L.A. Without a Map
Encyclopedia
L.A. Without a Map is a 1998 film directed by Mika Kaurismäki
and written by Mika Kaurismäki and Richard Rayner
, based on his novel. The film stars David Tennant
, Vinessa Shaw
, Julie Delpy
, Vincent Gallo
, and Johnny Depp
It is a French, British and Finnish production.
Also known under the titles: Los Angeles Without A Map, and I Love L.A. (France)
), an aspiring Hollywood actress, has a fling with the town undertaker, Richard (David Tennant
), who also writes obituaries for the local paper, and has written one unsuccessful novel, Uzi Suicide. Barbara returns home, where she works as a waitress at a Japanese restaurant. She brags about the handsome writer she met while away. Unfortunately, Richard follows her to Hollywood.
) explaining to the audience about his dull existence in Bradford.
While attending one of his funerals, Richard meets Barbara (Vinessa Shaw
), an aspiring American actress passing through the city for the day. The two enjoy their limited time together before Barbara is due to return to Los Angeles where she makes a living working as a waitress in a French restaurant in the hopes that she is spotted by a talent scout. Unable to forget about her, Richard promptly leaves Bradford, without announcing so to his fianceé. And so the story begins...
Richard quickly finds Barbara (the address of the restaurant at which she waits printed on a packet of matches that she left behind) who is shocked to see that he has followed her to America - she had told her friends at the restaurant of Richard, twisting the truth as she did so, allowing them to believe that he is a famous British writer. Clearly embarrassed, Barbara shoos Richard away, asking him to accompany her on a photoshoot outside the town.
Richard charms Barbara throughout their second day together, defending her honour when the photographer tried to seduce her. However, moments after he announced that the two of them should be married immediately he is introduced to Patterson (Cameron Bancroft
), Barbara's boyfriend. She asks Richard, who doesn't drive, to take her car as she is leaving with Patterson - he does so regardless, and finds himself surrounded by Hollywood cops. He must leave the car in an uneasy neighbourhood before returning to his hotel.
When Richard returns to the car he finds that it has been vandalised by the locals. As he panics over what Barbara would think, a man named Moss (Vincent Gallo
) approaches him, and proceeds to show Richard around the house opposite, which has recently become available to rent. Despite its more-than-run-down appearance, Richard agrees to rent the place. As he is making the house a little more inhabitable, Moss drops by to let Richard know that he convinced the neighbours to fix up Barbara's car as Richard is now like one of the family. Richard calls Barbara at the restaurant to let her know that he's renting a place and they arrange to meet the next day.
Barbara asks an unwilling Richard to play along with the game that he is a photographer of Barbara's previous shoot so that Patterson doesn't suspect that there could be something between them. However, Patterson makes it clear that if Richard was to try to be more than friends with Barbara, terrible things would be done to him. A little shaken, Richard returns home.
Moss helps Richard get a job for Clear Blue Yonder, a pool cleaning company. The pair visit wealthy Hollywood homes to clean the swimming pools of the rich. Despite trying to keep busy, Richard remains impatient to see Barbara again. In his desperation, he blows his credit on a new guitar for Moss, and he spends his free time smoking, drinking and sitting by the phone.
Barbara finally calls. She and Richard go to the beach and she tells Richard that, although she likes him it's safer for her future career if she stays with Patterson. In response, he tells her that he'd have gone to the North Pole for her.
Richard takes Barbara to a club where Moss and his band (Leningrad Cowboys
) are playing. Richard introduces Moss to Barbara's waitress friend Julie (Julie Delpy
) and the two get along famously. Meanwhile, Barbara sees Patterson getting too friendly with the Head Waitress at the restaurant and she finally leaves him. Richard, Barbara, Moss and Julie spend the night on the road, before Moss and Julie leave to spend time together in a hotel. After testing Richard's sincerity about loving her, Barbara agrees to marry him, and the pair have an impromptu wedding.
Richard and Barbara are married and Barbara has an audition for a film. She has also arranged a meeting for Richard with a well-known screenwriting agent, Takowsky (James LeGros
). Richard hands over Uzi Suicide and returns home to work on more script ideas. Barbara arrives back in a fantastic mood after her successful audition, and she, Richard, Moss and Julie all go out to celebrate. Following a day of fun at Speedzone, the four finish their celebrations at a bar, where it is revealed that Patterson is the director of Barbara's film. Richard, in an attempt to appear better than Patterson, gets himself ridiculously drunk, and embarrasses not only himself but Barbara too.
Soon after the party Barbara tells Richard that she's no longer in the film, and Richard suggests that they call Moss and Julie to go out for a drink together. Moss and Julie let slip that Patterson had told Barbara that she could have the part in the movie if she went to bed with him - Richard asks Barbara if she was tempted, and she was. The couple's marriage begins to deteriorate from there on out. Richard follows Barbara (in the boot of her car) to her meeting with Patterson, but unfortunately doesn't get that far following an incident in a car wash, and Barbara leaves Richard to return to Patterson.
Impatient to get Barbara back in his life, Richard finds himself friendless and alone. He wanders mournfully through a cemetery where he meets Johnny Depp
(or an unnamed character played by Depp) on a bench, and they share a bucket of chicken together and swap stories of lost loves.
Richard visits the restaurant, where Julie tells him that Barbara doesn't wish to see him anymore. He overhears that Barbara will be waiting at a premiere party later, and is advised by the restaurant's owner that if he can't win Barbara back then he should kill her.
Obviously deciding that killing Barbara would be unwise, Richard acquires a drug to knock her unconscious in case he cannot convince her to return to his side. Moss accompanies him to the premiere party and he finds Barbara in hardly any time at all. After an argument, Richard whips out the drug but Barbara hits him in the face, knocking him to the ground.
Richard spends the night in prison, and is released with the help of Takowsky. He returns to Bradford where his funeral business has been kept afloat by a colleague. He and his ex-fianceé are on speaking terms only, which is fine by him.
And then he sees Barbara, in exactly the same place as where they first saw each other. She has brought him back his Uzi Suicide, which has been approved by Takowsky, along with his first big pay cheque. They decide to patch up their relationship, starting afresh in Bradford.
, Julie Delpy
, Joe Dallesandro
, Vincent Gallo
, Johnny Depp
(as himself and as his Dead Man
character, William Blake), Amanda Plummer, Lisa Edelstein
, Anouk Aimée
as herself, and the Leningrad Cowboys
. Robert Davi
also appears as himself. The film has cameos by actors playing themselves as part of the film's "foreigner in Hollywood" scenes.
Mika Kaurismäki
Mika Juhani Kaurismäki is a Finnish film director.He is the elder brother of Aki Kaurismäki, and the father of Maria Kaurismäki who graduated from Tampere School of Art and Media in 2008 with her movie Sideline.Mika Kaurismäki has lived in Brazil since approximately 1992 and has made several...
and written by Mika Kaurismäki and Richard Rayner
Richard Rayner
-Early life:He was born on December 15, 1955 in the northern city of Bradford. Rayner attended schools in Yorkshire and Wales before studying philosophy and law at the University of Cambridge. He has worked as an editor at Time Out Magazine, in London, and later on the literary magazine Granta,...
, based on his novel. The film stars David Tennant
David Tennant
David Tennant is a Scottish actor. In addition to his work in theatre, including a widely praised Hamlet, Tennant is best known for his role as the tenth incarnation of the Doctor in Doctor Who, along with the title role in the 2005 TV serial Casanova and as Barty Crouch, Jr...
, Vinessa Shaw
Vinessa Shaw
Vinessa Elizabeth Shaw is an American actress and model. Shaw has starred in numerous motion pictures since the early 1990s, and is probably most well known for her performances in Disney's 1993 Halloween film Hocus Pocus, Ladybugs, the 2006 remake of Wes Craven's horror picture The Hills Have...
, Julie Delpy
Julie Delpy
Julie Delpy is a French-American actress, director, screenwriter, and singer-songwriter. She studied filmmaking at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts and has directed, written, and acted in more than 30 films, including Europa Europa , The Voyager , Three Colors: White , Before Sunrise...
, Vincent Gallo
Vincent Gallo
Vincent Gallo is an Italian-American film director and actor. Though he has had minor roles in mainstream films such as Goodfellas, he is most associated with independent movies, including Buffalo '66, which he wrote, directed, did the music for and starred in; The Brown Bunny, which he also...
, and Johnny Depp
Johnny Depp
John Christopher "Johnny" Depp II is an American actor, producer and musician. He has won the Golden Globe Award and Screen Actors Guild award for Best Actor. Depp rose to prominence on the 1980s television series 21 Jump Street, becoming a teen idol...
It is a French, British and Finnish production.
Also known under the titles: Los Angeles Without A Map, and I Love L.A. (France)
Plot summary
While visiting a Northern English city, Barbara (Vinessa ShawVinessa Shaw
Vinessa Elizabeth Shaw is an American actress and model. Shaw has starred in numerous motion pictures since the early 1990s, and is probably most well known for her performances in Disney's 1993 Halloween film Hocus Pocus, Ladybugs, the 2006 remake of Wes Craven's horror picture The Hills Have...
), an aspiring Hollywood actress, has a fling with the town undertaker, Richard (David Tennant
David Tennant
David Tennant is a Scottish actor. In addition to his work in theatre, including a widely praised Hamlet, Tennant is best known for his role as the tenth incarnation of the Doctor in Doctor Who, along with the title role in the 2005 TV serial Casanova and as Barty Crouch, Jr...
), who also writes obituaries for the local paper, and has written one unsuccessful novel, Uzi Suicide. Barbara returns home, where she works as a waitress at a Japanese restaurant. She brags about the handsome writer she met while away. Unfortunately, Richard follows her to Hollywood.
Plot details
The film opens with Richard (David TennantDavid Tennant
David Tennant is a Scottish actor. In addition to his work in theatre, including a widely praised Hamlet, Tennant is best known for his role as the tenth incarnation of the Doctor in Doctor Who, along with the title role in the 2005 TV serial Casanova and as Barty Crouch, Jr...
) explaining to the audience about his dull existence in Bradford.
While attending one of his funerals, Richard meets Barbara (Vinessa Shaw
Vinessa Shaw
Vinessa Elizabeth Shaw is an American actress and model. Shaw has starred in numerous motion pictures since the early 1990s, and is probably most well known for her performances in Disney's 1993 Halloween film Hocus Pocus, Ladybugs, the 2006 remake of Wes Craven's horror picture The Hills Have...
), an aspiring American actress passing through the city for the day. The two enjoy their limited time together before Barbara is due to return to Los Angeles where she makes a living working as a waitress in a French restaurant in the hopes that she is spotted by a talent scout. Unable to forget about her, Richard promptly leaves Bradford, without announcing so to his fianceé. And so the story begins...
Richard quickly finds Barbara (the address of the restaurant at which she waits printed on a packet of matches that she left behind) who is shocked to see that he has followed her to America - she had told her friends at the restaurant of Richard, twisting the truth as she did so, allowing them to believe that he is a famous British writer. Clearly embarrassed, Barbara shoos Richard away, asking him to accompany her on a photoshoot outside the town.
Richard charms Barbara throughout their second day together, defending her honour when the photographer tried to seduce her. However, moments after he announced that the two of them should be married immediately he is introduced to Patterson (Cameron Bancroft
Cameron Bancroft
Cameron Bancroft , sometimes credited as Cam Bancroft is an actor known for playing Joe Bradley on the TV Series Beverly Hills, 90210. He was on the show from 1995 to 1996....
), Barbara's boyfriend. She asks Richard, who doesn't drive, to take her car as she is leaving with Patterson - he does so regardless, and finds himself surrounded by Hollywood cops. He must leave the car in an uneasy neighbourhood before returning to his hotel.
When Richard returns to the car he finds that it has been vandalised by the locals. As he panics over what Barbara would think, a man named Moss (Vincent Gallo
Vincent Gallo
Vincent Gallo is an Italian-American film director and actor. Though he has had minor roles in mainstream films such as Goodfellas, he is most associated with independent movies, including Buffalo '66, which he wrote, directed, did the music for and starred in; The Brown Bunny, which he also...
) approaches him, and proceeds to show Richard around the house opposite, which has recently become available to rent. Despite its more-than-run-down appearance, Richard agrees to rent the place. As he is making the house a little more inhabitable, Moss drops by to let Richard know that he convinced the neighbours to fix up Barbara's car as Richard is now like one of the family. Richard calls Barbara at the restaurant to let her know that he's renting a place and they arrange to meet the next day.
Barbara asks an unwilling Richard to play along with the game that he is a photographer of Barbara's previous shoot so that Patterson doesn't suspect that there could be something between them. However, Patterson makes it clear that if Richard was to try to be more than friends with Barbara, terrible things would be done to him. A little shaken, Richard returns home.
Moss helps Richard get a job for Clear Blue Yonder, a pool cleaning company. The pair visit wealthy Hollywood homes to clean the swimming pools of the rich. Despite trying to keep busy, Richard remains impatient to see Barbara again. In his desperation, he blows his credit on a new guitar for Moss, and he spends his free time smoking, drinking and sitting by the phone.
Barbara finally calls. She and Richard go to the beach and she tells Richard that, although she likes him it's safer for her future career if she stays with Patterson. In response, he tells her that he'd have gone to the North Pole for her.
Richard takes Barbara to a club where Moss and his band (Leningrad Cowboys
Leningrad Cowboys
The Leningrad Cowboys is a Finnish rock band famous for humorously making rock and roll covers of popular songs, exaggerated pompadour hairstyles, long, pointy shoes, often featuring a Russian military band, the Alexandrov Ensemble.-Beginnings:...
) are playing. Richard introduces Moss to Barbara's waitress friend Julie (Julie Delpy
Julie Delpy
Julie Delpy is a French-American actress, director, screenwriter, and singer-songwriter. She studied filmmaking at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts and has directed, written, and acted in more than 30 films, including Europa Europa , The Voyager , Three Colors: White , Before Sunrise...
) and the two get along famously. Meanwhile, Barbara sees Patterson getting too friendly with the Head Waitress at the restaurant and she finally leaves him. Richard, Barbara, Moss and Julie spend the night on the road, before Moss and Julie leave to spend time together in a hotel. After testing Richard's sincerity about loving her, Barbara agrees to marry him, and the pair have an impromptu wedding.
Richard and Barbara are married and Barbara has an audition for a film. She has also arranged a meeting for Richard with a well-known screenwriting agent, Takowsky (James LeGros
James LeGros
James LeGros is an American film and television actor. He is known as a star of independent films with a diversified body of work in the early to mid 1990s.-Personal life:...
). Richard hands over Uzi Suicide and returns home to work on more script ideas. Barbara arrives back in a fantastic mood after her successful audition, and she, Richard, Moss and Julie all go out to celebrate. Following a day of fun at Speedzone, the four finish their celebrations at a bar, where it is revealed that Patterson is the director of Barbara's film. Richard, in an attempt to appear better than Patterson, gets himself ridiculously drunk, and embarrasses not only himself but Barbara too.
Soon after the party Barbara tells Richard that she's no longer in the film, and Richard suggests that they call Moss and Julie to go out for a drink together. Moss and Julie let slip that Patterson had told Barbara that she could have the part in the movie if she went to bed with him - Richard asks Barbara if she was tempted, and she was. The couple's marriage begins to deteriorate from there on out. Richard follows Barbara (in the boot of her car) to her meeting with Patterson, but unfortunately doesn't get that far following an incident in a car wash, and Barbara leaves Richard to return to Patterson.
Impatient to get Barbara back in his life, Richard finds himself friendless and alone. He wanders mournfully through a cemetery where he meets Johnny Depp
Johnny Depp
John Christopher "Johnny" Depp II is an American actor, producer and musician. He has won the Golden Globe Award and Screen Actors Guild award for Best Actor. Depp rose to prominence on the 1980s television series 21 Jump Street, becoming a teen idol...
(or an unnamed character played by Depp) on a bench, and they share a bucket of chicken together and swap stories of lost loves.
Richard visits the restaurant, where Julie tells him that Barbara doesn't wish to see him anymore. He overhears that Barbara will be waiting at a premiere party later, and is advised by the restaurant's owner that if he can't win Barbara back then he should kill her.
Obviously deciding that killing Barbara would be unwise, Richard acquires a drug to knock her unconscious in case he cannot convince her to return to his side. Moss accompanies him to the premiere party and he finds Barbara in hardly any time at all. After an argument, Richard whips out the drug but Barbara hits him in the face, knocking him to the ground.
Richard spends the night in prison, and is released with the help of Takowsky. He returns to Bradford where his funeral business has been kept afloat by a colleague. He and his ex-fianceé are on speaking terms only, which is fine by him.
And then he sees Barbara, in exactly the same place as where they first saw each other. She has brought him back his Uzi Suicide, which has been approved by Takowsky, along with his first big pay cheque. They decide to patch up their relationship, starting afresh in Bradford.
Cast
The film features appearances by David TennantDavid Tennant
David Tennant is a Scottish actor. In addition to his work in theatre, including a widely praised Hamlet, Tennant is best known for his role as the tenth incarnation of the Doctor in Doctor Who, along with the title role in the 2005 TV serial Casanova and as Barty Crouch, Jr...
, Julie Delpy
Julie Delpy
Julie Delpy is a French-American actress, director, screenwriter, and singer-songwriter. She studied filmmaking at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts and has directed, written, and acted in more than 30 films, including Europa Europa , The Voyager , Three Colors: White , Before Sunrise...
, Joe Dallesandro
Joe Dallesandro
Joseph Angelo D'Allesandro , better known as Joe Dallesandro, is an American actor, and Warhol superstar. Although he never became a mainstream film star, Dallesandro is generally considered to be the most famous male sex symbol of American underground films of the 20th century, as well as a sex...
, Vincent Gallo
Vincent Gallo
Vincent Gallo is an Italian-American film director and actor. Though he has had minor roles in mainstream films such as Goodfellas, he is most associated with independent movies, including Buffalo '66, which he wrote, directed, did the music for and starred in; The Brown Bunny, which he also...
, Johnny Depp
Johnny Depp
John Christopher "Johnny" Depp II is an American actor, producer and musician. He has won the Golden Globe Award and Screen Actors Guild award for Best Actor. Depp rose to prominence on the 1980s television series 21 Jump Street, becoming a teen idol...
(as himself and as his Dead Man
Dead Man
Dead Man is a 1995 American Western film written and directed by Jim Jarmusch. It stars Johnny Depp, Gary Farmer, Billy Bob Thornton, Iggy Pop, Crispin Glover, John Hurt, Michael Wincott, Lance Henriksen, and Robert Mitchum . The film, dubbed an "Acid Western" by its director, includes twisted...
character, William Blake), Amanda Plummer, Lisa Edelstein
Lisa Edelstein
Lisa Edelstein is an American actress and playwright. She is best known for her role as Dr. Lisa Cuddy on the television drama House.-Early life and education:...
, Anouk Aimée
Anouk Aimée
Anouk Aimée is a French film actress. Aimée has appeared in 70 films since 1947. She began her film career in 1947 at age 14. In 1958 she portrayed the tragic artist Jeanne Hébuterne in the film Les Amants de Montparnasse...
as herself, and the Leningrad Cowboys
Leningrad Cowboys
The Leningrad Cowboys is a Finnish rock band famous for humorously making rock and roll covers of popular songs, exaggerated pompadour hairstyles, long, pointy shoes, often featuring a Russian military band, the Alexandrov Ensemble.-Beginnings:...
. Robert Davi
Robert Davi
Robert John Davi is an American actor and singer. He has played such roles as Vietnam veteran and Special Agent Johnson in Die Hard, the villainous Jake Fratelli in The Goonies, and Al Torres in Showgirls...
also appears as himself. The film has cameos by actors playing themselves as part of the film's "foreigner in Hollywood" scenes.