The Black Dahlia

Posted by Matthew Alexander (matthew@filmschoolrejects.com) on September 28, 2006

Release Date: September 15, 2006

Hollywood themes come in twos. I don’t feel like doing the actual research, but I have noticed several times in the past that two movies of a similar theme will open in the same year and sometimes in the same season. Right now, two movies dealing with Hollywood murders in the post WWII era are gracing our silver screens. The most recent, along with Hollywoodland, is Brian De Palma’s The Black Dahlia, which sports a cast of stars, some signature De Palma camera work and a noir feel.

Based on the novel by James Ellroy, the movie is about not only the investigation of the murder of Elizabeth Short, later dubbed The Black Dahlia, but also the lives of two detectives, Bucky Bleichert (Josh Hartnett) and Lee Blanchard (Aaron Eckhart). When a proposition to increase funding for the Los Angeles Police Department appears to be foundering, Bleichert and Lee, both boxers with local notoriety, are asked to fight each other as a publicity stunt. It apparently works as the initiative passes and both men are promoted in its wake.

While Bleichert is still getting acquainted with Blanchard and his history with the force, the body of Elizabeth Short is found horribly mutilated and the detectives become involved with the ongoing case. Bleichert spends more and more time with his partner and his partner’s girlfriend, the lovely Kay Lake (Scarlett Johansson). But as the Dahlia case progresses, Bleichert gets more and more caught up in Blanchard’s past while Blanchard himself becomes more and more obsessed with solving The Black Dahlia murder for reasons that are not initially clear.

The Black Dahlia has suffered some of the same criticisms that De Palma’s previous work, Mission: Impossible, did. Namely, the details of the plot are difficult to follow. I must confess that there are a few points I am still unclear about, but I know that a second viewing of M:I answered my questions, so I’ll take it on faith for now that everything in The Black Dahlia does fall into place. At any rate, one of De Palma’s weaknesses appears to be muddled or at least overly complex storytelling.

Indeed, there are many things about the plot which need cleaning up. The beginning especially could do with some judicious trimming. The director could do a better job of slowing down a bit; after all, the characters have a period of a week or so to synthesize everything, while the audience does not have that luxury. Lastly, a mystery story is most tantalizing when we are given some well spaced “Aha!” moments to entice us and keep us watching. The Black Dahlia seems to save them all for the end. The first two acts are mainly character drama and police intrigue and then all of a sudden the tangled mess surrounding the murder is unraveled at a break neck pace. There is a good story here; it just needs to be reformatted a bit.

But if De Palma confuses as a story teller, he can manage a camera as well as anyone in the business. Though I did find myself questioning a couple strange shot choices, for the most part the camera is adroitly handled and enhances the experience. The shot of Bleichert’s and Blanchard’s stake out while the body of Ms. Short is discovered not far away is excellent, as are many others.

Also well done were the test reels of Elizabeth Short, desperate to make it into the movies, which Bleichert and Blanchard study as they handle the case. Very touching, particularly when juxtaposed with Ms. Short’s gruesome cadaver, they serve as a further reminder of what the story is actually about and therefore what it should have spent more effort at relating. Too many good scenes are mixed into a slightly unfocused story.

These scenes are often exquisite, from the shot selection to the characterization to the sound and lighting. I could point out several examples, but perhaps my favorite scene was the dinner where Bleichert is invited to supper with the Linscotts. There are many others, enough to make the unbalanced story a maddening blight on what might otherwise be one of the decade’s best films.

The acting is generally good. Most noteworthy is Hillary Swank as Madeleine Linscott. Those readers who have some experience with movies from the 1940’s will be impressed with the old-fashioned cadence and intonation she uses. So genuine is the performance that by the sound of her lines alone I would have thought the movie an authentic piece from the period. Also noteworthy is Josh Hartnett’s Bucky Bleichert, not because his performance is especially good, or especially bad, but rather because his character is a very bland, neutral Everyman. Contrast his role with the role of Jake Gittes in Chinatown (a movie with many parallels to The Black Dahlia). A better drawn lead character would have much improved the picture.

Rotten Tomatoes has largely excoriated The Black Dahlia, but I must submit my dissenting opinion. I think that this movie will grow in critics’ estimation with the passage of time, not exactly like a wine, which itself gets better, but like the classic you skimmed over in seventh grade only to return to it years later and find you appreciated it more. Unfortunately, unlike the classic, The Black Dahlia isn’t good enough to rise to that level. But in a year bereft of great cinema, it stands out as one of the recent best.

The Upside: The scenes are extremely well crafted, the heart of the story is interesting and the acting is generally very good. De Palma knows how to take some great shots.

The Downside: The story feels unbalanced, like it doesn’t know exactly what to focus on. Hartnett’s character should have been more interesting rather than a neutral narrator type.

On the Side: The profile for the Short murderer is that of a sexual sadist with a hatred for women. Short, though not a call girl as she is often portrayed, was known to court and tease many men, and when her belongings were mailed to the police, probably by the murderer himself, Ms. Short’s address book, which was full of the names and numbers of her many male acquaintances, was missing a few pages. It is thought that she knew her killer, who removed himself from the damning address book, and had perhaps angered him with her teasing. Whatever the truth, the true killer likely died years ago.

Final Grade: B

Read more articles by Matthew Alexander