Los Angeles Plays itself
»This is the city: Los Angeles, California. They make movies here. I live here. Sometimes I think that gives me the right to criticize the way movies depict my city.« THOM ANDERSON, author, curator, filmmaker and -critic (see also: Red Hollywood) answered with another movie: »Los Angeles plays itself.« Unfortunately it's still missing on DVD. But I just found the complete voice over text on the new filmcritic site. And an extended discussion on indiewire After having watched »Collatoral« it might be a very interesting lecture. »Of course, I know movies aren’t about places, they’re about stories. If we notice the location, we are not really watching the movie. It’s what’s up front that counts. Movies bury their traces, choosing for us what to watch, then moving on to something else.«
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List of films
I think Los Angeles Plays itself is a wonderful film. I saw it at the Filmfest last year and talked to Tom afterwards. I asked him if he had a list of the movies that he used and he sent me one. If anybody is interested I can scan it.
Patrick
Los Angeles continues playing itself
Some recommended further reading:
Thom Andersen - Collateral Damage: Los Angeles Continues Playing Itself [Andersen on Michael Mann's "Collateral"]
Jonathan Rosenbaum - LA Existential [Rosenbaum's text on LAPI in the Chicago Reader]
Bringing It Back - An Interview with Thom Andersen [A long interview with Andersen conducted by Andrew Tracy for "reverse shot"]
Ekkehard Knörer - Los Angeles Plays Itself [Ekkehard Knörer on Andersen's "Literalism" and its theoretical implications]
[VP, new filmkritik]