Los Angeles (2004)

Sarah Morris' fifth short documentary film, investigates the psychology, architecture and aesthetic of the American city. It reveals a new cityscape of Los Angeles by tracking its de-centered plan, complex architecture, and most importantly its crucial role as a center of film production. “Los Angeles” posits the city as a hyper-narrative within a very distinct duration of time. Here the city is caught at its most ebullient and narcissistic moment: the week leading up to the Oscars. A sequence of images and cinematic situations set to an original musical score, range from the rehearsals and pre-production moments of the Academy Awards to a John Lautner house, Brad Pitt on the set of “Mr. And Mrs. Smith” at Twentieth Century Fox, the final taping of Hollywood Squares at CBS, the legendary Bonaventure Hotel, Pat Kingsley at work, I.M. Pei’s Creative Artist’s Agency, Mulholland Drive, the Department of Water and Power, and the Vanity Fair party.