If you're a fan of film noir, you shouldn't miss The Black Dahlia, director Brian De Palma's adaptation of the James Ellroy novel - which was itself inspired by the notorious unsolved murder of an aspiring young actress in Hollywood in 1947.
Please make sure you understand the conditional nature of the previous statement. The Black Dahlia may not be your cup of tea if you don't enjoy the genre of film noir or if you aren't willing to let today's directors experiment with noir, within the limits imposed by audience expectations.
I must confess to being a noir lover, who very much enjoys any kind of film noir from 40s classics like John Huston's The Maltese Falcon and Billy Wilder's Double Indemnity - all the way to more contemporary noir like Roman Polanski's Chinatown. So I won't deny that my opinion may be a bit biased, compared to the average moviegoer. At the same time, I realize that in today's movie industry, working on a film noir represents somewhat of a leap of faith, because it is far from a surefire commercial success, apparently unlike most movies with pirates, superheroes in colorful costumes, or talking cars.
Even a critically-praised noir like L.A. Confidential won't necessarily be a box-office hit, although the efforts of the participants may at least be acknowledged with an Oscar (in the case of L.A. Confidential, to Kim Basinger). My suspicion is that some of the flaws for which the movie is likely to be criticized stem in part from De Palma's assumptions about what appeals to modern audiences. Thus you have a few actors who could arguably be said to be outside their range here; there is a grisly and almost unspeakably violent murder, and, perhaps predictably, some major twists late in the game which may seem way over-the-top to some viewers.
If you can forgive those flaws, you may just find yourself enjoying The Black Dahlia as much as I did.
The protagonist of the story here is "Bucky" Bleichert (Josh Hartnett), an L.A. homicide detective who, together with his partner Lee Blanchard (Aaron Eckhart), investigates the puzzling homicide of aspiring starlet Betty Ann Short (Mia Kirshner), whose body was found cut in half, drained of blood and with most internal organs removed.
The two detectives are bound not just by their ex-pugilist background, but also by the complex relationship they share with the beautiful Kay Lake (Scarlett Johansson). Whatever else you may think of Scarlett's performance here, you probably won't deny that she looks absolutely gorgeous in the period look.
In the course of the investigation, "Bucky" finds himself weirdly entangled with the lady you might soon suspect is the real femme fatale of the story, Madeleine Linscott (Hilary Swank), the high-society daughter of a Los Angeles construction baron, and a regular at one of L.A.'s lesbian nightclubs. (Look for an amusing cameo by none other than K.D. Lang.)
The investigation of the homicide soon makes Lee flip out in a way that is not dramatically satisfying initially, although that is only because we're not told the whole story right away; this leaves the burden on "Bucky" to get to the bottom of a the bizarre murder.
It would be grossly unfair not to mention the great work of several other actors, especially Fiona Shaw (of Harry Potter fame) as the suspiciously wacky Mrs. Linscott, and Mike Starr as the gruff chief of the LAPD homicide division.
Just as important is all the behind-the-camera contributions that help deliver a beautiful-looking movie with very vivid period detail: Dante Ferreti's production design and Vilmos Zsigmond's cinematography are first-rate, while Mark Isham's moody score helps set up the appropriate atmosphere for this tale of tawdry intrigue and unbridled depravity.
"The Black Dahlia" opens September 15, 2006 and is rated R. Thriller. Directed by Brian De Palma. Written by Josh Friedman. Starring Aaron Eckhart, Hilary Swank, Josh Hartnett, Mia Kershner, Patrick Fischler, Scarlett Johansson.
