Lighthouse Café’s jazz brunch brightens Sunday mornings

September 13, 2024 by

Femmes fatales are naturally nocturnal and enjoy night-time carousing almost as much as they love spending a hefty pile of cold, hard cash. But there are exceptions to that rule.

For example, the Sunday jazz brunch at the Lighthouse Café in Hermosa Beach provides plenty of reasons to be up early-ish on a weekend morning. The event, which runs from 10 am to 2 pm, features classic songs (think Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, George and Ira Gershwin) and attracts first-rate performers, such as vocalist Lia Booth and guitarist Miles Jensen.

Vocalist Lia Booth and guitarist Miles Jensen help the audience mellow out with excellent music.

Sporting Bettie Page bangs and retro specs, classically trained Booth makes each song her own with singular phrasing and Jensen gives a lithe grace to every chord he plays. Most of the songs are audience requests and patrons are encouraged to try to stump the versatile chanteuse.

While jotting down your requests, you can nosh on great brunch fare. Treat yourself to the irresistibly decadent fry up (eggs, hashbrowns, bacon, sausage and toast) or the more demure yogurt and fresh fruit. The raspberry daiquiri pairs remarkably well with both, or go for a savory note and sip a classic Bloody Mary.

If these walls could scat … jazz artists have played here since the place opened in 1949.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To be sure, performers Booth and Jensen follow in some mighty big footsteps. The Lighthouse Café celebrated its 75th anniversary this summer and has long been known as a ballast of bebop and a hot spot for cool jazz, showcasing legendary musicians like Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis and Chet Baker.

In the early days, bassist/band leader/club manager Howard Rumsey put together a house band called the Lighthouse All-Stars, frequently playing with guest musicians. Many artists recorded at the café as well.

Current owner Josh Royal recently told the Daily Breeze he aims to keep the old-school vibe and maintain the café as a live music venue. Besides the brunch, the café hosts a jazz jam session on Monday nights. Royal and his partners took over in 2021. Previously, Paul Hennessey had owned the place for about 40 years.

The neon sign is a nod to the 2016 movie, “La La Land” and its iconic scenes that were shot at the Lighthouse café.

And Musicians aren’t the only ones who are drawn to the historic café. The Lighthouse earned a cinematic claim to fame when it was selected as a location for “La La Land” (2016, Damien Chazelle), starring Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling (pictured below), which won the best Picture Oscar in 2017. Filming took place over four days in late summer, 2015. There is a neon sign that pays tribute to the popular flick; it reads: “Here’s to the fools who dream.”

Ryan Gosling won the Best Actor Oscar for his role in “La La Land.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Both interior and exterior scenes in “La La Land” were filmed at the café.

Vocalist Lia Booth and guitarist Miles Jensen will play on Sunday, Sept. 15, from 10 am to 2 pm. The Lighthouse Café is located at 30 Pier Ave., Hermosa Beach, CA 90254. Ryan Gosling may or may not be in attendance.

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Noir City Hollywood turns 20! Fest begins Friday

April 13, 2018 by

Tough smart wise-cracking private eyes in Bogey-style raincoats and crisp fedoras. Sleek sexy ladies with Bacall-type husky voices. Murderous gangsters and villains. Nosey cops. Dangerous thugs. Beautiful dames in slinky gowns who could eat you for lunch. Shadows draping over a rain-slickened midnight street. Booze. Guns. Jazz. And, over it all, the machinery of fate.

For 20 years, audiences in Hollywood and in other cities have thrilled to Noir City, the premier cinema festival devoted to what we call film noir – the movie genre that introduced us to a lot of the images above, and many more.

“The Blue Dahlia” (starring Alan Ladd and Veronica Lake) is Raymond Chandler’s only original screenplay.

Now, with the advent of the 20th annual Los Angeles Festival of Film Noir, they’ll be lining up again for the suspense-racked programs at Grauman’s/American Cinematheque Egyptian Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard, a classic venue for classic cinema and all the tricks, treats and tragedies of noir. Hosts Eddie Muller (the founder of Noir City, the film noir festival and the Film Noir Foundation) and Alan Rode (author of a splendid recent critical biography of noir master Michael Curtiz), with be there to guide us down the dark streets.

The fest runs for 10 days – April 13-April 22 – and features 20 films. Each program starts at 7:30 p.m. Here’s a look at highlights for the first part of the festival; stay tuned for more recommendations. You may have seen some of these gems before. So see them one more time. (At least) They’ll catch your breath and tingle your spine all over again.

FRIDAY, April 13 (Opening Night)
“The Blue Dahlia” (1946, George Marshall) An essential: Raymond Chandler’s only original screenplay, a tense look at three returning WWW2 vets (Alan Ladd, William Bendix and Hugh Beaumont), who fall into a post-war swamp of murder, infidelity, a “wrong man” and Veronica Lake’s peek-a-boo hairdo . Chandler, king of the noir writers (James Ellroy would disagree), was forced to use an ending here – and to finger a killer – that he hadn’t written and didn’t want. (You’ll be able to guess the killer that should have been almost instantly.) But the movie works anyway.

“I Love Trouble” (1948, S. Sylvan Simon)
A kind of Chandler pastiche: A smart-ass private-eye thriller, with detective Franchot Tone cracking wise amid the likes of Raymond Burr and John Ireland. The writer, Roy Huggins, later came up with TV’s “Rockford Files,” “77 Sunset Strip,” “The Fugitive” and (my favorite TV Western) “Maverick.”

SATURDAY, April 14
“L. A. Confidential” (1997, Curtis Hanson)
Three savvy L. A. cops (Russell Crowe, Guy Pearce and Kevin Spacey), their tyrannical chief (James Cromwell), a sleazy scandal magi publisher (Danny De Vito) and a gorgeous hooker who’s been cut to resemble Veronica Lake (Kim Besieger) are all enmeshed in L. A. ’50s police and governmental super-corruption. Maybe the greatest of the (fairly) contemporary post-war neo-noirs, stunningly executed by director Hanson and scriptwriter Brian Helgoland. James Ellroy wrote the book and he’ll be there to talk about it and the movie, with Eddie.

SUNDAY, April 15
“Kiss Me Deadly” (1956, Robert Aldrich)
Mickey Spillane was the most popular American crime novel writer (for a while, the most popular American writer period) when director Robert Aldrich and writer A. I. Bestrides did this brilliant demolition job on the pop and political culture that fed one of the Mick’s most brutal and misogynistic and cold-blooded thrillers. Ralph Meeker is a perfect, vicious Mike Hammer, Albert Becker, Jack Elam, Jack Lambert and Strother Martin are perfectly nasty heavies, and yeah, that’s Cloris Leachman in the first scene, flagging down Hammer’s car in the nude. And that’s Nat King Cole crooning the romantic ballad under the reverse credit crawl.

“City of Fear” (1959, Irving Lerner)
Vince Edwards is a con on the loose, with a suitcase full of deadly radioactive poison. One of the best of the cheapo arty B’s, from one of Marty Scorsese’s favorite low-budget helmers, Irving Lerner.

MONDAY, April 16
“Dark City” (1950, William Dieterle)
A gang of bickering grifters, led by Charlton Heston (in his off-type movie star debut) get in hot water after a crooked card game. Stylish Dieterle direction and a great cast (Lizabeth Scott, Viveca Lindfors, Ed Begley, Dean Jagger, Jack Webb and Henry Morgan) make this one a winner.

“Armored Car Robbery” (1950, Richard Fleischer)
One of the best of the cheapo non-arty B’s, by crime thriller ace Richard Fleischer. Charles McGraw is the good bad guy, William Talman is the bad bad guy, Adele Jergens is the bad girl.

TUESDAY, April 17
“He Walked by Night” (1948, Alfred Werker)
Richard Basehart plays a brainy heist guy pursued by the LAPD (and Steve Brodie) in this stunningly shot (by John Alton) crime thriller. I’ve always thought Jack Webb (who plays a tech cop) got a lot of ideas for “Dragnet” from this movie – some of which was directed by the uncredited noir expert Anthony Mann.

“Down Three Dark Streets” (1954, Arnold Laven)
FBI agent Broderick Crawford opens three case files (about Ruth Roman, Martha Hyer and Marisa Pavan) on his late friend’s desk and proceeds to unravel the past.
Sounds interesting.

WEDNESDAY, April 18
“Dragnet” (1954, Jack Webb)
Jack Webb again, with his Joe Friday magnum opus … dum-da-dum-dum! The names were changed to protect the innocent – but some of the names they kept were Ben Alexander (Friday’s Man Friday) and the underrated Richard Boone as their superior. “Hill Street Blues” and “Law and Order” it ain’t, but in a way, it paved the way for them.

“Loophole” (1954, Harold D. Schuster)
The powers that “B.” Barry Sullivan is a bank worker wrongly accused of filching the assets with relentless investigator Charley McGraw on his trail. Dorothy Malone too.
See the rest of the Noir City schedule next week.

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Long-awaited Curtiz book hits Hollywood; Egyptian Theatre hosts signing and screening

December 7, 2017 by

Alan K. Rode

Film noir expert Alan K. Rode has released “Michael Curtiz: A Life in Film,” published by the University Press of Kentucky. To mark the book’s launch, the American Cinematheque is hosting a book signing and screening of two Curtiz gems on Thursday night in Hollywood at the Egyptian Theatre.

“The Sea Wolf” (1941) stars Edward G. Robinson, John Garfield, Ida Lupino, Gene Lockhart and Barry Fitzgerald in a tense and moody adaption of Jack London’s anti-fascist adventure novel. Robert Rossen (“The Hustler”) wrote the screenplay.

“The Breaking Point” (1950) takes Ernest Hemingway’s tragic novel “To Have and Have Not” as its source material. Though the setting is changed from Key West to Newport Beach, Calif., Curtiz delivers a more faithful version of the book than the famous Howard Hawks vehicle starring Bogart and Bacall.

Here, John Garfield expertly plays Skipper Harry Morgan. Gravel-voiced Patricia Neal is the alluring vamp; Phyllis Thaxter, Wallace Ford and Juano Hernandez round out the cast.

Rode set himself quite the task when he decided to write about this master director. Uncommonly prolific across many genres (including Westerns, swashbucklers and musicals), Hungarian-born Curtiz made more than 60 movies in Europe and more than 100 in Hollywood, arriving in 1926 at the behest of Warner Bros. Studio.

He won the Best Director Oscar for 1942’s noir-tinged “Casablanca” and for a short called “Sons of Liberty” from 1939. He was nominated for Oscars five times and directed 10 actors to Oscar nominations. James Cagney and Joan Crawford received their only Academy Awards under Curtiz’s direction.

Crawford won for her comeback role, “Mildred Pierce,” a domestic film noir from 1945. With a screenplay by Ranald MacDougall, the movie improves and heightens the drama of James M. Cain’s novel.

Co-starring Ann Blyth, Zachary Scott, Jack Carson, Eve Arden and Bruce Bennett, “Mildred Pierce” ranks as one of our all-time favorite films.

For tonight, however, we’ll just have to swoon over John Garfield. Life’s rough.

Rode will sign his book in the lobby at 6:30 p.m. He will also introduce the films, slated to start at 7:30 p.m.

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As AFI turns 50, this year’s fest looks set to be one of the best

November 7, 2017 by

We are very excited that AFI FEST presented by Audi starts in Hollywood on Thursday, Nov. 9, and ends Thursday, Nov. 16. This great fest is open to the public so check it out.

Load the app and pack some snacks – there are more than 100 movies showing!

Opening the festival on Thursday night is Dee Rees’ “Mudbound,” a drama set in post-World War II Mississippi, starring Carey Mulligan, Garrett Hedlund, Jason Mitchell, Jason Clarke, Mary J. Blige and Rob Morgan.

To mark the 50th anniversary of the American Film Institute, several 1967 titles will screen, such as: “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly,” “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner,” “Barefoot in the Park,” “Blow-Up,” and “Red Desert.”

On Saturday, Nov. 11, documentary filmmaker Errol Morris will be honored with a tribute following a 3 p.m. screening of “Wormwood,” about one man’s 60-year quest to illuminate the circumstances of his father’s mysterious death. Peter Sarsgaard stars. Morris’ credits include the Oscar®-winning “The Fog of War” (2003) as well as “Gates of Heaven” (1978), “The Thin Blue Line” (1988), “Tabloid” (2010) and “The Unknown Known” (2013).

The world premiere of Ridley Scott’s “All the Money in the World” was scheduled to close the festival. On Monday, however, Sony pulled the film from the fest because of the sexual misconduct allegations against Kevin Spacey. In this thriller based on real events, Spacey initially played billionaire J. Paul Getty in 1973, as he refuses to give in to kidnappers who demand $17 million in ransom for the release of Getty’s grandson. The movie is still scheduled for theatrical release later this year but has been reshot, cutting Spacey and replacing him with Christopher Plummer.

Here at FNB, of course, we are super stoked about the neo-noir slate of programming, in particular:

Writer/director Aaron Katz’s “Gemini,” a thriller set in Hollywood starring Lola Kirke and Zoë Kravitz.

“Have a Nice Day,” a Chinese animated noir about greed and ruthlessness amid China’s new economy, is generating buzz. Jian Liu writes and directs.

Gloria Grahame

“Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool,” is Paul McGuigan’s film based on Peter Turner’s memoir of his relationship with actress Gloria Grahame, near the end of her life. Annette Bening plays Grahame, an icon of film noir. Jamie Bell plays her young lover, Peter. Julie Walters and Vanessa Redgrave round out the cast.

In “Molly’s Game,” Jessica Chastain is Molly Bloom, a former athlete targeted by the FBI after she gets involved in running high-stakes poker games. Based on a true story; directed by writing giant Aaron Sorkin.

“In the Fade” is Germany’s contender this year for Best Foreign Film Oscar. Diane Kruger plays a wife and mother who turns vigilante after violence rips her life apart. Fatih Akin directs and co-writes. This is one of 14 Foreign Language Oscar entries in the fest lineup.

An athlete with an unscrupulous agenda – figure skater Tonya Harding – is the subject of “I, Tonya,” from director Craig Gillespie. Margot Robbie stars. Our friend Bob Strauss of the LA Daily News describes this as “hilarious and hard-hitting.”

“Spoor” is a new crime thriller by the great Agnieszka Holland and is Poland’s Best Foreign Film Oscar entry.

In Laurent Cantet’s “The Workshop,” set in a declining town near Marseille, the vibe of a writers’ group goes from soothing to sinister.

An estranged couple must join forces to find their missing son in Andrey Zvyagintsev’s “Loveless,” which is Russia’s Best Foreign Film Oscar hopeful.

Other highlights include:

The 12-film Robert Altman retrospective will screen “M*A*S*H” (1970), “McCabe & Mrs. Miller” (1971), “The Long Goodbye” (1972), “California Split” (1973), “Nashville” (1975), “3 Women” (1977), “Vincent & Theo” (1990), “The Player” (1992), “Short Cuts” (1993), “Kansas City” (1996), “Gosford Park” (2001) and “A Prairie Home Companion” (2006). Talent in attendance at screenings will be announced closer to the festival.

“Call Me By Your Name” is a coming-of-age bisexual love story set in Italy in 1983, directed by Luca Guadagnino, based on André Aciman’s novel and starring Armie Hammer, Timothée Chalamet and Michael Stuhlbarg.

“Hostiles,” a highly anticipated Western by Scott Cooper, starring Christian Bale.

Guillermo del Toro’s “The Shape of Water,” a sci-fi love story set during the Cold War.

“Let the Sun Shine In” a comedy/romance with the always-wonderful Juliette Binoche; directed by Claire Denis.

Isabelle Huppert

Isabelle Huppert fans, take note. The inimitable actress stars in two dramas: Michael Haneke’s “Happy End” and “Claire’s Camera” by Hong Sang-soo. (“Happy End” is Austria’s Best Foreign Film Oscar contender.)

Another coveted ticket: “The Other Side of Hope” by Finland’s Aki Kaurismäki, a critics’ darling.

Talent scheduled to appear at AFI FEST presented by Audi includes: Christopher Nolan, Angelina Jolie, Sofia Coppola, Martin McDonagh, Agnes Varda and Jordan Peele (“Get Out”).

Enjoy!

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Romero honored at special screening of ‘Creepshow’

October 23, 2017 by

An indie director before the term was widely used, George Romero carved his own niche in the horror genre by brilliantly marrying over-the-top blood and guts with sharp social satire.

He broke new ground with his first effort, 1968’s “Night of the Living Dead.” Dismissed by critics, his low-budget film was a huge hit with audiences and grossed more than $50 million. Romero went on to direct these sequels: 1978’s “Dawn of the Dead,” 1985’s “Day of the Dead,” 2005’s “Land of the Dead,” 2007’s “Diary of the Dead” and 2009’s “George A. Romero’s Survival of the Dead.”

The Bronx-born maverick moviemaker died on July 16, 2017; he was 77.

Comic book fans will no doubt appreciate Romero’s “Creepshow,” a 1982 black comedy shot in Pittsburgh, as were many of his other flicks. (Romero graduated from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh in 1960.)

Starring Hal Holbrook, Adrienne Barbeau, Fritz Weaver, Leslie Nielsen, Ted Danson and E.G. Marshall, the film was Stephen King’s first script. King also plays a part in one of the five stories, which are inspired by the EC and DC comics of the 1950s.

You can see “Creepshow” on the big screen on Wednesday, October 25, at the Alex Theatre in Glendale. The Alex is hosting a tribute to Romero with a preshow reception and Q&A.

Happy Halloween, zombie people!

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‘Jane’ documentary is a joy to watch

October 20, 2017 by

A review of “Jane” might seem an odd choice for a site that focuses on film noir. But here at FNB we also celebrate strong, independent women and anthropologist Jane Goodall, the topic of Brett Morgen’s National Geographic documentary, is certainly that.

Goodall and Morgen appeared on-stage at a lovely screening Oct. 9 at the Hollywood Bowl with live orchestral accompaniment by Philip Glass. The event, which was open to the public, drew celebrities such as Angelina Jolie, Judd Apatow, Jamie Lee Curtis, Jane Lynch, Kate Bosworth and Ty Burrell.

Goodall received hearty applause when she said we humans need to do a better job of taking care of the Earth. Morgen gave a shoutout to his mother because the screening date is also her birthday.

Speaking of mothers, Goodall probably would not have achieved as much as she did had it not been for the steady support of her mom. In the film, Goodall explains that, as a young girl, when she expressed her desire to study animals in their natural habitats, her mother didn’t flinch; she encouraged Jane to pursue her goal. Later, she joined her daughter in Africa and helped out in their day-to-day living.

The world’s top expert on chimpanzees, Goodall spent more than 50 years observing and documenting social interactions of wild chimps in Tanzania, starting under the guidance of Louis Leakey in the late 1950s.

In the early 1960s, Dutch filmmaker Hugo van Lawick shot more than 140 hours of footage of Goodall’s work, documenting it for National Geographic. From this filmic record and original interviews, Morgen weaves together his subject’s fascinating life story, both public and private.

With no college degree, Goodall tells us, her job qualifications were a love for animals and an open mind. (She later earned a PhD at Cambridge University.) As a leggy young blonde, she also courted a fair amount of media attention and not surprisingly caught van Lawick’s eye. They eventually married and had a child.

“A lot of people have extraordinary lives, but not a lot of people can articulate those lives, and even fewer have had that entire life photographed on 16mm by one of the world’s greatest photographers,” Morgen told The Hollywood Reporter.

Morgen, whose other credits include “The Kid Stays in the Picture,” “Crossfire Hurricane,” and “Cobain: Montage of Heck,” seamlessly captures Goodall’s passion and commitment, her gentle pragmatism, her quick wit and warm humor.

“I wish I could embrace every single one of you. I want to thank you for being here,” Goodall said at the Hollywood Bowl. “I hope you had a wonderful time.”

We did, indeed. This wonderful film is a joy to watch.

‘Jane’ opens in Los Angeles on Oct. 20.

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COLCOA keeps ’em coming: 3 more great period dramas

May 12, 2017 by

In addition to “A Woman’s Life” (see earlier post), there were three other outstanding period dramas we enjoyed at COLCOA that are well worth seeing if you get the chance.

First: In writer/director Nicolas Boukhrief’s “The Confession,” which is based on Béatrix Beck’s 1952 novel “Léon Morin, prêtre,” Marine Vacth plays a fiery, fiercely free-thinking woman who develops an unconventional friendship with a charming priest (Romain Duris) in a small French town during World War II. Their intellectual debates and emotional vicissitudes as well as their growing depth of feeling and personal peril are handled with subtlety and tenderness.

The book previously came to the big screen in 1961 in a film adapted and directed by Jean-Pierre Melville, starring Jean-Paul Belmondo and Emmanuelle Riva.

Second: A true story you’ll never forget. “A Bag of Marbles,” co-written and directed by Christian Duguay, recounts the harrowing experiences of a Jewish family desperately trying to evade the Nazis in 1941 Paris.

After their parents decide it would be safer to split up temporarily, the youngest sons, 10 and 12, head to France’s “free zone” on their own and must fend for themselves along the way.

The atmosphere is pitch-perfect and the performances all around (especially the boys, as played by Dorian Le Clech and Batyste Fleurial) are authentic and fresh in addition to being uncommonly moving. Based on the memoir by Joseph Joffo and Claude Klotz.

Third: “Mr. & Mrs. Adelman” is a portrait of a relationship over the course of 50 years. Highly engaging, original and often delightfully acerbic, the film was made by Nicolas Bedos and Doria Tiller, who also play the leads and are themselves a couple.

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Italian-French ‘Like Crazy’ is crazy good

May 11, 2017 by

“Like Crazy” (Folles de Joie in French and originally titled La pazza gioia), an Italian-French production, had its Los Angeles premiere at the COLCOA French Film Festival. The film won the Audience Special Mention Award at the fest.

There’s an Italian proverb: “Chi trova un amico, trova un tesoro,” which means “whoever finds a friend finds a treasure.”

The leads of “Like Crazy,” directed and co-written by Paolo Virzi, bear this out on-screen in a uniquely dysfunctional and hilariously messed-up way.

You may remember Valeria Bruni Tedeschi from the 2013 films “Human Capital” or “A Castle in Italy” (she directed, co-wrote and starred in the latter). After seeing this film, you won’t soon forget her. In “Like Crazy,” she plays Beatrice, a chic, snobby, well-to-do party girl a bit past her prime who never stops talking and namedropping.

It’s a little hard, though, to be a social butterfly as a resident of a group-home facility for people suffering from mental and emotional disorders. (“Facility” doesn’t quite do the place justice – it’s an enchanting villa that Beatrice’s family once owned.)

Sure that she does not belong there, Beatrice decides that her fellow residents are freaks with the exception of a withdrawn, depressive 20something named Donatella (Micaela Ramazzotti), who also happens to be drop-dead gorgeous, extremely expressive and endlessly watchable as an actress. She too will remain in your memory long after the credits roll.

Beatrice insists that she and Donatella will be pals and sets about grooming her as a sidekick. Donatella doesn’t have the strength to resist her overtures and when Beatrice finds a way to break free from the group home, Donatella doesn’t need much convincing.

Thus begins a spree of sweet-talking and stealing, boozing and barhopping, haute hustling and hightailing it from the cops and the admin staff at the home.

Smart, funny and deeply touching, thanks to Virzi’s deft and soulful directing, “Like Crazy,” is a stellar addition to the commedia all’Italiana tradition. It also reminds us of classic road-trip movies, such as 1991’s “Thelma and Louise” (directed by Ridley Scott and written by Callie Khouri), and is reminiscent of the days when American movies featured authentic, fleshed-out characters with human flaws and quirky peccadilloes.

(That’s not something we much these days, unfortunately. A case in point: “You Choose,” which closed the COLCOA festival. Amusing and innocuous, it’s a by-the-numbers, superficial comedy.)

Having a woman’s input (Virzi co-wrote the script with Francesca Archibugi) lends “Like Crazy” a special nuance and sensitivity.

Granted, the film follows a fairly conventional structure but all of the filmmaking elements – in particular the writing and acting – are presented so honestly, so movingly and with such consummate skill that we are swept along for one hell of a ride.

“Like Crazy” opens Friday in Los Angeles at the Laemmle Royal Theatre and the Laemmle Playhouse 7.

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‘A Woman’s Life’ is a story that charms, chills and resonates

May 11, 2017 by

“A Woman’s Life” (Une Vie), which had its West Coast premiere at the COLCOA French Film Festival, won the Los Angeles Film Critics Association’s Jury Award at the fest.

In the opening scene of “A Woman’s Life” (Une Vie), we watch the lovely lead character Jeanne le Perthuis des Vauds (Judith Chemla) watering a vegetable garden on her family estate. The copper watering can gleams in the sunlight, water and mud spatter on Jeanne’s dress. It’s a day like any other for her – unhurried, predictable, peaceful. She is the only child of wealthy land owners in Normandy, France, in 1819, and her comfortable future is taken for granted.

But in fact these days of tranquility will dwindle and, as Jeanne’s life unfolds, we are drawn into her emotionally compelling world, viscerally experiencing her moments of poignancy and pain.

At the urging of her mother (Yolande Moreau), Jeanne marries the dapper but weasely Julien de Lamare (Swann Arlaud), who has a pedigree, a shiny frock coat and not much else. The marriage turns out to be short-lived and their child, Paul, grows up to be a willful, selfish brat of the highest order. (Finnegan Oldfield plays the adult Paul.)
Jeanne continues to love Paul blindly, falling back on her father (Jean-Pierre Darroussin) and the family maid Rosalie (Nina Meurisse) for companionship and support.

Director Stéphane Brizé’s film (which he co-wrote with Florence Vignon, based on Guy de Maupassant’s novel) is subtle, complex and layered. Beautifully shot, impeccably acted and featuring first-rate art direction and costumes, “A Woman’s Life” almost seems to have its own organic existence so heightened and intense is its poetic mood and darkly enchanting atmosphere.

(The novel has been adapted one other time: In 1958, director Alexandre Astruc made “One Life” (Une vie) with Maria Schell and Christian Marquand. It was released as “End of Desire” in the U.S.)

Most obviously, Brizé’s film looks at the strict and narrow conventions that defined a woman’s role in family and society at that time. On another level, it’s a study of loyalty and sacrifice, broken trust and betrayal. Jeanne’s mother’s ulterior motives cause Jeanne suffering; her father’s devotion is steadfast.

After she marries, Jeanne turns to a priest for moral counsel but cannot bring herself to follow his advice, lest she inflict pain on an innocent party. A treacherous decision by one of Jeanne’s acquaintances (Clotilde Hesme) has disastrous consequences. Jeanne’s unwavering love and generosity toward her son become her undoing.

At a time of need, Jeanne is rescued by a friend with whom she has a long and complicated history. The film ends with the ultimate symbol of commitment and perhaps fresh hope.

It’s a story that charms, chills and resonates.

“A Woman’s Life” opens Friday in Los Angeles at the Laemmle Royal Theatre and the Laemmle Playhouse 7.

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Basinger and Pearce delight a sold-out audience at anniversary screening of ‘L.A. Confidential’

May 10, 2017 by

Guy Pearce and Kim Basinger spoke with critic Stephen Farber after the screening.

Kim Basinger’s initial answer to playing the voluptuous call girl Lynn Bracken in “L.A. Confidential” was a resounding “no.”

“I’m not going to play a whore! I’m a Mom now,” she recalled saying. (Basinger gave birth to daughter Ireland Baldwin in October of 1995.)

Basinger was speaking at Tuesday night’s screening of the movie, marking its 20th anniversary, held at the Laemmle Ahrya Fine Arts Theatre in Beverly Hills. Co-star Guy Pearce (squeaky clean Det. Ed Exley) joined her for the Q&A, which was moderated by critic Stephen Farber.

But the film’s director Curtis Hanson was determined and invited Basinger to meet him at the Formosa Café to discuss the idea. (The famous bar/restaurant would later feature in the film – it’s there that Kevin Spacey as cop Jack Vincennes gives his perfectly timed line: “It is Lana Turner.”)

At the Formosa, Basinger said she experienced “the seduction of Curtis Hanson,” referring to his eloquence and deadpanning that he was “very manipulative.”

Kim Basinger and Guy Pearce share a scene in “L.A. Confidential.”

Hanson’s persistence paid off: Basinger won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her portrayal. “He believed in me much more than I believed in myself,” she said. “He had a magical connection with actors and with people in general.”

(Hanson and Basinger worked together again in 2002’s “8 Mile,” with Hanson remarking, while she was deciding whether to take the part, “I know if she fears it, she’s going to do it.” Sadly, Hanson died on Sept. 20, 2016.)

Fans wait in line late Tuesday afternoon at Laemmle’s Ahrya Fine Arts Theatre on Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles.

Playing Ed Exley was a much easier choice for Pearce, who was unknown in America at that time, though he remembered being a little overwhelmed by the plot’s twists and turns. “I read the script and I was really confused,” he laughed.

(Hanson and Brian Helgeland earned an Oscar for their screenplay adaptation of James Ellroy’s novel.)

Once Pearce heard that fellow Aussie Russell Crowe had been cast as muscle-bound cop Bud White, he was eager to be a part of the production, adding that he went through extensive screen tests at Warner Bros. before it was a done deal.

“L.A. Confidential” turned out to be Pearce’s break-through role. As he put it: “It’s the greatest film I’ve ever been a part of. It sticks with me like nothing else.”

(Pearce went on to make many more films, including “Memento” in 2000, “The Hurt Locker” in 2008, and “Iron Man 3” in 2013.)

Basinger said director Curtis Hanson was a calming influence.

Pearce and Basinger both credit Hanson with being a calming presence and encouraging them to bring stillness to the screen. A true cinephile who had the cast watch a “film noir retrospective” to get in an old-school mood, Hanson pushed back when he was nudged by execs to speed up the production, telling them: “You can hurry me along all you want but I’m not going to go any faster.”

Veronica Lake was famous for her hair. Basinger was as well – as a Breck Shampoo girl. In the film, Basinger plays a call girl who is Lake’s doppelgänger.

Hanson’s treatment of his actors was often gentle but also spare. Basinger remembered being rattled after doing a scene repeatedly, noting that she had trouble walking gracefully in long gowns and clunky 1940s shoes, à la Veronica Lake.

She asked Hanson for help. His answer: “Do it again.”

“He was utterly inspiring, really,” said Pearce. “He was a mentor, a father figure and we stayed close friends.”

Pearce also shared Crowe’s advice before a close-up. He told Pearce: “Don’t blink.”

Basinger took the opportunity on Tuesday night to thank Pearce and Crowe for their support in her Oscar win, explaining that she’d been too flustered to do so at the time. With “Titanic” sweeping the awards that year, she was sure the trophy would go to Gloria Stuart. “When you hear your name, you freeze! You lose your hands. You lose your feet. You can’t think. I just sat there until Curtis, who was sitting behind me, nudged me. Jack Nicholson had to help me to the stage.”

At 63, and still every inch a beautiful blonde, Basinger looked sleek and slim in a black blazer and blouse, cuffed jeans, white socks and black Oxfords.

When an audience member asked if they had considered making Lynn a brunette for the film’s final scene (in which she leaves Los Angeles, with Bud, for Arizona), Basinger paused a moment, then replied:  “I don’t think there was any thought of that,” she said. “I think she was really happy being a blonde.”

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