Los Angeles Plays Itself

"Los Angeles may be the most photographed city in the world, but it may never have been captured with such complex layers of meaning and fascination as in...Los Angeles Plays Itself."--Variety Thom Andersen's epic Los Angeles Plays Itself is a video essay about how movies have portrayed this chronically misrepresented metropolis, using evocative film clips from titles both celebrated and obscure.

A distinguished documentarian (Red Hollywood) and former Ohio State film studies professor, Andersen (now on the faculty of Cal Arts) has lived in Los Angeles since childhood. He began Los Angeles Plays Itself, he says, "as a lecture intended for locals only," but broader social issues emerged as the project grew in scope.

Viewing Los Angeles as a background, as well as a character and a subject in itself, Andersen's startling essay concludes with how the "real" history of the city is variously embedded in such films as Chinatown, Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, and L.A. Confidential. (169 mins.)