The Key Conventions Of Film Noir In L.A Confidential
L.A Confidential (Curtis Hanson, 1997) is a neo-noir film about a shooting at an all night diner and the three Las Angeles policeman who investigate in their own unique ways. It is based on the book by James Ellroy and after a very well adapted screenplay, won nine academy awards. It starred actors with big names like Russell Crowe, Guy Pearce and Danny Devito, which made it a very high earning film.
The Narrative or storyline is much the same as any other film noir movie. It has a ‘hard boiled’ cop (Russell Crowe) who we grow attached to. The narrative of any film must have certain ‘key conventions’ which are apparent for the audience to tell the genre of the film. The narrative can be used to provide an explanation as to why the film contains certain things, or why a character does something.
The genre of the film is how we know what kind of film it is. Genre is a French word which literally means type; it shows what category a film comes under. There are certain factors in a genre which will identify it. Things like settings, characters and themes can all be similar in one specific genre.
‘L.A Confidential is in the film noir genre. Other films in this genre are ‘The Big Sleep’, ‘The Maltese Falcon’ and ‘Double Indemnity’. Lighting is very important in film noir. It uses techniques such as chiaroscuro to give the film a darker, more obscured feel. The characters are often similar in film noir. The main protagonist is always some hard boiled cop or investigator who doesn’t always play by the book to get his desired results. There is often a femme fatale; a very pretty woman with whom the main protagonist has a love interest. There will always be bad guys who will try and stop the main protagonist from completing the case.
In L.A Confidential Danny Devito narrates. A narrator is quite common in noir films. The purpose of a narrator is to explain, to the audience, parts of the film which cannot be explained by conversation on screen or visually. A voice over is non- diagetic which means that we can hear it but it is not apparently coming from anywhere on screen. Danny Devito is perfect in this role because he has quite a seedy voice this is good to illustrate the sleaziness of film-noir, it shows the real voice of L.
Films that are classified as being in the film noir genre all share some basic characteristics. There is generally a voice-over throughout the film in order to guide the audience's perceptions. These movies also involve a crime and a detective who is trying to figure out the truth in the situation. This detective usually encounters a femme fatale who seduces him. However, the most distinctive feature of the film noir genre is the abundance of darkness.
LA Confidential. Dir. Curtis Hanson. Perf. Kevin Spacey, Russel Crowe, Guy Pierce, Kim Bassinger, Danny DeVito. Regency, 1997.
La La Land is American musical romantic comedy-drama movie in 2016. Lalaland written and directed by Damien Chazelle. It stars Ryan Gosling name is Sebastian as a jazz pianist and Emma Stone name is Mia as an aspiring actress in the movie.
In conclusion, Aristotle’s elucidation of happiness is based on a ground of ethics because happiness to him is coveted for happiness alone. The life of fame and fortune is not the life for Aristotle. Happiness is synonymous for living well. To live well is to live with virtue. Virtue presents humans with identification for morals, and for Aristotle, we choose to have “right” morals. Aristotle defines humans by nature to be dishonored when making a wrong decision. Thus, if one choses to act upon pleasure, like John Stuart Mill states, for happiness, one may choose the wrong means of doing so. Happiness is a choice made rationally among many pickings to reach this state of mind. Happiness should not be a way to “win” in the end but a way to develop a well-behaved, principled reputation.
One of the fundamental aspects that determine the genre of a film is the iconography and the
The focus of this essay is to study the genre codes and conventions in psychological thrillers which are a very popular ‘sub-genre’ of thriller movies which focuses heavily on its characters and integrates a variety of components from the mystery and drama genre as well as the thriller genre. The target audience for this particular genre would be those who live on adrenaline and love plot twists.
ChinaTown, directed by Roman Polanski, is a non-traditional hard-nosed detective film made in the 70's. The typical elements of character type are there; J.J. Gittes (a private detective in LA) played by Jack Nicholson is the central character, sharing the spotlight is Fay Dunaway playing the femme fatale Evelyn Mulwray. This film breaks all types of norms when compared to the hard-nosed detective films it is modeled after. The film is filled with allusions to the Big Sleep, especially taken from scenes of Marlowe and Vivian. Chinatown has formal elements indicative that it is going to be in the style of traditional Film Noir hardboiled detective, until you examine the characters' personalities next to the story content.
The viewer sees a private eye and beautiful client. First thought, "It’s definitely another Hollywood crime drama." On the surface, Chinatown has all the elements of a film noir: the presence of a beautiful but dangerous woman, otherwise known as the femme fatale, a gritty urban setting, compositional tension (highly contrasting light and dark colors or oblique camera angles), and themes of moral ambiguity and alienation. Chinatown, however, is different. Polanski shot Chinatown with color film, and though his colors do appear especially vivid, color film precludes the contrast intensity that black and white film offers. In addition, Evelyn is not the classic femme fatale. Though Jake mistakes her for her husband’s killer at first, Mrs. Mulwray eventually emerges as the story’s most tragic victim. Yes, Chinatown for the most part conforms to the structure of film noir, but this film departs from the general genre, creating an entirely different element in which Roman Polanksi examines not only big-money corruption and its malignant obsession with money, but also larger, more human themes such as ignorance, authority, and the pervasiveness of evil.
Firstly, Nietzsche stated that life is death in the making and all humans should not be determined by an external force rather, he believed that humans should have the incentive to think for themselves. Nietzsche claimed the future of a man is in his own hands. Simultaneously, humans are phased with struggles in the attempt to self-create themselves. Nietzsche proceeded with his argument affirming
Criminology is the study of crime and criminals; a branch of sociology. More accurately, it is the study of crime as a social trend, and its overall origins, its many manifestations and its impact upon society as a whole. That makes it more a form of sociology than a law enforcement tool. But the trends it studies have a huge impact on the way the police do their jobs, the way society treats its criminals, and the way a given community goes about maintaining law and order. The writer will describe and give examples of the three perspectives of viewing crimes. The perspectives that will be highlighted are the consensus view, the conflict view or the interactionist view. Each perspective maintain its own interpretation of what constitutes criminal activities and what causes people to engage in criminal behaviors (Siegel, p.12).
“Can you remember the last time you were in a public space in America and didn’t notice that half the people around you were bent over a digital screen, thumbing a connection to somewhere else?” (Fredrickson, 2013, pg. 1). In a world today where sending a text message containing the message “I luv you,” is equally powerful to that statement said in person to your significant other. Today’s generation is surrounded by the constant need to have technology and mainly cell phones at your fingertips. Gone are the days when people would talk to one another whilst standing in line, now it is all about having and using your cell phone to pass the time. All of this takes bondage on having an interpersonal relationship with each other and conversing face-to-face. Mainly, cell phones are a handicap to this and they inhibit the ability for a male to communicate with a female or vice versa, leading to the foreign territory of intimate relationships. The main reaction to this is saying that technology has shaped this motive and texting is a way of life. One can beg to differ saying that there just needs to be a new understanding of when, where and how much a cell phone is used around other people. This understand standing starts with coming up close and personal with why it happens. It can be said that this boils down to it being a physical distraction, emotional distraction, and a handicap to society’s ability to have interpersonal communication.
Aristotle feels we have a rational capacity and the exercising of this capacity is the perfecting of our natures as human beings. For this reason, pleasure alone cannot establish human happiness, for pleasure is what animals seek and human beings have higher capacities than animals. The goal is to express our desires in ways that are appropriate to our natures as rational animals. Aristotle states that the most important factor in the effort to achieve happiness is to have a good moral character, what he calls complete virtue. In order to achieve the life of complete virtue, we need to make the right choices, and this involves keeping our eye on the future, on the ultimate result we want for our lives as a whole. We will not achieve happiness simply by enjoying the pleasures of the moment. We must live righteous and include behaviors in our life that help us do what is right and avoid what is wrong. It is not enough to think about doing the right thing, or even intend to do the right thing, we have to actually do it. Happiness can occupy the place of the chief good for which humanity should aim. To be an ultimate end, an act must be independent of any outside help in satisfying one’s needs and final, that which is always desirable in itself and never for the sake of something else and it must be
However, after talking with my advisor I was told that I would be able to go into psychology with a bachelor’s degree in social work. My advisor also told me that the professions are similar. I took her advice and started a new goal, to get my BSW. Coming into my first class on the field of social work, I wasn’t too sure what to expect. All I knew is that the profession was connected to helping people. After learning more about the profession and the wide range of options that accompany it, I started to get excited. I could work with many different types of people on a range of issues and changing which area I work in would be relatively easy. I have always wanted to help people with mental health issues and I thought that social workers only did that in school settings. Learning that I just needed to get my Masters to be able to do therapy made me feel great about choosing to become a social worker. Having options has made my college experience better by getting me excited for what the future holds.
Happiness can be viewed as wealth, honour, pleasure, or virtue. Aristotle believes that wealth is not happiness, because wealth is just an economic value, but can be used to gain some happiness; wealth is a means to further ends. The good life, according to Aristotle, is an end in itself. Similar to wealth, honour is not happiness because honour emphases on the individuals who honour in comparison to the honouree. Honour is external, but happiness is not. It has to do with how people perceive one another; the good life is intrinsic to the...
From a historic point of view, Western travelers had remarked on the slow pace of lifestyle and fashion change in Turkey and Persia. On the other hand, many people were of the opinion that the western culture is getting out of hand in terms of dressing fashion (Cumming 234). In most cases, change of fashion and dressing style took place hand in hand with economic and social changes. In the developing world, changes in fashion began with the coming of the whites in Middle East. Changes began in the 11th century when the Turks came to central Asia and Far East. In Europe, continuous change in clothing fashion is believed to have started in middle 14th century. It started by a sudden introduction of shortening and tightening of male garments, it further brought the introduction of trousers and leggings that were worn by men (Cumming 235). After the advent of change in men fashion, it was followed by changes in female c...