LA confidential is as much a film noir as it is not a film noir, for one it is set in the 1950’s which is film noir era. Noir films are based corruption in urban settings so location of these films often consist of nighttime scenes, neon and busy cities and los angeles (the location of the film) is a perfect example of such. A city was chosen to host this film because film noir plays largely on the idea of loneliness and solitude and the setting of a big city allows just that where the male protagonist does not communicate or socialize with people outside of work.
LA Confidential begins with the narration of Sid Hudgens which is very typical of film noir, he describes the beauty of Los Angeles and on the other hand its bitter truth of corruption and organized crime.however this is the only time the narration occurs so it is less of a film noir in that case.
One of the male protagonists ed exley decides to testify against his fellow officers, throwing away any chance of friendship and likeness he has with them to preserve his integrity which is quite typical of film noir: the idea that sacrifices must be made for justice and some form of self righteousness/ moral code. You also have another male protagonist Bud White, a brutal, imposing enforcer of “justice” utilized by captain Dudley. He walks like a
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The plot is far more complicated than that of a typical film noir- at the perfect timing it seems, the film manages to connect all the dots and pick up missing pieces to expose the true plot of the film which has everyone gasping and anxious i.e at the end of the film where Exley finds out Dudley’s involvement with the shootout, his father’s death and Jack Vincenne’s death before killing him). This is very much neo noir which contains more complicated plots and a certain hint of sophistication to