SuicideGirls > Boards > Lifestyle > NEWS: "The Black Dahlia" Set to Open Venice Film Festival

Alyk

Boston, MA

February 2005

JUL 26, 2006 09:22 PM

CELEB: "The Black Dahlia" Set to Open Venice Film Festival

Brian De Palma's long-awaited film The Black Dahlia, starring Scarlett Johansson, debuts at the opening of the 63rd annual Venice Film Festival next month. De Palma based the film on James Ellroy's best-selling novel, a true story of the gruesome death of aspiring actress Elizabeth Short.

"She's a ghost and a blank page to record our fears and desires," says Ellroy. "A post-war Mona Lisa, an L.A. quintessential."

The Black Dahlia case is the most famous unsolved murder in Los Angeles history. It involves a beautiful young victim and a cunning psychopathic killer. It's a real-life mystery that's inspired countless moviemakers and writers from Double Indemnity, Chinatown and L.A. Confidential.

Even the nickname, "Black Dahlia," is straight out of the movies. The Blue Dahlia was a nightclub in a 1946 crime film. Newspapers adapted the title to fit the Short murder case - and the "Black Dahlia" legend was born.

"It's the great L.A. murder," says Ellroy. "And L.A. has had some doozies."

The movie focused on Los Angeles Police Department corruption and cover-up at the same time officers investigated the Elizabeth Short murder. The film also stars Johansson's real-life love, Josh Harnett, as well as Aaron Eckhart and Hilary Swank.

Photo Location

girl_afraid

Milwaukee, WI

November 2004

JUL 27, 2006 10:26 AM

i'm really excited for this. hopefully it's good.

jonnytrrrash7

Liechtenstein

February 2004

JUL 27, 2006 10:32 AM

girl_afraid said:
i'm really excited for this. hopefully it's good.

ditto.

Ellroy and Johansson should be a good combo. it's DePalma i'm wondering about.

LankaKitten

Redmond, WA

December 2004

JUL 27, 2006 10:43 AM

Josh Hartnett? Gag!

Altoid

Tuscaloosa, AL

November 2003

JUL 27, 2006 12:48 PM

LankaKitten said:
Josh Hartnett? Gag!

I agree. But I did read that Ellroy said this:

"In every scene, in every voiceover, his performance out-acts every
performance in 'L.A. Confidential.' Hartnett reads the lines ...
exactly the way I wrote it with near-perfect inflection every time."

Lout_Rampage

Dallas, TX

May 2005

JUL 27, 2006 02:09 PM

This movie will undoubtedly suck for me. I'm such a Black Dahlia nerd that just the opening credits will probably send me into a fury of "Nuh-uh!"s.

I like James Ellroy. His book "My Dark Places" was excellent. I've never read any of his fiction besides breezing through "The Black Dahlia" when I was 14. That said, I am sick to death of the film noir "private dick falls in love with a beautiful but dead prostitute" treatment that Elizabeth Short's story has gotten. I can't help but blame Ellroy for that. I'm going to stop before I go off on a thread-hijacking rant.

toxii

Clearwater, FL

August 2005

JUL 27, 2006 02:44 PM

i love josh hartnett! ::le sigh::

Geraldine

SUICIDEGIRL

California, USA

JUL 27, 2006 10:44 PM

I've been waiting for this.

Anton

Australia

September 2003

JUL 28, 2006 03:35 AM

I can't wait for this.

That poster is really, really creepy. Really creepy.

PointBlank

New York, NY

November 2004

JUL 28, 2006 06:18 AM

Once Johansson learns how to act (or stop speaking in the same monotone in every movie), she'll be unstoppable.

Alyk

Boston, MA

February 2005

JUL 28, 2006 10:03 AM

Here's the trailer. It looks way better than I had expected.

Arete

SUICIDEGIRL

I'm lost

JUL 28, 2006 10:57 AM

Lout_Rampage said:
I am sick to death of the film noir "private dick falls in love with a beautiful but dead prostitute" treatment that Elizabeth Short's story has gotten.

THANK you. this poor girl was brutalized and it was fucking sensationalized.

i'm sorry guys but thus far everything i've read and seen based on elizabeth short's murder are nothing but misogynyst takes of this tragedy, always (and i hate making generalizations like that but i have not read one book or seen one film by a female) created by males who tell the world that their book or film is a "sensitive portrayal" of the murder but in reality is an excuse to indulge their own sick misogynistic-necrophile side. it's paraphilia at its finest, this fetishization of this poor girl who may or may not have been a prostitute, who regardless of whether or not she was a sex trade worker was tortured and murdered.

the story of the black dahlia is unable to give people what they want (answers) and thus the story gets its paraphalic appeal. it never satisfies, and so i imagine we'll be seeing these fucking obsessive misogyny-laden films about this poor woman for years to come

PointBlank

New York, NY

November 2004

JUL 28, 2006 10:59 AM

Arete said:

Lout_Rampage said:
I am sick to death of the film noir "private dick falls in love with a beautiful but dead prostitute" treatment that Elizabeth Short's story has gotten.

THANK you. this poor girl was brutalized and it was fucking sensationalized.

i'm sorry guys but thus far everything i've read and seen based on elizabeth short's murder are nothing but misogynyst takes of this tragedy,

Sounds like just another DePalma flick!

Anton

Australia

September 2003

JUL 29, 2006 12:18 AM

Arete said:
i'm sorry guys but thus far everything i've read and seen based on elizabeth short's murder are nothing but misogynyst takes of this tragedy, always (and i hate making generalizations like that but i have not read one book or seen one film by a female) created by males who tell the world that their book or film is a "sensitive portrayal" of the murder but in reality is an excuse to indulge their own sick misogynistic-necrophile side. it's paraphilia at its finest, this fetishization of this poor girl who may or may not have been a prostitute, who regardless of whether or not she was a sex trade worker was tortured and murdered.

Couldn't it just be that people - including men - are interested in the case because of the mystery that surrounds it? I find it difficult to accept that all interest in the case is a manifestation of misogyny and necrophilic urges. Especially from James Ellroy, who, if he found that he secretly wanted to root dead girls, would invariably write a 400-page novel about it.

It was a brutal, unsolved crime that has been successfully absorbed into a definite historical context; I don't think it's particularly surprising so many people (writers, directors, whoever) see something in the case that inspires them.

Lout_Rampage

Dallas, TX

May 2005

JUL 29, 2006 01:12 AM

Anton said:

Arete said:
i'm sorry guys but thus far everything i've read and seen based on elizabeth short's murder are nothing but misogynyst takes of this tragedy, always (and i hate making generalizations like that but i have not read one book or seen one film by a female) created by males who tell the world that their book or film is a "sensitive portrayal" of the murder but in reality is an excuse to indulge their own sick misogynistic-necrophile side. it's paraphilia at its finest, this fetishization of this poor girl who may or may not have been a prostitute, who regardless of whether or not she was a sex trade worker was tortured and murdered.

Couldn't it just be that people - including men - are interested in the case because of the mystery that surrounds it? I find it difficult to accept that all interest in the case is a manifestation of misogyny and necrophilic urges. Especially from James Ellroy, who, if he found that he secretly wanted to root dead girls, would invariably write a 400-page novel about it.

It was a brutal, unsolved crime that has been successfully absorbed into a definite historical context; I don't think it's particularly surprising so many people (writers, directors, whoever) see something in the case that inspires them.

Ellroy isn't very secretive about any of his, um, quirks. Have you read "My Dark Places" or seen "Feast of Death"? Have you ever heard him speak?

Of course not ALL interest in the case is misogynistic or sexual in nature. Just a huge majority of it.

Anton

Australia

September 2003

JUL 29, 2006 02:05 AM

It's the fact he's so unsecretive about his quirks / desires / wank material that makes me think it's not a case of misogyny meets necrophilia. If it was, I have a fair amount of faith in Ellroy making it known (and enjoying doing so).

Arete

SUICIDEGIRL

I'm lost

JUL 29, 2006 11:30 AM

Anton said:

Arete said:
i'm sorry guys but thus far everything i've read and seen based on elizabeth short's murder are nothing but misogynyst takes of this tragedy, always (and i hate making generalizations like that but i have not read one book or seen one film by a female) created by males who tell the world that their book or film is a "sensitive portrayal" of the murder but in reality is an excuse to indulge their own sick misogynistic-necrophile side. it's paraphilia at its finest, this fetishization of this poor girl who may or may not have been a prostitute, who regardless of whether or not she was a sex trade worker was tortured and murdered.

Couldn't it just be that people - including men - are interested in the case because of the mystery that surrounds it? I find it difficult to accept that all interest in the case is a manifestation of misogyny and necrophilic urges. Especially from James Ellroy, who, if he found that he secretly wanted to root dead girls, would invariably write a 400-page novel about it.

It was a brutal, unsolved crime that has been successfully absorbed into a definite historical context; I don't think it's particularly surprising so many people (writers, directors, whoever) see something in the case that inspires them.

people's curiosity in the case and the mystery surrounding it is not what concerns me. that's totally fine. and if someone was making a film or writing a book about the mystery then i'd be all for it. but to sensationalize the violence and brutality of the crime, and to fetishize Elizabeth Short to the point where seeing (in film) or describing (in print) any part her dead, mutilated body seems necessary to the progression of the story is fetishizing the girl, her death, NOT the mystery surrounding what we all respectfully refer to as a very sad case. based on what i've seen and read from other authors and filmmakers thus far, and the fact that depalma is the directory, i don't really see this film panning out as "a really great mystery".

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Boston, MA

February 2005

JUL 26, 2006 09:22 PM

Milwaukee, WI

November 2004

JUL 27, 2006 10:26 AM

Liechtenstein

February 2004

JUL 27, 2006 10:32 AM

Redmond, WA

December 2004

JUL 27, 2006 10:43 AM

Tuscaloosa, AL

November 2003

JUL 27, 2006 12:48 PM

Dallas, TX

May 2005

JUL 27, 2006 02:09 PM

Clearwater, FL

August 2005

JUL 27, 2006 02:44 PM

SUICIDEGIRL

California, USA

JUL 27, 2006 10:44 PM

Australia

September 2003

JUL 28, 2006 03:35 AM

New York, NY

November 2004

JUL 28, 2006 06:18 AM

Boston, MA

February 2005

JUL 28, 2006 10:03 AM

SUICIDEGIRL

I'm lost

JUL 28, 2006 10:57 AM

New York, NY

November 2004

JUL 28, 2006 10:59 AM

Australia

September 2003

JUL 29, 2006 12:18 AM

Dallas, TX

May 2005

JUL 29, 2006 01:12 AM

Australia

September 2003

JUL 29, 2006 02:05 AM

SUICIDEGIRL

I'm lost

JUL 29, 2006 11:30 AM