Enter The L.A.byrinth Of Noir With These 2 Films

Hollywood Ills

This is #DoubleFeature, in which Harsh Pareek shares two recommendations for the price of none. Today: Under the Silver Lake (2018) and Inherent Vice (2014).

NOTHING captures Los Angeles quite like a good noir. The glamour and the excesses, the cynicism and the corruption, the fame and the conspiracies, the blinding lights and the smokescreens, the beauty and the grotesque. A la-la land state of mind.

And perhaps no two other filmmakers have captured the same in recent years quite as gorgeously as David Robert Mitchell and Paul Thomas Anderson with Under the Silver Lake and Inherent Vice, respectively. Two warped mysteries playing out behind the scenes in a fever dream LA, and the two bewildered, sometimes fumbling, yet endearing protagonists on kaleidoscopic quests looking for some answers.

MYSTERIOUS WHIRL

Enter The L.A.byrinth Of Noir

By Harsh Pareek

WRITTEN by Mitchell himself, Under the Silver Lake follows Sam (Andrew Garfield), a disenchanted 33-year-old who discovers a mysterious woman, Sarah (Riley Keough), hanging around in his apartment's swimming pool. The two connect briefly, but when she vanishes, Sam embarks on a surreal and murky quest across Los Angeles to decode the secret behind her disappearance, entangling himself in a wild conspiracy along the way.

With a splendid performance by Garfield, the film genuinely feels like being led down a rabbit hole of endless mysteries hidden across the LA landscape along with Sam. And more impressive is how unapologetic and sincere Silver Lake feels in all its weirdness when it comes to the storytelling, walking a fine line between neo-noir and black comedy.

Yet under its cast of colourful characters — featuring actors, songwriters, obsessed zine creators, band members, Topless Bird Woman (and many, many more) — and the mind-twisting D&D-esque tale, the film delivers a pointed commentary on the treatment of women in Hollywood, and the abuse of power by the rich in the shadows of the entertainment industry. That, and dog killers.

While not always more than the sum of its parts, Under the Silver Lake is a boldly ambitious undertaking, woven into the very fabric of Los Angeles with finesse, and a sense of offbeat lucidity.

An exhilarating ride that stays with you for a long time.

Watch 'Under the Silver Lake'

SET in 1970 — and based on a 2009 novel of the same name by none other than Thomas Pynchon — Inherent Vice follows Los Angeles County private detective and pothead Larry “Doc” Sportello (Joaquin Phoenix), who is paid a visit out of the blue by a former lover, Shasta Fay Hepworth (Katherine Waterston), seeking his help. Turns out, Shasta's current beau, rich real-estate tycoon Mickey Wolfmann (Eric Roberts), has a wife who might be plotting to commit him to a mental hospital. When Mickey and Shasta both disappear, Doc navigates a psychedelic world of surfers, stoners and cops, to solve the case.

An already intriguing premise and setting, in the hands of Anderson and cinematographer Robert Elswit the film turns into something approaching magical. From the beautifully shot Los Angeles area to the lived-in set designs, and a groovy soundtrack, Inherent Vice draws you in with its charm from the very first scene.

Add to that an enviable cast, featuring Josh Brolin, Owen Wilson, Reese Witherspoon, Benicio del Toro, Jena Malone, Joanna Newsom, Hong Chau, Jeannie Berlin, Maya Rudolph, Michael Kenneth Williams and Martin Short, among others — everyone firing on all cylinders — and you have yourself 149 minutes of bliss.

While neo-noir and stoner comedy might not necessarily be the genres one thinks of immediately to blend together, Inherent Vice makes a rather fabulous joint of it. There are clever exchanges that could make you giddy with laughter, and earnest moments of quiet contemplation; all played out with an undertone of mystery and conspiracy throughout, topped off by Phoenix's high-wire act.

Above all, Inherent Vice is a showcase of a master of the craft at work. While the film has a lot going for itself, Anderson brings the heart to it. Under his direction, every frame is alive, and a dream.

Watch 'Inherent Vice'

***

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