Noir in French means black and in the cinema noir are called the films that are characterized as dark, with cynical heroes who are in the cyclone of events.
Film noir was a product of its time, in the years following the Great Depression, in which ruthless private detectives and corrupt police officers, desperate people, try to survive in a hostile city, hidden in dark corners, following their own moral codes and usually fall in love with the wrong people.
The women in the film noirs are attractive, mysterious, who walk with the rocking step, who enchant with the perfume they leave behind.
source And yet, despite the fact that the genre was created and cultivated in America, the title was given afterwards, while film noir was already at its peak, by the French who loved it and made it their own. Ofcourse that means, without overlooking other film noir productions from other countries, such as England (The Third Man), Italy (Ossessione) and even Japan (Stray Dog). But @cinetv asked us in Twitter about our favorite noir movie.
Be careful! We are still at the beginning. The story we are interested in has not started.
Three police officers, with completely different mentalities, seek the truth and their own justice.
Ed Exley (Guy Pearce), the golden boy of the police, the son of a distinguished police officer, is ready to break the rules in order to ascend to the higher rungs.
source Bud White (Russell Crowe), who pursues his own "violent" justice to punish offenders of domestic violence in a path of personal revenge by bending the rules.
And finally, Jack Vincennes (Kevin Spacey), thirsty for fame and money, indifferent to the people he destroys along the way, until he is confronted with his own conscience. These three men unite in search of a truth that hurts the city, the police and themselves.
source A city that promises its inhabitants fame and fortune, but often illusions and exploitation await them. Even if the plot of the film seems dilapidated, everything is interconnected. It is not just one crime in the script, but many and all related to the city.
- Mobster Mickey Cohen (real person) arrested for tax evasion leaving his power throne empty with his imprisonment.
- Three young African-Americans are arrested by Exley on charges of mass murder at a restaurant with a police officer among the victims.
- A pornographic promoter who forces the women who work for him to undergo plastic surgery in order to look like famous actors.
- A publisher of a scandalous magazine that blackmails celebrities.
And there is a widespread feeling that someone strong is hiding behind everything!
Exley, the hero who captured the perpetrators of the massacre, the one who would bypass the rules to achieve his goals, dares to challenge himself, to look for the real culprit behind it all. And to drag everyone on the journey of truth.The entire film takes place in 1950s Hollywood, quite faithfully following its atmosphere, as James Elroy attributed it in his book "L.A. Confidential", on which the film was based. Violent police, violence against women, racism, sexism, extortion, mechanisms of corruption, prostitution and blackmail complete the scene.
This movie made Crowe and Pearce famous in Hollywood. And it was a risk for director Curtis Hanson, who based his lead roles on two unknown Australian actors. But even though they were the protagonists, the roles are stolen by James Cromwell (Captain Dudley Smith) as the worst cop ever and Kevin Spacey (before the accusations against him for rape). But Hollywood singled out Kim Basinger from the cast of the film as she won an Oscar for her role as a prostitute who looked like Veronica Lake.
But in the end it is a film noir. Even when the truth comes out, it is hard and painful...
Remember Rolo Tomasi...
Thank you for reading!
