Chris Beaumont

beaumont@ifa.hawaii.edu
2680 Woodlawn Drive
Honolulu, HI 96822

the black dahlia

Publication Date: Sep 22, 2006
Calvin Chimes
Headline: ‘Dahlia’ Disappoints

Movie Review: The Black Dahlia

Chris Beaumont

In 1943, a nubile aspiring actress named Elizabeth Short arrived in Los Angeles to become a star. Four years later, her body, severed at the waist and badly mutilated, was discovered by police. Her murder was never solved.

It is this story that is addressed in the film The Black Dahlia. In concept, Dahlia is a fantastic film. The gritty film noir is directed by Brian De Palma, who has demonstrated his competence as a director of both suspense (Mission:Impossible, Snake Eyes) and stylized violence (The Untouchables, Scarface). The screenplay is adapted from a novel by James Ellroy, the author of the excellent L.A. Confidential and obsessed with his own mother’s unsolved murder. I have a hard time thinking a better writer/director team for such a film.

Unfortunately, none of this potential ever develops into a great (or even good) movie. The film’s main fault is that it tries to be about too many things. Most ostensibly, the film is concerned with the mystery of who Ms. Short (played by Mia Kirschner) was, who killed her, and why. However, the movie is also about the relationship of the two detectives Bleichert and Blanchard (Josh Hartnett and Aaron Eckhart), who take on her case. And it’s also about the love triangle between these two detectives and Eckhart’s girl Kay (Scarlett Johannson). But is Bleichert really into Kay, or is he in love with Madeleine (Hilary Swank)? Could it be that he is actually obsessed with Ms. Short? What about the mysterious ghosts of Eckhart’s past, which threaten to destroy him as he pushes deeper into the Dahlia case? None of these stories are adequately developed, and the result is a movie that moves exhaustingly forward towards nothing, and for no clear reason.

In good noir fashion, and in an attempt to compensate for the convoluted storyline, the film includes its fair share of “a-ha” moments, where a shot of a painting or a matchbook reveals to the hero and the audience some key information about whodunit. However, these moments rest on such a thin story that one wonders why Mr. De Palma expects us to care about them.

In fairness, there are things that the film does well. Mr. De Palma is an excellent stylistic director, and showcases some of that in Dahlia. The camera always moves with a keen awareness of its environment, and makes good dramatic use of architecture (a murder scene shot in a large spiraling stairwell is particularly engrossing). Kirschner’s performance is also strong, and cleverly shown entirely though her character’s audition films. The grittier sexual and violent scenes of the film are also used largely to suggest a blurred line between sexual obsession and violence, which is an admirable – if disturbing – task. However, these minor strengths do not succeed in rendering The Black Dahlia much more than a tired, unfocused mystery that will repulse those whom it does not bore.