Paying homage to film noir with great success after a long hollywood break from the genre, l. Location in these movies would often times consist of nighttime scenes in a busy city. One of the milestone american movies of the 1990s, curtis hansons l. Guy pearce and kevin spacey costarred in curtin hensons 1997 neonoir film l. Confidential and modern film noir film noir is a vase. Contemporary neonoir was the closest descendant but its. One of the most prominent and wellreceived examples of the neonoir style is l. Jul 03, 2018 guy pearce and kevin spacey costarred in curtin hensons 1997 neonoir film l. Unusually for a crime film, it deals with the psychology of the characters, for example in the interplay between the two men who are both in love with basingers hooker. Most of the coens work is often directly rooted in, or at least somewhat peripheral to noir, but while the most so is the man who wasnt there, but the big lebowski is a pretty clear noir, and i find to be a definitively great movie. Confidential is anonymous pablum obviously designed to accompany the rolling of credits. To coincide with eddie mullers smartphone walking tour l. While team bondis masterpiece draws inspiration from classic film noir, raymond chandler, and others, its l.
Confidential earned nine oscar nominations including a supporting actress win for basinger and an adapted screenplay win. Its also a film thats sadly relevant to our own times, with its unflinching depiction of. Confidential riffed on film noir and 1950s cop movies to create a. Corruption and deceit are two of noirs most common themes, and l. Often times film noir movies were based upon corruption, usually in an urban type setting. Confidential, and pearce suggests in a new interview with. It is basically a policedetective crime story but it is beautifully constructed with a film noir style. Jake gittes upon the world, is a superb private eye mystery and modernday film noir thriller. Three different lapd detectives with different personalities, wifebasherbasher bud white russell crowe, straight cop edmund exley, and publicityhungry jack vincennes kevin spacey all get caught up in the case, which turns out be part of the power. The screenplay by hanson and brian helgeland is based on james ellroys 1990 novel of the same name, the third book in his l.
A confidential correspondence to film noir one of the most influential film movements in the 1940s was a genre that is known today as film noir. Dark city from 1998 used the trappings of a noir tale to tell a scifi story and has since become a cult favorite. This is gonna seem like a rmoviescirclejerk post but i watched l. Andersons boogie nights and quentin tarantinos jackie brown. Confidential we put together a film noir list that we hope creates new fans of the genrelike confidential did for us. While many of those films have maintained a certain mainstream appeal, theres something delectably cultish about curtis hanson s 1997 noir thriller, l. Jerry goldsmith the triumph of his career at the time, director curtis hansons l. The magazine sank in a sea of lawsuits, but it created a genre. Jun 02, 2011 while team bondis masterpiece draws inspiration from classic film noir, raymond chandler, and others, its l. Confidential was a key magazine of the 1950s, a monthly that sold millions of copies with its seamy exposes of celebrity drugs and sex. A pair of jerry goldsmith miniatures bracket the program, but are not terribly effective an opening miniature entitled badge of honor sounds like a caricature of film noir music, and the closing l. People can be very pretentious about the genre of film noir, not least in asserting that, to qualify, a film must be shot in black and white, and. Confidential is described as film noir, and so it is, but it is more. Confidential is a film with an incredible cast worth watching and, if you havent read the script, reading.
But for john payne in phil karlsons kansas city confidential, it gets him framed for a milliontwo robbery. A chintzy cutglass vase next to an empty bottle of bourbon in a fourthfloor walkup but still a vase. This means the year 1997 appears to have been vintage for tinseltown at the movies. Great performances, great direction, and great writing. In a shady world of powerful gangsters and corrupt policemen, an astudent rookie and a. Confidential bietet bestes hollywoodkino nach art des film noir. Below is the full makingof of the movie, as well as the opening scene from the script and how it translated on screen. Bud white, ready to break the rules to seek justice, but barely able to keep his raging violence. It is based on the book by james ellroy and after a very well adapted. Baker details the connection between tabloids and pulp fiction. Kim basinger is escorted by russell crowe in a scene from the film l. Confidential 1990 is a neonoir novel by james ellroy, and the third of his l. May 05, 2017 a glamorous throwback governed by the spirit of film noir, l.
His adaptation of james ellroys novel is intelligent and engaging, and the film is shot in a distinctly fantastic noir style. Confidential was a critical favorite going into the 1997 awards season. Sep 29, 2017 kim basinger is escorted by russell crowe in a scene from the film l. The film is more than just an homage to a former era of filmmaking its evidence that the relevancy of the style still influences filmmaking decades later. But as an actor in the ambiguous world of film noir, hes seldom given the credit he deserves. Three very different cops are all after the truth, each in their own style. The most prominent noir thriller to emerge from the decade is 1997s l. Film noir was a recognizable style of filmmaking, which was created in response to the rising cost of typical hollywood movies buss 67. Hanson delivers something ever rarer in film culture, not a new film noir but an oldfashioned total movie, somehow of a single piece. It is based on the book by james ellroy and after a very well adapted screenplay, won nine academy awards. Confidentials deeply contemporary approach and layered story sets it apart. Confidential is a film with an incredible cast worth watching and, if you. The epigraph is a glory that costs everything and means nothing steve erickson.
The screenplay by hanson and brian helgeland is based on james ellroy s 1990 novel of the same name, the third book in his l. Noir, recently released through the application detours, eddie cites ten of his favorite noir films set in the city of angels. A confidential curtis hanson, 1997 is a neonoir film about a shooting at an all night diner and the three las angeles policeman who investigate in their own unique ways. Location in these movies would often times consist of. Confidential is a 1997 american neonoir crime film directed, produced and cowritten by curtis hanson. With kevin spacey, russell crowe, guy pearce, kim basinger. Apr 06, 2019 people can be very pretentious about the genre of film noir, not least in asserting that, to qualify, a film must be shot in black and white, and date from the age of uncertainty and upheaval that. Jan 30, 2020 the most prominent noir thriller to emerge from the decade is 1997s l. The sun shines bright, the beaches are wide and inviting, and the. At a time when respectable journalism reigned supreme, postwar publications like new york daily and confidential magazine crashed the party with gossip and a shocking, sleazy sensibility that caught on in the culture. While many of those films have maintained a certain mainstream appeal, theres something delectably cultish about curtis hansons 1997 noir. Confidential, and pearce suggests in a new interview with australian talk show host andrew denton that.
Guy pearce, kevin spacey, russell crowe, kim basinger. Ed exley, the golden boy of the police force, willing to do almost anything to get ahead, except sell out. A confidential and eddie muller with producer alain silver discuss the evolution of film noir, specifically l. Conceived as an homage to classic noir films of the 1940s and 50s, curtis hanson crafted a film that both paid tribute to the classics of the. A movie of classical virtues is now a classic in its own right. Confidential is at once a psychological thriller in the film noir genre and an exploration of the tectonic shifts in hollywood culture, set against a backdrop of violence, corruption, and intrigue.
Confidential redefines film noir by reversing the tropes of the genre while many argue that films in the western genre are the most representative of the time period they were made, film noir may actually be even more representative of its time. His adaptation of james ellroys novel is intelligent and engaging, and the film is. Confidential, an adaptation of james ellroys classic noir, came out with a bang in 1997 and won over public, critics and the academy with two wins for best screenplay and best actress in a supporting role. A glamorous throwback governed by the spirit of film noir, l. Its appropriate that 1997s laconfidential begins with the most cynical sales pitch committed to film. Bud white, ready to break the rules to seek justice, but barely able to keep his. I found it on my dads night table and read it breathlessly, the stories of reefer parties, multiple divorces, wifeswapping and leading men who liked to wear frilly undergarments. But it is the purpose of this picture to expose the amazing operations of a man who conceived and executed a perfect crime, the true solution of which is not entered in any case history, and could well be entitled kansas city confidential. Film noir crime thriller about two cops drawn together by an obsession with the same woman and the same murder case. The film became available for netflix download on april one of 2018. Confidential last night for the first time and holy shit what a film.
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