- Killers Kill, Dead Men Die
"With a star corpse, and suspects ranging from Helen Mirren to Forest Whitaker, Annie Leibovitz and Michael Roberts create a film noir masterpiece to die for."
THE GUMSHOES. INT. WEST L.A., OSCAR SLADE DETECTIVE AGENCY, INC.—NIGHT
Like any private eye worth his money clip, Oscar Slade (Bruce Willis) is not a talkative man, especially when he's in the company of his junior partner, Dan O'Bannion (Ben Affleck), and their young protégé, Jimmy (Tobey Maguire). But this night is different. Oscar's got something on his mind.
Oscar: There's only two types of people in this town: the Killers and the Killed. If you're not the one, you're gonna end up the other.
Jimmy: What about the dames, chief? Where do they fit in?
Oscar: Have you seen the dames in this town? Warm beneath the sheets, hot under the collar, and ice-cold under the skin. That reminds me—I've got an appointment. Don't wait up, fellas. I might be a while.
LOBBY OF THE DAMNED. INT. HOTEL LA BREA—NIGHT
Making like lovebirds, undercover police detectives Sloan (Ed Norton) and Minsky (Kate Winslet) are working the Hotel La Brea on a tip. The place is a rattrap, but that's why they're here: to trap rats. And, with any luck, exterminate them. The owner, blind racketeer Marlon Doppel (Robert De Niro), knows who offed poor Oscar, but he's not saying. Neither is Muriel Slade (Jennifer Connelly), who has so deftly misled the law for reasons having to do with saving her own skin. The languid drink of water in the corner (Julianne Moore) is content to know not much of anything beyond which gentleman will take on the job of keeping her in silk. Tilda Lydeker (Helen Mirren) arrives in search of answers, unaware that she may be checking in one last time before checking out for good.
When I first found these images I was instantly drawn into them. The sheer detail and balanced tonality of these examples are phenomenal, they remind me of excerpts from "The Reconfigured Eye" in which W J Mitchell talks about the way in which through modern technology and a die hard mission to create "perfect" photographs. We see things within images that previously would not have been considered in the past. This in my opinion is a gleaming example of this quest to create an image so detailed that it seems to defy reality, or at least how we view the world. Indeed it is a constructed reality, and does not try to parade itself otherwise, and a reality in which I would like to emulate in my imagery. However this is of course not possible at this juncture in time due to the scores of people involved in creating this imagery. I dont have the help, celebrities, cash or the knowledge of Annie Leibovitz however I have been greatly inspired by this work and indeed there are elements that will greatly improve my shoot.
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