coverage.
Sundance Film Festival
Daily diary and reviews from 2005-2018.
Berlin Film Festival
Coverage of the lynchpin German festival.
Search Movie Database
Browse our full archive
Browse our short film archive
Browse our media archive
