Film still To live and Die in L.A © RR
To Live and Die in L.A.: William Friedkin’s take on a police thriller
William Friedkin is honoured in Cannes Classics. The day after his Cinema Masterclass and the screening of Sorcerer at the Cinéma de la plage, the director presents To Live and Die in L.A., at the Salle Buñuel: a brutal and cynical thriller woven around three anecdotes.
We discover Willem Dafoe in his first starring role and already he’s a bad guy. In To Live and Die in L.A, he is being trailed by two cops. When he kills one of them, the other will stop at nothing to avenge his death, even at the cost of going against the law and morality.
One of the most intense car chases in film, with hints of the legendary chase in French Connection, also by Friedkin. This scene was filmedd last to avoid the risk of injury to the actors.
Crime with precision. While working on the ideas for To Live and Die in L.A., William Friedkin consulted both police officers and forgers. What's more, the false banknotes made for the film finally ended up in circulation. But don't try to find them – they were quickly spotted and destroyed.
Restoration project initiated by Arrow Films in the United Kingdom. Original 35 mm negative scanned in 4K at Deluxe Media in Burbank then converted to 2k for colourimetric correction supervised by William Friedkin, and a digital restoration process.
