Adapting a novel into a screenplay is an extremely difficult prospect as the film has to convert the image that was captured over several hundred pages into a few hours of video. Nov 03, 2015 the 50 best opening credit sequences of all time. The action is driven along by his breakneck writing style, and his staccato style shows its first signs in the head of jack vincennes. The movie is an excellent instance of adapting from a novel with a complicated story line. It puts the artifice first and foremost, yet remains utterly charming.
The film tells the story of a group of lapd officers in 1953, and the intersection of police corruption and hollywood celebrity. Confidential is epic noir, a crime novel of astonishing detail and scope written by the bestselling author of the black dahlia. I wanted an extra 5 seconds of black with nothing but jerry goldsmiths music before the end credits. The magazine sank in a sea of lawsuits, but it created a genre. Here, i wanted to linger on the last page a little longer, i. The action of the book takes place from 1950 until 1958, with the initial heroin theft occurring in 1950, bloody christmas in 1951, the nite owl massacre in 1953, and the ultimate revelation of the true motives behind the murders in 1958. In the end, ellroy gave the film his blessing though he called the plans. Confidential 1990 is a neonoir novel by james ellroy, and the third of his l. Confidential by james ellroy grand central publishing.
Hard to find but if you have it you know your living the good life. Confidential, ed exley is in a supposedly soundproof interview room, giving a statement to two detectives. James ellroy on his nervous breakdown, tv adaptations and. And three lawmen are caught in a deadly spiral, a nightmare that. Confidential and was drawn to its characters, not the plot. I found it on my dads night table and read it breathlessly, the stories of reefer parties, multiple divorces, wifeswapping and leading men who liked to wear frilly undergarments. A horrific mass murder invades the lives of victims and victimizers on both sides of the law. Confidential is one of my favourite books of all time, and my favourite james ellroy book.
To me, the arrival of a films end credits feels like the closing of a book. Energetic, sprawling and often stylistically irritating police procedural that follows three lapd members over a tenyear period, beginning in 1950. Confidential was a key magazine of the 1950s, a monthly that sold millions of copies with its seamy exposes of celebrity drugs and sex. Based on a book by leading crime author james ellroy, l. Vicennes, a clothes horse, consults for a dragnetlike tv show. A period film set in the vein of neonoir movies such as chinatown with a great cast of actors is something i thought i wouldve considered great.
Lemay and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at. Published in 1990, it was ellroys coming out party as a force to be reckoned with in the genre and the dawn of a new generation in crime fiction. The screenplay by hanson and brian helgeland is based on james ellroys 1990 novel of the same name, the third book in his l. The movie is essentially a pareddown, cleaner version of the book. Jun 06, 20 1950s hardboiled detective noir that goes deeper and darker than any other book in the genre, l. Confidential by curtis hanson curtis hanson, kevin. Confidential by brian helgeland based on the novel by james ellroy. Officer bud white, on the other hand, is brutal, violent, vengeful and jack trashcan vincennes, formerly of the. And this might be why i buy into confidential more than our last film.
Detective lieutenant exley guy pearce, the son of a murdered detective, is out to avenge his fathers killing. The plot to replace cohen blindsides three plainclothes cops. Confidential by brian helgeland based on the novel by. Often times just remembering whos who diverts our attention away from the plot. Jun 20, 2012 rushed is how i would describe the ending, as well. The plot, based on the novel by james ellroy, can only be described as. The national enquirer of the 1950s when confidential magazine launched in 1952, it feasted on the type of juicy gossip that could launch or ruin a career. Destruction from the air the army air forces confidential picture h by jr. Confidential is occasionally confusing due to many minor characters its fine acting and impressive storytelling makes up for that problem.
A great movie directed by curtis hanson about crime and corruption in the city of l. How does ed exley hear whats said outside the interview room. The epigraph is a glory that costs everything and means nothingsteve erickson. Confidential, a drama based on james ellroys noir classic novel. There is one closing line near the end that will require you to stop reading for a. Confidential series based on james ellroys 1990 novel. So that would explain why they are in both trying to keep things in.
The sun shines bright, the beaches are wide and inviting, and the orange groves stretch as far as the eye can see. Confidential 1997 full movie dead pigs 2018 full movie the making of full metal jacket duration. Ed exley, a patrician who venerates his herocop father, presumably holds high ideals and unassailable standards. Confidential isnt just one of the best crime dramas of the past two decades. Sagalike narrative hardboils down to three gutsy, basically honest but flawed lapd officers. The 50 best opening credit sequences of all time indiewire. Confidential holds enough plots for two or three books. Snoop dogg and cypress hill namechecked it in some of their songs. Films such as the big chill successfully avoided that problem, and while l. Ellroy is a master of crime, seamlessly weaving three narratives in his deliciously dark. He takes all of the themes he explored in previous novels and packs them into a book thats an even larger, more epic tale of crime, perversion, and hollywood corruption than any of his previous books. Confidential by james ellroy 55 the third book in the l.
Without giving away any spoilers its last chapter is vital in understanding this book. He is observed by a group of others, including the chief of police and the da, who sit outside the room behind a oneway mirror. Even when ya know the plot from the movie its still riveting. Confidential feels like the book that james ellroy has been preparing for and working up to during his entire career up to this point. Noir cut to look of the period, not about the period. Curtis hanson had read half a dozen of james ellroys books before l. We knew a lot of the content of the book would have to go, but we were also both.
Confidential has been hailed by critics as one of seminal works of neonoir. Confidential ist ein usamerikanischer spielfilm des regisseurs curtis hanson aus dem. Confidential is a 1997 american neonoir crime film directed, produced and cowritten by curtis hanson. The police, led by captain dudley, convince wiseguys from jersey, cleveland, and elsewhere to go home. Confidential is a 1997 american neonoir crime film directed, produced and cowritten by. Confidential and millions of other books are available for instant access. Eds whole motivation towards solving the case was for his father who was murdered by an unknown person he calls rollo tamasi. Rich developer, pierce patchett, runs a stable of highclass hookers who are ringers for movie stars.