THE. confidential

L.A. Confidential (in Latin America, Los Angeles Naked) is a 1997 American neo-noir thriller film directed by Curtis Hanson, and Written by Hanson and Brian Helgeland, based on James Ellroy's novel of the same name. The film starred Guy Pearce, Kevin Spacey and Russell Crowe as the lead detectives, Kim Basinger as a call girl, James Cromwell as the chief detective and finally, Danny DeVito as the editor of a tabloid and gossip magazine.

The film was highly applauded at the time for successfully mixing various elements of the genre and for having a very well designed plot, full of subplots that intertwine to give rise to the main one, without losing the touch of suspense, action and drama. The promotional slogans were "Everything is suspect...everyone is for sale...and nothing is what it seems" and "Off the record, on the QT, and very hush-hush..." The film participated in the official selection of the 1997 Cannes Film Festival.

Plot

In the 1950s LAPD headquarters, Officer Ed Exley is a man who believes blindly in justice and doesn't mind ruining the lives of other cops if they did something wrong. This earns him the hatred of the majority of the Department. Bud White is a beast when it comes to work and has an obsession with saving women; and Jack Vincennes, a Narcotics detective, is the star of a gossip show run by Sid Hudgens, until he is suspended and transferred to Vice.

The break occurs when one night the employees and customers of a cafe, the Nite Owl, are murdered in cold blood and it is discovered that one of the customers was police officer Richard Stensland, Bud's co-worker. For this reason, the three detectives begin to investigate together with others. What at first appears as a simple robbery gone wrong, committed by three African-Americans, who are later killed in a shootout, is revealed as a web of deceit and betrayal within the police force itself. While the case is being investigated, a prostitute, a police officer expelled from the Force and some criminals come up.

Finally it is discovered that the man behind the crime is in the highest sphere of justice in the city and that he has an army of corrupt police officers at his command, including the murdered Stensland. That man is Captain Dudley Smith, head of the Homicide Department. They also discover that he controls organized crime in the city and that he committed the crime because Stensland had stolen 12 kilos of heroin from him and wanted to get it back so he could later frame the three African-Americans and kill them to get away with it. Therefore they not only have to solve the case but also save their lives, because they realize that they are getting closer to him and that he is determined to kill them to prevent the truth from coming out.

Smith first kills Jack Vincennes, and then tries to kill the other two, luring them into a trap. However, they realize what is happening in time and can thus defend themselves, and finish off their army of policemen with great difficulty. Then they have to face him, when he intervenes in the fight realizing that his men had lost. He manages to severely injure Bud and during the confrontation with Exley, who is struggling to solve the case, Dudley also confesses to his crimes before Exley kills him.

Then, when the authorities find out what happened, they decide to cover up what Dudley did. For this they promote Exley and make him a hero, and they give the battered Bud White a pension, retire, and the chance to leave Los Angeles for Arizona with Lynn Bracken, the prostitute they ripped off and got rid of. in love with Bud and Exley, and who also helped them on the case. Before leaving for the retreat, Exley regretfully says goodbye to them and vice versa.

Cast

Production

Development

Ellroy sold Warner Bros. the rights to make the film even before his book was published in 1990. Then, once producer Curtis Hanson and screenwriter Brian Helgeland, both fans of Ellroy's books, teamed up to carry out the film, things began to go well, since, influenced by that attitude, they had similar ideas regarding how to write the script for the cinematographic work, which they later carried out and perfected in the following two years.

Casting

Once the script was prepared, the decision was made not to cast well-known actors in the lead roles so that there would be no preconceived notions about the film's leads. For this reason, well-known pocp actors Russell Crowe and Guy Pearce were chosen to play the roles of Bud White and Edmund Exley respectively. It should also be noted that Anjelica Huston and Julia Louis-Dreyfus were initially considered as candidates to play Lynn. However, none of them accepted. Thus, the role was later obtained by Kim Basinger, although it must be added that she turned it down three times before finally accepting it. As for Kevin Spacey, Hanson always wanted him for the role of Jack. Vincennes and achieved it without resistance in this regard.

Pre-production

Prior to filming, Guy Pearce and Russell Crowe were sent by Hanson to Los Angeles two months before filming began to introduce them to the city, its culture, and to prepare them to play the role of police officers in that city. Additionally, Pearce watched police training videos from the 1950s to prepare for his role.

Shooting

Once everything was set up, the film was shot exclusively in Los Angeles at dozens of different actual locations in that city, some of which are no longer used today but were used then. A location that was close to being demolished was even used. All of that filming occurred between May 6, 1996 and August 22, 1996.

Reception

The film was released on September 19, 1997 and was shown for the first time in Spain on November 7, 1997. It was a box office success. According to Espinof, the film was one of the best films that came out of the 1990s and that renewed film noir. El País described the film as a film that has known how to "recover the flavor of the classics of the genre, with magnificent characters and a perfect narration". It was the most valued film in 1997, since out of 46 specialized critics none gave a negative comment about it.

In 2015, the film was deemed "culturally, historically, and aesthetically significant" by the US Library of Congress. For this reason it was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry.

Awards and nominations