‘Come to Los Angeles!
It’s paradise on Earth….That’s what they tell you, anyway.’
In the 20 years since its debut,L.A.
Credit: Angela Weiss/Getty Images; Everett Collection
Confidentialstill dares you to find a film more stylish and evocative.
When a call girl who resembles Veronica Lake (Kim Basinger) gets involved, things really get complicated.
With its crisp suits and glamorous classic-Hollywood-inspired looks, the film buys into that directive completely.
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Myers says the process was one of the most collaborative shes ever experienced (then or since).
They were films Id never heard of with actors Id never heard of, she says.
From the first, she and Hanson were committed to storytelling over replicating.
Ruth Myers
We talked about conceptualizing the period, she says.
Its so easy for clothes to look like costumes.
Ive never been interested in the idea of high fashion.
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Im not really interested in making people look beautiful.
Im interested in telling stories.
Jack Vincennes
Of all the policemen inL.A.
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Confidential,Jack Vincennes is by far the most stylish guy in the LAPD.
They did make make good money, and they were really very, very loud.
For Bud, I just saw him in browns, says Myers.
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Hes a bit of an unmade bed, and I just had always seen those browny tones as earthy.
With what hes trying to do would have come the idea of uniformity.
Exleys Glasses
Even more so than his suits, Exleys glasses are key to his character.
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They were slightly less in your face, she says of the pair they chose.
It felt very right to address those and love them and respect them.
What you have to remember is shes dealing with fantasy and this is not even a film star.
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This is someone who is supposed to look better than a film star.
But the thing about black and white films is theyre so colorful.
Myers says she was also intent on playing up Lynns enigmatic persona through her wardrobe.
Ruth Myers
They all have a sheen, so she always slightly shimmers, she says of her gowns.
I wanted the clothes not to cling to her body, she says.
I wanted them almost on an hourglass figure.
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I wanted her to look voluptuous, but not fleshy.
I wanted you not to get a sense of creases.
Again, its almost like a film star image in a real person.
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She says the director worried, Is it telling too much of the story too soon?
I put her in the red coat, which everybody said lovely,which it was, she explains.
And then I put her in this and Curtis turned around and went, Yeah.It was just that clear.
But it was brave because its very, very striking.
That was about sunshine and about hope, Myers says.
The dress was very deliberately yellow, so it was just happy.
Because its just such a hopeful way for her to end.
The other thing about that dress, which is really important, its period forward, she explains.
Everything else is regressive.
Everything else is 40s in the 50s.
That dress is 50s going towards 60s.
Captain Dudley Smith (James Cromwell) and D.A.
They were tailor-made, she explains.
Confidentialwas the defining experience of her career.
Im very comfortable about being identified with it its wonderful.
But if theres anythingL.A.
Confidentialteaches us, its that theres very rarely true justice in this world.
