L.A. Confidential - The Cinematic Experience & Book Club Meeting

L.A. Confidential

James Elroy, 1990

Hello Lovelies!

As with the Book Club Meeting for Post Office, I had initially planned to have our meeting over Brunch.  I thought a diner in Hollywood for L.A. Confidential would be perfect.  Sadly, that did not work out as planned, although I did find two really great little eateries that have been added to my list of Brunch places to try, so it wasn't a total loss.

Instead of a separate Book Club Meeting Brunch and movie night, Bridget and I combined the two.  The only other member of my book club (what will it take to convince the rest of you to join?!?) came up on Saturday morning for Brunch and a movie and it was fabulous!

If you didn't read this book, I highly suggest you do so if you can devote a good amount of time to it.  I say that because it's an epic read - 496 pages in my copy.  At first, I was not a fan of Ellroy's writing...he jumps around a lot and incorporates SO many characters, but at a certain point in the novel, his writing style started making sense.  A lot of sense.  He gives you so much backstory and has so many different story lines going for so many different characters that when it all starts to come together, you realize that he'd been weaving this rich tapestry the whole time but you hadn't yet noticed.  It was so lush and incorporated so many different elements that if you are not someone who becomes fully immersed in a story, he probably isn't the author for you, but I loved it!

Although beautifully constructed, this IS a crime novel and Ellroy has described it as, "...a book for the whole family, if the name of your fucking family is the Charles Manson family!"

It is a gritty, grisly read at times, but the major characters really pull you in and don't let go.  In the beginning, you don't really identify or care for any of them, but as time goes on and you get the backstory to understand who they are, you find yourself rooting for each of them individually.  Or at least I did.  This classic crime novel focuses on three separate crimes that you come to discover are all interwoven:  a 1950 shootout for legendary gangster Mickey Cohen's heroine, the 1951 'Bloody Christmas' beating at the Hollywood Police Station, and the 1953 'Night Owl Massacre' multiple homicide at the Night Owl coffee shop.

The heroine shootout establishes the tone and the writing style for L.A. Confidential, while the 'Bloody Christmas' incident in lockup at the police station begins establishing the characters of the novel.  The Christmas beatings of four Hispanic men arrested for assaulting two police officers was fueled by the fact that the officers were having a Christmas party and had been drinking heavily.  Understandably they were upset about two of their own being beaten, but you soon learn that the police department was no stranger to using violence to solve most matters.  Some of the arrestees later recanted their testimony and Officer Bud White asks Captain Dudley Smith how he got them to do that.  He responded with no words, but instead,  "Smith laid brass knucks on the table: chipped, caked with blood."

Though the violence of this novel is in the forefront, the underlying theme here is the idea that nothing is as it seems.  Everyone has something to hide and what you see is rarely the truth.  "And the thing about secrets, Jack, is that everybody's got them.  Including you."  Every character in this novel is hiding something, fighting demons from their past, and putting up façades.  Well before the 1950's in which this novel is set and well into the present, façades and illusion have been an integral part of Los Angeles' history and identity and that is nowhere more apparent than in Pierce Patchett's business of running call girls:
"What Terry Lux does do is alter girls for Pierce's little studio.  There's Ava and Kate and Rita and Betty.  Read that as Gardner, Hepburn, Hayworth, and Grable.  Pierce finds girls with middling resemblances to movie stars, Terry performs plastic surgery for exact resemblances...Perverse?  Perhaps."
"Lux cut you to look like Veronica Lake?"
"No, I refused...I'm really a brunette, but the rest is me."

Ironically, the only character in this novel that knows exactly who she is the one that has to pretend to be someone else.  Lynn Bracken is Patchett's Veronica Lake and is the shining beacon of glamour in the dark world that Ellroy has created.  I've always been fascinated with the seedy underbelly of Los Angeles and this novel perfectly captures the element of this city and its history that is so often swept under the rug.  L.A. Confidential is a very serious read that is peppered with the humor and the stereotypical lingo of the day.  The great balance is that Ellroy confines this to the excepts from the tabloid magazine Hush Hush:  "The Mick also ran bookmaking, loansharking, gambling, prostitution, and dope rackets and killed an average of a dozen people a year.  Nobody's perfect, right, Hepcat?  You leave your toenail trimmings on the bathroom floor, Mickey sends people on the night train to Slice City.  Dig it, Hepcat: people also tried to kill Mickey!!!  A mensch like that?- No!!!  Yes, Hepcat, what goes around comes around."

After a few mimosas and a veggie scramble, Bridget and I settled in for the 1997 adaptation of Ellroy's novel.  This film was nominated for nine Academy awards but only took home two - Best Supporting Actress (Kim Basinger) and Best Adapted Screenplay.  Unfortunately this was the year of Titanic, which means it lost Best Picture, Best Director, Best Production Design, Best Cinematography, Best Editing, Best Dramatic Score, and Best Sound Mixing...all to Titanic.  Yes, I never saw it (seriously), but how a Film Noir of this caliber did not take home Best Cinematography, I will never know.  It was breathtakingly beautiful.  Time ranked L.A. Confidential the best film of 1997.  Smart cookies.  And while it did not win the Academy Award for Best Picture, is has been at the top of MULTIPLE film lists for that year and was also voted by the Los Angeles Times as the best film set in Los Angeles in the past 25 years.

Watch the trailer.

It had been a very long time since I watched this film and I had forgotten most of the particulars.  After reading such a long, involved novel with so many characters and subplots, I was trying to remember how they had turned the novel into a cohesive film.  In watching the special features afterwards, even James Ellroy thought his work was unadaptable!  But the screenwriters, Brian Helgeland and Curtis Hanson (who also directed the film) did an amazing job!!  The film introduces the three main characters in a very matter of fact way that, in retrospect, is the first clue that this film's plot is much more streamlined and cohesive than the novel's because it focused only on the three main crimes and the three main characters.  As Ellroy stated in the special features, he was very happy with how the film turned out and since so much had to be cut from his original story, he felt that 80% was still specific to the book, which in a way kept it separate and special.

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The casting in this film is superb!  When this film was made in 1997, two of the three main roles went to unknowns - Russell Crowe and Guy Pierce.  This was done partially due to financial constraints since these types of films usually do not do well at the box office and had to be done on a relatively small budget.  Another reason for casting relative unknowns in these two roles was so that the audience wouldn't have any preconceived notions about these two characters since what you see is not what you get.

Both Russell Crowe as Bud White and Guy Pierce as Ed Exley are great, but Kevin Spacey as Jack Vincennes and James Cromwell as Dudley Smith are truly spectacular!

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Another perfect choice is the casting of Kim Basinger as Lynn Bracken.  Lynn is the Veronica Lake of Pierce's little studio and she ended up looking so much like her it was crazy!

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Just like in the novel, Lynn brought so much glamour to this film.  While I own almost no white clothing and absolutely no white furniture, this dress and her apartment made me rethink those choices.  How incredibly fabulous is this?  Everything surrounding this character is soft and is dripping with 1940's glamour which is so starkly different from the rest of the film.

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Another perfect casting choice was Brenda Bakke as Lana Turner!  This scene where Exley thinks she is just one of Patchett's girls is one of the film's highlights!
"A two-bit hooker cut to look like Lana Tuner is still a hooker."
"That IS Lana Turner."
Cue Lana Turner throwing her drink in Exley's face!  This interaction was not in the book, and I feel like Ellroy kicked himself for not having thought of it himself.  It was hilarious!!

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The costuming and the casting really bring you into this world and into the story.  And the amazing locations really put it over the top!  Perhaps a post just dedicated to the many locations is necessary.  Actually, there were a few kismet moments later that very night, so stay tuned - it's going to be fabulous!

While the film is not nearly as saturated with characters and sub-plots as the novel, I'm not going to delve into much more except to say that watching it again reminded me why I consider this one of my favorites!  After a while, I tend to forget certain details, but I remember the impact that a novel or a film have on me in a very visceral way.  L.A. Confidential is one of those experiences for me each time I watch it!

What do you think Lovelies?  Did you read the novel on your own?  Have you watched the film recently?  Does it affect you in the same way?

XOXO!!

The Cinematic Experience - The Postman Always Rings Twice

The Postman Always Rings Twice, 1946

Good Evening Kittens!  How was the weekend?  Mine was fabulous - comprised of wine tasting with the ladies of my extended family, watching The Golden Girls with my Oma, brunching and shopping with one of my dearest friends, and a relaxing evening tonight with a glass of wine and a cuddly kitty in my lap.  It was lovely.

On Friday night, I was not feeling very well and knew I had a lot to gear up for, so I curled up on my couch and watched the Film Noir classic The Postman Always Rings Twice, based on the 1934 novel of the same name by James M. Cain.

watch the trailer

While this film is not on my Film School list, I hadn't seen this in a very long time and because it was a cold, windy night, this seemed like a good fit.  This film has it all - a beautiful Femme Fatale, a handsome stranger, love, murder, double-crossing, and repercussions for your actions that will always catch up with you.  All in all, a really good time!

SPOILER ALERT!

This is the story of a drifter, Frank, played by James Garfield, who continually claims, 'My feet, they keep itchin' for me to go places.'  His itchy feet bring him to Twin Oaks where he sees a Man Wanted sign and decides to take the position doing odd jobs around the diner.  We then meet Cora, played by Lana Turner.  Her introduction is absolutely brilliant.  It establishes so much in so little time.  I have heard it described as the best character introduction ever.  You be the judge...

In approximately one minute, we establish the attraction between the two.  We establish the fact that Cora is used to getting her way.  We establish that Frank also gets what he wants most of the time.  And those facts will create quite a problem - one that will be rather interesting to watch play out.

As in most films of this period, the two instantly fall in love, but there is the problem of Cora's husband, Nick, played by Cecil Kellaway.  Nick, who owns the diner, is much older than Cora - their marriage is not one of love, but rather one where Nick gains companionship and Cora gains financial stability.  Cora and Frank decide to run away together - attempting to hitch a ride instead of taking Nick's car.  As Frank explains: 'Steal a man's wife, that's nothing.  Steal a man's car, that's larceny.'

After Cora realizes that running off with Frank will leave her with nothing, the two decide to go back to formulate a new plan.  It does not take long for them to realize that if Frank were out of the picture, the diner would be Cora's and they would be set.  So starts the scheming.  Their first attempt on Nick's life is thwarted by a cat who gets electrified and takes out the power.  As is so eloquently stated, 'Cats are poor dumb things.' 'Yeah, they don't know anything about electricity.'  Gotta love the dialogue of this period!

Before a better plan can be formulated, Nick decides that he's going to sell the diner and that he and Cora will be moving to Canada to take care of his invalid sister - and that fuels the desperation to get him out of the way.  Cora's desperation is palpable, 'You love me? Then what do you do? You let him take me away to some miserable little dump of a town where I'll rot the rest of my life away waiting on him and his half-dead sister?'  

A very interesting series of events unfold and it is really worth seeing if you have not already done so.  Is the title still a mystery?  Only after you watch this film, will the following quote make any sense...and once it does, it's quite smart:

'You know, there's something about this that's like, well it's like, you're expecting a letter that you're just crazy to get. And you hang around the front door for fear you might not hear him ring. You never realize that he always rings twice...The truth is, you always hear him ring the second time.  Even if you're all the way out in the backyard.'

Happy Viewing!