The Black Dahlia reviews

[anonymous1980]

Slant's Keith Uhlich gives it ****

The Black Dahlia
Cast: Josh Hartnett, Scarlett Johansson, Aaron Eckhart, Hilary Swank, Mia Kirshner, Mike Starr, Fiona Shaw, Patrick Fischler, James Otis, John Kavanagh, Troy Evans, Anthony Russell, Pepe Serna, Angus MacInnes, Rachel Miner, Victor McGuire, Gregg Henry, Jemima Rooper, Rose McGowan, Richard Brake and William Finley
Directed by: Brian De Palma
Screenplay by: Brian De Palma
Distributor: Universal Pictures
Runtime: 120 min
Rating: R
Year: 2006

Brian De Palma eschews the Classics Illustrated mannerisms of L.A. Confidential in his adaptation of James Ellroy's novel The Black Dahlia, a fictionalized take on the still-unsolved murder of aspiring starlet Elizabeth Short (Mia Kirshner). An ostensible work-for-hire, the film is nevertheless distinguished by De Palma's expert navigation of its frighteningly finite space. This is a fever dream vision of the City of Angels, the shared nightmare of its principal players whose every move, we realize in retrospect, is helplessly preordained. Dante Ferretti's elaborate sets, built almost entirely on Bulgarian soundstages, are quite intentionally hollow (one wrong turn by prop or character and the scenery would no doubt cave in on itself) and it is out of this—as opposed to more standardized, gut-punch narrative twists and turns—that the film's primarily psychological tensions arise.

Though its main actions take place in 1947, the world of Black Dahlia is essentially timeless. De Palma tips his hand via the film's key exchange between warrants cop Dwight "Bucky" Bleichert (Josh Hartnett) and the brunette Dahlia doppelgänger Madeleine Linscott (Hilary Swank). Standing before a portrait of Gwynplaine, the deformed protagonist of Victor Hugo's novel The Man Who Laughs, Bleichert says, "I don't get modern art." To which Madeleine responds, "I doubt modern art gets you either." De Palma is as much a historian as a filmmaker, so his intense focus on and present-tense reading of the painting (an incidental plot point in Ellroy's book) is no accident. This is a film that understands its influences, tracing a line from Hugo's Romanticism (and likewise incorporating his cutting critique of aristocracy) to German Expressionism and film noir (in its brilliant use of Paul Leni's silent film adaptation of The Man Who Laughs). It's a short jump from there to Black Dahlia's flamboyant lesbian bar sequence featuring k.d. lang in full Dietrich drag, singing "Love For Sale" among slinky French-kissing chorines, and to De Palma's own Greetings homage that sees the director himself assuming the impatient voice of authority in Elizabeth Short's screen tests.

But it's not all film theory. A throwaway sequence sees Bleichert stumbling upon the bodies of two Chinatown residents whose deaths he inadvertently caused; the bullet-ridden tableau suggests and points the way toward Vietnam, highlighting a retroactive sense of guilt, helplessness, and rage all-too-applicable to our own current events. It's often forgotten (or casually elided) that De Palma is a political filmmaker; even Black Dahlia's finest set piece (a subjective-camera "first date" between Bleichert, Madeleine, and her dysfunctional family) gets at the push-and-pull of the democratic system, with all its hierarchical factions and subdivisions fighting for power and the final say-so. The tragedy of Black Dahlia is that there is no finality for anyone—solving the "mystery," so to speak, counts for next-to-nothing. Ellroy himself said it best in an interview ("Closure is bullshit") and De Palma likewise understands that experience lingers and that there's no telling where, when, or how the ghosts of our life will haunt us.

Keith Uhlich
© slant magazine, 2006.

[kooyah]

Inspired me to finally check out 'Blow Out.' Outstanding movie.

You bet it is. I had totally forgotten about that movie, but now I want to watch it again.

Poor John Travolta. He's fallen so far...

[Sabin]

Eric, you guys at slant are doing a bang-up job with 'Auteur Fatale'. Inspired me to finally check out 'Blow Out.' Outstanding movie.

[Eric]

Stop talking about films by directors inferior to Brian De Palma.

[Greg]

. . . McDormand was excellent but the rest of the cast was only moderately good.

I found Macy and Buscemi to be excellent as well.

[Sabin]

Who brought up 'Fargo'?

Incidentally, this is one of those rare instances where I agree wholeheartedly with William Goldman in thinking 'Fargo' has one of the most wonderful screenplays of the decade, in introducing Frances McDormand at just the right time to effectively shift the film's balance towards Margie's sense of effortless righteousness and not overturn the preceedings. I've noticed from Coen Bros. purists that 'Fargo' is rather low on the totem and I'd agree that there is almost impersonally 'Coen'-spiel about the film, but 'Fargo' to me is an inspired cracked noir. The film ages fine.

[OscarGuy]

I like Fight Club more than I like Fargo (the ultimate critics' darling). Does the film even age well? Fight Club I think has a great deal that helps it fit even more succinctly into modern society yet all that I can remember of Fargo makes me think it doesn't age well. I'm thinking about watching it again and seeing how I feel now as compared to then (at the time I saw Fargo, I couldn't help but think how overrated the movie was. it wasn't spectacular, McDormand was excellent but the rest of the cast was only moderately good). If I watch it again and dislike it more than I initially did, the OFCS is creating a book of articles and I might just write one on how much praise the film has gotten that it doesn't deserve.

[Damien]

I don't like Fight Club. I think it's just silly. But it did win my gang's IRA award for Best Picture.

[Sabin]

I'm going to say that substantially more people have enjoyed 'Fight Club' than the initial reviews foresaw. The bleakness of Fincher's mise-en-scene is polarizing, but pretty much everybody that I know owns the film. It has a very strong following.

[kooyah]

Time has rescued 'Fight Club'.

Has it really? My opinion of the movie was not high to begin with and I still don't think much of it. Then again, I think I just don't like Fincher.

I'm interested in seeing The Black Dahlia, but I have reservations because of Josh Hartnett. From what I've seen of him in other movies, I wish he wasn't in it.

[Sabin]

To my recollection, 'Femme Fatale' received largely 'Fight Club'-style reviews where reviewers either dismissed the film as claptrap or passionately championed it. I remember 'Fight Club' received something like a C-average from EW's Critical Mass and a low ranking in Premiere's End of the Year Dealie (I've, uh, gotten better). Time has rescued 'Fight Club'. 'Femme Fatale' will probably follow suit.

I know Ebert gave it four stars, citing it as his favorite De Palma film. Rosenbaum did the same.

[dws1982]

I remember Peter Bart wrote a piece in Variety saying that if you like Femme Fatale, you must be brain-damaged.

[Eric]

He gave it an F???? I have known since the little Paulette first popped up that he was an idiot, but I rarely look at Entertainment Weekly, so I didn't realize he was quite THIS stupid.

Yep. He couldn't even be bothered to write more than a single paragraph on it and, apparently, didn't remember to included it in his year-end worst list as he did with Snake Eyes.

[Okri]

I just remember Film Comment writing a lot about it - De Palma had a really good interview, and I remember Amy Taubin (?) loving it.

[Damien]

Depends on which critics you paid attention to. Glieberman gave it his dependable "F" rating,

He gave it an F???? I have known since the little Paulette first popped up that he was an idiot, but I rarely look at Entertainment Weekly, so I didn't realize he was quite THIS stupid. And he should never be allowed to forget that he put that Hughes Brothers picture about Jack The Ripper on his 10 Best List.