The Black DahliaEven a dream factory like Hollywood can produce the most grisly of nightmares. The Black Dahlia is a neo-noir crime thriller, adapted for the screen by Brian De Palma from the novel of the same name by James Ellroy, which was in turn based on the notorious and sensational unsolved murder mystery of an aspiring starlet named Elizabeth Short--played in flashbacks and screen tests by Mia Kirshner. The Black Dahlia follows the tough but reserved cop, Dwight 'Bucky' Bleichert (Josh Hartnett), who has been recently promoted to detective with his friend and rival, Lee Blanchard (Aaron Eckhart). They each become obsessed in their own way with discovering the killer, moving in circles of corruption high and low in the process.
|
|
The Black Dahlia is a movie about illusions--the lies, deceit, and fictions--that are intrinsic to Hollywood, and by extension, Los Angeles. Even as early into the city's decadent history as 1947, the place was always one which was built up on a stage--an "oasis in the desert". The Black Dahlia takes the more cynical position that the oasis is a mirage, and the waters that flow from this wellspring are poison. Dwight is our moral anchor in the film, a mostly good guy with a conscience, who never seems to fit in with the superficial West Coast crowds he has to navigate. But even Dwight is capable of deception, evidenced in the first several minutes of the film, when he throws an exhibition match between him and Lee--although they are both police, they are also acclaimed boxers. Dwight bets against himself so that his father can live in a better home in his old age. The Black Dahlia does not purport that morality is relative, but it bleakly offers that all who live in a den of lies will find it rubbing off on them by degrees. In some cases, the lies are obvious, like the crooks Dwight and Lee work over while a part of the Warrants division of the police. In others, the lies are concealed by real experts in deception--true actors--or Dwight chooses not to see them when it isn't convenient. The suggestion that lies are the currency of evil in The Black Dahlia comes across when Dwight watches the screen tests of the late Elizabeth Short. She does less "acting" than lying and embellishing her life and her personality, because she is desperate to be accepted and loved by someone...anyone. A former roommate of Short's, Sheryl Saddon (Rose McGowan) tells Dwight that she and the truth were not close companions. (The voice of the director in most of these screen tests sounds an awful lot like The Black Dahlia director, Brian De Palma.)
Dwight lies to himself about his feelings, especially where they concern Lee's girlfriend, Kay (Scarlett Johansson), as a blossoming love triangle forms around them. Dwight and Lee's history as boxers encourages the smarmy, ambitious Deputy District Attorney Ellis Loew (Patrick Fischler) to capitalize on their small-time fame and stage a match to drum up publicity for a bill to fund the police; he even goes so far as to dub them "Mr. Fire" (Lee) and "Mr. Ice" (Dwight), based on their fighting styles. The nicknames turn out to be eerily accurate, especially regarding Kay, since the rising passion between Kay and Dwight becomes quite steamy. She is young and beautiful; she eyes Dwight up and down with a flirtatious glint in her eye, and a cigarette coyly dangling from her fingertips. Dwight is more restrained than his increasingly unhinged partner, who vigorously pursues his investigation into Elizabeth's killing as though he could still save her. Lee chases justice like a bloodhound, even when he is at odds with it. Dwight is a quiet storm, slightly aloof; hie is someone who knows when to choose his shots, and generally chooses them well, but is also prone to delaying. Lee, on the other hand, has a tendency to fly off the handle, get emotional about his work, burning his bridges in the process. These prefabricated personae are like acting roles for them; they are on the stage when they box as it was with Elizabeth--flesh for entertainment and profit. Loew calls them "political animals", and it is because of their popularity that Lee gets them assigned to Elizabeth's case--even at the risk of letting another, less publicly known killer slip through their grasp. They have become a part of the greatest show on earth, moving from one sensational blood sport to a far more horrible one. This Los Angeles is in a post-war identity crisis, in a battle for its soul that it is doomed to lose. Elizabeth Short is the sacrificial lamb on this black altar of decadence and perversity, but she is not the first nor is she the last, just as Dwight narrates about his famous boxing match with Lee.
The mystery of the "Black Dahlia" murder has intrigued historians for decades, at first for the horrifically graphic mutilation of Elizabeth Short, and then because of how so little was known about her, or the truth about her murder. This ambiguity and mystery has inspired various Hollywood stories, even the popular TV series, "Twin Peaks". The enigma of Elizabeth Short affords The Black Dahlia some creative license with their depiction of the victim. The assorted screen tests and Dwight's investigation paint a picture of a desperate, young woman from Boston who thought she would come to Hollywood to realize her dreams, only to have them utterly obliterated. These screen tests are achingly sad, and are shot in a claustrophobic aspect ratio that makes it seem like Elizabeth exists only in this coffin-like memory, a sorrowful plea for love captured on celluloid--her blues painted black. She is portrayed as the quintessential tragic victim of Hollywood, chewed up and spit out by the powerful and elite--essentially killed by her dreams. Compare Elizabeth to Madeleine Linscott (Hilary Swank), a woman Dwight encounters who promptly seduces him. She is a debutante with a taste for the decadent, and an heiress who belongs to the powerful Hollywood land baron family of the Linscotts--in essence, they are the "lords of Hollywood", looking down on others like mere pets. The two women look so much alike that Madeleine could be Elizabeth's doppelganger; Dwight is immediately attracted to Madeleine, even though he suspects she was involved in Elizabeth's terrible fate. Dwight's unresolved attraction to Kay finds its host in Madeleine, a femme fatale as dark and sinister as a moonless Walpurgis Night--like Barbara Stanwyck in Double Indemnity, or Kathleen Turner in Body Heat. Madeleine is arrogant, haughty, snobbish, and hedonistic...and after meeting her family, Dwight considers her the least offensive of the privileged clan. His obsession with Madeleine as a substitute for his true love (the blonde-haired Kay) is reminiscent of Vertigo--doubly so considering Madeleine (who is also named after the woman in Vertigo) looks so much like Elizabeth. It could also be said that Dwight's attraction to Madeline represents repressed feelings for Elizabeth born of his investigation. This quasi-necrophiliac attraction recalls a similar dynamic found in Otto Preminger's detective film, Laura. Madeleine represents the closest Dwight will get to a first-hand understanding of Elizabeth, even if it is just an illusion.
The Black Dahlia is a period noir thriller, and a crime story in the vein of classics like Chinatown. Both Jake Gittes and Dwight Bleichert are quiet but passionate men, who know better than to dig too deep into a conspiracy beyond their control, but are consumed with the need to understand it. Josh Hartnett exudes an aura of cool masculinity and old-fashioned film noir poise, with the added touch of his raspy, slightly world weary narration throughout The Black Dahlia. The film was also instrumental in inspiring the successful video game, "L.A. Noire", also a mystery about cops, gangsters, Hollywood, and conspiracy. The game used sophisticated graphics and motion capture to recreate the setting, giving players a chance to be involved in solving cases, including those inspired by the "Black Dahlia". The Black Dahlia was in a long period of development before being made into a film in 2006, largely after the success of another period noir thriller adapted for the screen from a novel by James Ellroy, L.A. Confidential. The Black Dahlia is a stylized homage to the era and the genre of film noir, like The Untouchables--another period piece by De Palma--with many of the director's signature flourishes. Take the scene where Dwight and Lee are on a stakeout outside a storefront; in the morning, the camera pans up from the car and above the roof, and over to a field where in the distance--too far away to clearly see--is the mutilated body of Elizabeth Short. A woman sees the body and runs screaming into the street; someone on a bicycle continues the camera's line of sight through an alley and crosses paths with an unsavory type on his way to that same storefront from before, all in one unbroken shot. This "eyes of God" perspective shows how the world turns in an instant, and how one event that can seem so important at the time quickly yields to something bigger.
Recommended for: Fans of a stylish (if graphic) homage to the noir-era detective stories from the "golden age" of Hollywood--combining glitz and glamour with vice and corruption. The Black Dahlia is a quintessential De Palma movie--it was unpopular at first, but grows more intriguing and hypnotic with time.
Dwight lies to himself about his feelings, especially where they concern Lee's girlfriend, Kay (Scarlett Johansson), as a blossoming love triangle forms around them. Dwight and Lee's history as boxers encourages the smarmy, ambitious Deputy District Attorney Ellis Loew (Patrick Fischler) to capitalize on their small-time fame and stage a match to drum up publicity for a bill to fund the police; he even goes so far as to dub them "Mr. Fire" (Lee) and "Mr. Ice" (Dwight), based on their fighting styles. The nicknames turn out to be eerily accurate, especially regarding Kay, since the rising passion between Kay and Dwight becomes quite steamy. She is young and beautiful; she eyes Dwight up and down with a flirtatious glint in her eye, and a cigarette coyly dangling from her fingertips. Dwight is more restrained than his increasingly unhinged partner, who vigorously pursues his investigation into Elizabeth's killing as though he could still save her. Lee chases justice like a bloodhound, even when he is at odds with it. Dwight is a quiet storm, slightly aloof; hie is someone who knows when to choose his shots, and generally chooses them well, but is also prone to delaying. Lee, on the other hand, has a tendency to fly off the handle, get emotional about his work, burning his bridges in the process. These prefabricated personae are like acting roles for them; they are on the stage when they box as it was with Elizabeth--flesh for entertainment and profit. Loew calls them "political animals", and it is because of their popularity that Lee gets them assigned to Elizabeth's case--even at the risk of letting another, less publicly known killer slip through their grasp. They have become a part of the greatest show on earth, moving from one sensational blood sport to a far more horrible one. This Los Angeles is in a post-war identity crisis, in a battle for its soul that it is doomed to lose. Elizabeth Short is the sacrificial lamb on this black altar of decadence and perversity, but she is not the first nor is she the last, just as Dwight narrates about his famous boxing match with Lee.
The mystery of the "Black Dahlia" murder has intrigued historians for decades, at first for the horrifically graphic mutilation of Elizabeth Short, and then because of how so little was known about her, or the truth about her murder. This ambiguity and mystery has inspired various Hollywood stories, even the popular TV series, "Twin Peaks". The enigma of Elizabeth Short affords The Black Dahlia some creative license with their depiction of the victim. The assorted screen tests and Dwight's investigation paint a picture of a desperate, young woman from Boston who thought she would come to Hollywood to realize her dreams, only to have them utterly obliterated. These screen tests are achingly sad, and are shot in a claustrophobic aspect ratio that makes it seem like Elizabeth exists only in this coffin-like memory, a sorrowful plea for love captured on celluloid--her blues painted black. She is portrayed as the quintessential tragic victim of Hollywood, chewed up and spit out by the powerful and elite--essentially killed by her dreams. Compare Elizabeth to Madeleine Linscott (Hilary Swank), a woman Dwight encounters who promptly seduces him. She is a debutante with a taste for the decadent, and an heiress who belongs to the powerful Hollywood land baron family of the Linscotts--in essence, they are the "lords of Hollywood", looking down on others like mere pets. The two women look so much alike that Madeleine could be Elizabeth's doppelganger; Dwight is immediately attracted to Madeleine, even though he suspects she was involved in Elizabeth's terrible fate. Dwight's unresolved attraction to Kay finds its host in Madeleine, a femme fatale as dark and sinister as a moonless Walpurgis Night--like Barbara Stanwyck in Double Indemnity, or Kathleen Turner in Body Heat. Madeleine is arrogant, haughty, snobbish, and hedonistic...and after meeting her family, Dwight considers her the least offensive of the privileged clan. His obsession with Madeleine as a substitute for his true love (the blonde-haired Kay) is reminiscent of Vertigo--doubly so considering Madeleine (who is also named after the woman in Vertigo) looks so much like Elizabeth. It could also be said that Dwight's attraction to Madeline represents repressed feelings for Elizabeth born of his investigation. This quasi-necrophiliac attraction recalls a similar dynamic found in Otto Preminger's detective film, Laura. Madeleine represents the closest Dwight will get to a first-hand understanding of Elizabeth, even if it is just an illusion.
The Black Dahlia is a period noir thriller, and a crime story in the vein of classics like Chinatown. Both Jake Gittes and Dwight Bleichert are quiet but passionate men, who know better than to dig too deep into a conspiracy beyond their control, but are consumed with the need to understand it. Josh Hartnett exudes an aura of cool masculinity and old-fashioned film noir poise, with the added touch of his raspy, slightly world weary narration throughout The Black Dahlia. The film was also instrumental in inspiring the successful video game, "L.A. Noire", also a mystery about cops, gangsters, Hollywood, and conspiracy. The game used sophisticated graphics and motion capture to recreate the setting, giving players a chance to be involved in solving cases, including those inspired by the "Black Dahlia". The Black Dahlia was in a long period of development before being made into a film in 2006, largely after the success of another period noir thriller adapted for the screen from a novel by James Ellroy, L.A. Confidential. The Black Dahlia is a stylized homage to the era and the genre of film noir, like The Untouchables--another period piece by De Palma--with many of the director's signature flourishes. Take the scene where Dwight and Lee are on a stakeout outside a storefront; in the morning, the camera pans up from the car and above the roof, and over to a field where in the distance--too far away to clearly see--is the mutilated body of Elizabeth Short. A woman sees the body and runs screaming into the street; someone on a bicycle continues the camera's line of sight through an alley and crosses paths with an unsavory type on his way to that same storefront from before, all in one unbroken shot. This "eyes of God" perspective shows how the world turns in an instant, and how one event that can seem so important at the time quickly yields to something bigger.
Recommended for: Fans of a stylish (if graphic) homage to the noir-era detective stories from the "golden age" of Hollywood--combining glitz and glamour with vice and corruption. The Black Dahlia is a quintessential De Palma movie--it was unpopular at first, but grows more intriguing and hypnotic with time.