Outline for Presentation

 Outline for the L.A. Confidential Presentation                                                                       

 

I.             L.A. Confidential is a movie about three detectives working to find the truth about two events, the Night Owl Diner Massacre and the kidnapping and rape of a latina girl. Throughout the movie, they discover themselves along with great corruption in their own precinct. The detectives’ Captain is running a drug ring and trying to monopolize the drug industry in Los Angeles. They start off working against each other but grow into a great team that solves the mysteries about the two events and also takes down the Captain and his accomplices.

 

II.            Comparison of Classic Noir Elements to Neo-Noir Elements

A.      Protagonist (Classic Noir)

1.       Detective  Figure Searching for the Truth about the Night Owl Diner Massacre and the Kidnapping and Gang Rape of a Latina Girl

B.      Protagonist (Neo Noir)

1.       Addition of Protagonists (3 Instead of 1)

2.       Each in search of more than just the truth about the crimes, they are also divided inside and searching to find out who they really are and why they became cops in the first place

C.      Femme Fatale (Classic Noir)

1.       Typical femme fatale figure manipulating people to get what they want

D.      Femme Fatale (Neo Noir)

1.       Reversal of gender in the femme fatale, now is played by a man, the Captain, who uses his power and the threat of losing their jobs to get the detectives to do what he wants. He also misleads them with false leads to steer the investigations in the wrong directions

2.       Addition of a different femme fatale figure, Lynn Bracken, which is a beautiful woman just to give you the feeling that the female femme fatale is still in the movie

E.       Voice Over Narration (Classic Noir)

1.       Story told in Voice Over Narration fashion

F.       Voice Over Narration (Neo Noir)

2.       Told by someone other than the protagonist, an outside person that runs a local scandal magazine

 

III.          Classic Noir

A.      Overwhelming Atmosphere of Anxiety

1.       Lines in the movie

a.       “Jack, I doubt you have ever taken a stupid breath, don’t start now.”

b.       “You’ll do as I say and ask no questions, do you get my drift?”

 

IV.          Neo-Noir

A.      Improved Screen Work from Black and White to Vivid Color

B.      Corruption Angle from the 90’s used in a film based in the 50’s

1.       Rodney King Beating, brought anger about police brutality, racism, and other social inequalities

2.       Rampart Scandal, some 70 plus officers getting charged with misconduct, unprovoked beatings and shootings, planting of false evidence, framing of suspects, stealing and dealing narcotics, and covering up evidence

 

Quotes from Outside Sources

 

Paul Arthur says in his review in Cineaste that Curtis Hanson’s L.A. Confidential “is dead serious about its historical backdrop, its relation to the generic lineage of noir storytelling but also to the social-political climate in which the series flourished and expired” (1). James Elroy and Curtis Hanson both grew up in the 1950’s when this film was set. They knew the era and the lifestyle, and Hanson matched it up perfectly even though it was filmed in the 1990’s. From the landmarks to the cars to the clothing, everything was perfect.

 

 Paul also says that “Instead of feeding off the usual suspects, L.A. Confidential circles back to the early Fifties to revisit two intertwined but often overlooked branches of the noir family tree: the rogue cop saga and the expose of the municipal corruption” (1). This is credit should mostly be given to Elroy but was perfected by Hanson. Classic noir has been known to have a single cop standing up against its corrupt precinct and exposing the municipal system for its scandalism and corruption. This type of thing has been going on since the beginning of time and continues to go on today.