L.A. Confidential (BFI Modern Classics) [Paperback]

Manohla Dargis (Author)

Book Description

Series: BFI Modern Classics | Publication Date: January 22, 2008

Manohla Dargis explores the careers of director Curtis Hanson and writer James Ellroy, based on interviews with both men, to dig deep into the film's obsession with the twinned, equally troubled histories of the Hollywood studio system and the city of Los Angeles.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Manohla Dargis is a film critic for The L.A. Weekly, where she was Film Editor for seven years, and has written for a variety of other publications, including Film Comment, The New York Times and Sight and Sound.

Product Details

• Paperback: 96 pages
• Publisher: British Film Institute; First Edition edition (January 22, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0851709443
• ISBN-13: 978-0851709444
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5.4 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,208,625 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars LA Noir, January 2, 2012

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Patrick Mc Coy (Tokyo, Japan) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: L.A. Confidential (BFI Modern Classics) (Paperback)

Manohla Dargis looks at one of my favorite films of the 90s in her British Film Institute (BFI) book on the film L.A. Confidential. It is based on the book of the same name by James Ellroy that I read sometime around the release of the film. I realize that i still need to read the other books in his L.A. Quartet and have already ordered The Black Dahlia and The Big Nowhere for starters. I also have read his autobiographical book My Dark Places, in which he discusses his true crime obsession inspired by his mother's murder at the age of 10 and his subsequent personal investigation into her murder-it's a fascinating book. I think director Curtis Hanson and co-screenwriter Brian Hegland did an excellent job of keeping the spirit of the novel alive while paring down the complex story lines into a workable film. Curtis Hanson's vision of the glamorous and lurid Hollywood of the day in which pitched meetings with pictures of true crime and hipsters like Chet Baker in order to get the idea of the stylized L.A. he was trying to get actors-one that James Ellroy was also witness to and that inspired his novel. The film is also a tour de force of ensemble acting with it's three leading men-Russell Crowe, Guy Pearce, and Kevin Spacey in career making performances. It's amazing the film got made with an Aussie and Kiwi in two of the three leading roles, but it had a lot to do with seasoned actors like Danny DeVito and Kim Basinger signing on. The locations and period details presented with a modern take on the sunshine noir combined to create a stunning achievement of modern film noir-one of my favorite film genres. I also bought the deluxe edition of the film to revisit before reading the book and it has a full disc of extras as well as an informative commentary from the actors, producer, and director.

4.0 out of 5 stars Grab Some Sunshine, September 26, 2011

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Dash Manchette - See all my reviews
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This review is from: L.A. Confidential (BFI Modern Classics) (Paperback)

L.A. Confidential was a movie about which I had two minds when it first came out. On the one hand, it was a gorgeous, beautiful movie. Well shot, great period sets, the whole deal. On the other hand, the plot was way more complex than I was expecting. Not a straight-forward whodunit, the movie had multiple layers that mandated repeat viewings.

In this little monograph, Manohla Dargis helps the rest of us cut through some of those layers for a better understanding of the movie. She starts off with the city of L.A. itself and describes how, just like in the movie, there is some serious ugliness in the shade of all that sunshine. This segues nicely into her introduction of the author James Ellroy, who wrote the book on which this is based. Product of a terrible tragedy, his catharsis was not only writing, but some less desirable habits as well. Although Dargis references the book often, she does so only to place parts of the movie into better context and to demonstrate how the movie is its own creation, independent of its literary source. It was at the Nite Owl, both the murders and when director Curtis Hanson broke from the source material and created his own work of art.

Not surprisingly for those who have read any of these BFI essays, the relationships between the three male detectives comes in for a good bit of examination, each adding something to the mix which then becomes greater than the sum of its parts. And Dargis does a solid job of reviewing how each man, having to confront his own dilemma, comes out much changed for the process.

In all, not a bad entry in the BFI series. As a general rule, if you like a movie, you will like the BFI book on it. L.A. Confidential is no exception.

10 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Insightful book vs. movie commentary, September 26, 2003

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John S. Harris "The Voice of Reason" (Memphis, TN) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: L.A. Confidential (BFI Modern Classics) (Paperback)

Dargis obviously likes the original novel at least as much as the film. Great analysis of the period, the style, and the content of both the film and the book. You don't have to have read the original James Ellroy book to get your time and money's worth out of this Dargis commentary.

Of the 6 or so BFI film books I have read so far, this one by far is the most interesting one yet.