William Friedkin’s mini-masterpiece To Live and Die in L.A. is at this point a classic. (which just makes me feel old) It’s an odd type of movie that doesn’t happen every day. It’s very grey in how it handles the line between criminal and cop, it’s unabashedly 80′s with a soundtrack created entriely by Wang Chung, and [Spoiler Alert] the main character gets a shotgun blast to the face before the climax of the movie, leaving only his partner behind to take care of the bad guy.
There’s one scene that continues to stick with me even as time ravages on and it’s the incredibly detailed counterfeiting scene. Proceedure and process can be incredibly engaging if it’s done right and Friedkin knows how to do it right. He builds the scene perfectly allowing us to participate in the magic and wonder of creating phony money.
The story behind the scene is equally interesting. They had actual counterfeiters on set to help them and printed money that was good enough to pass for the film. To protect their own butts, they only made one-sided money, but someone from the set took home a sheet and his idiot son decided to take it and buy something. He quickly got busted with the one sided bills and the secret service descended on the set of the film.
You’re welcome,
Ashley
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