In 1997, there were a number of cultural touch points that would change the world. It saw the release of the bookHarry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stonein the UK, a book that would change the world, including movies, franchises, and production. In the theaters, 1997 was the release year for the box office and award-winning giantTitanic.Men In Black,The Lost World: Jurassic Park,Air Force One,The Fifth Element, andAs Good As It Gets.
It was also the year thatL.A. Confidential, a somewhat forgotten classic take on a Hollywood noir crime, brought audiences back to the tail end of the Hollywood Golden Age. Directed and co-written by Curtin Hansen (Wonder Boys,The River Wild,8 Mile), and based on a novel by James Ellroy (The Black Dahlia),L.A. Confidentialis the story of three police officers who investigate an increasingly complicated string of murders in early 1950s Hollywood.
The film was commercially mostly successful, grossing $126 million worldwide against a budget of $35 million. It was beloved by critics, and earned a plethora of accolades during the award season, which included being nominated for nine Academy Awards, including Best Picture. It won two, one for Kim Basinger for Best Actress in a Supporting Role, and Best Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published, for Curtis Hanson and Brian Helgeland. This is impressive, considering that this was the Academy Awards that was dominated byTitanic, which won 11 Oscars. The Best Picture nominees includedTitanic,As Good As It Gets,Good Will Hunting,L.A. ConfidentialandThe Full Monty.
The Academy loves nominating films about Hollywood (see recent examples likeLa La Land,Once Upon A Time In… Hollywood), andL.A. Confidentialis another prime example. The film was a surprise to some degree, with an extremely talented cast, including two Australian actors who hadn’t really broken out yet by the names ofRussell Croweand Guy Pearce, and it was a bit of a resurgence for Kim Basinger.
Related:These Movies Made 1997 a Great Year for Cinema
A Film Noir and Neo-Noir Primer
L.A. Confidentialis as much a callback to classic Hollywood, as it is an example of an American film noir. Broadly defined as a black-and-white Hollywood crime drama, the film noir golden age was during the 1940s and 1950s, though they were referred to as “melodramas” at the time, until the term “film noir” was widely adopted in the 1970s.
Revolving around a private investigator, or police officer, the aesthetic style of noir films tended to be darkly lit, and offering stories steeped in complex and flawed characters (Humphrey Bogart was known for it), and of course a femme fatale. Examples of the term includeThe Big Sleep,Double Indemnity,The Maltese Falcon, andTouch of Evil. Decades later, a genre called neo-noir would come to pay homage to the film noir era, and create more Hollywood and film classics likeChinatown,The Long Goodbye, andTaxi Driver.
Decades later,L.A. Confidentialwould return to this winning formula and replicate pieces from both genres.
Hollywood Movies About Hollywood
As long as Hollywood has existed, movies about Hollywood have existed. Movies likeThe Player andMulholland Driveoffer similar takes on stories of Hollywood, interlaced with elements of crime.Sunset Boulevard,Boyz n The Hood, andLa La Landall define their own elements of the city, offering tales uniquely their own. Crime stories in Los Angeles are equally prevalent.Heatremains one of the greatest Los Angeles crime movies ever made. Similarly,Die Hard,Training Day, andSpeedoccupy their own corners of Los Angeles and crime.
But, there is something special aboutL.A. Confidentialthat meets the intersection of the two. Grounded in the fading golden age of cinema, Hollywood legends still ruled the city. And yet, the crime underbelly continued to exist in 1953.
The film takes the true life story of Mickey Cohen (something thatGangster Squadwould also do in 2013, with much less success) and turns it into a plot-driven device to set up the rest of the film. It expertly blends the complexities of Hollywood - like the women of Fleur-de-Lis, designed to look like Hollywood actresses, and the actions of Jack Vincennes, who is hooked by the appeal of consulting on a famous TV show.
Of course, the film significantly deals with a recurring life theme of police violence. In 1951, “Bloody Christmas” occurred when police officers savagely beat seven prisoners. This event was the first time in LAPD history of convicting officers for their actions, and they fictionalized this event inL.A. Confidential. Not only does it establish the hotheaded and violent tempers of key characters, but it also thrusts the main character into a position of power. Finally, it demonstrates the turning point of the LAPD as it grapples with corruption and tries to publicly correct its image.
It’s easy to view this as a standalone element of the film in hindsight, but put into context, in 1997, this depiction of police violence and brutality in Los Angeles was still a prevalent problem, and the film, whether intentionally, served asa callback to the 1991 beating of Rodney King.
Related:Best Films Set in Los Angeles, Ranked
As Relevant Today
The film as a whole has aged incredibly well, 25-years later. The casting is remarkable, and it’s a verifiable listing of “whoa, they’re in this too?!” and each actor and actress runs away with their performance. Kim Basinger is a bombshell; beautiful and complicated, as Lynn Bracken. James Cromwell is great as the stony and hardened Captain Dudley Smith, willing to politically play ball as much as he is to take matters into his own hands. Russell Crowe is a towering presence as Bud White, Guy Pearce oozes charisma, playing his role with the right amount of arrogance. Kevin Spacey, is a schmoozer, and embedded deep into the Hollywood trenches, whose (SPOILER: story takes unexpected turns).
And of course, the film is further supported by veterans like Danny DeVito, David Strathairn, Ron Rifkin, and an extremely early performance for Simon Baker Denny. The visuals of the movie feel like they’re pulled right out of 1953, without feeling aged or out of style. Director Curtis Hanson expertly weaves the web of confusion as the seemingly endless murders slowly begin to feel more and more connected. It’s a mystery, thriller, genre piece, and historical movie all in one.
Where movies likeKnives Outblend genres, and large casts into a sweeping mysteryand crime thriller like a re-imagining of an Agatha Christie classic;L.A. Confidentialdoes the same with crime and Hollywood. It’s a movie where for every moment where you think you know where it’s headed, it twists your expectations and surprises you with a new direction. It earned its place in cinematic history, and deserves the recognition and remembrance for its story, craftsmanship, and presentation. At 25-years-old, it is as good today as it was then.
