"The Black Dahlia" Rich in Detail
This year's Venice Film Festival opened with a screening of Brian de Palma's "The Black Dahlia," and it probably wouldn't be too bad to get that lofty honor. Sure enough, the play was a little different from the beginning, the picture was almost black and white, and the tone of the 1940s was established at once. If you watch it further, the actors' shapes, costumes, makeup, scenes, and props are all reminiscent of old movies. It's easy to see that this film was made with great care. Looking at the information, it turned out that the film was shot in Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria, because it is difficult to return to the appearance of 1947 in Los Angeles, the United States today. Traveling to Eastern Europe for an outdoor location, it can be seen that the filming of the whole film is very tight, and the front and back are all striving to do the best, reaching the peak of American noir films in the 1950s. It is indeed a masterpiece.
This film is not an ordinary crime feature film. The murder of a corpse that happened on January 15, 1947 is the most talked about case in Los Angeles, and its mystery remains unsolved to this day. An American teenager, James Ellroy, was exposed to reports of the case in 1958 when he was 11 years old. Since his mother had just been killed, he felt that the murder was similar to his mother's death, so he studied the crime. As the story came, he later became an excellent detective novelist, and many novels have been made into movies. He went through many years and spent a lot of information gathering, and wrote "The Black Dahlia", which was published in 1997. Screenwriter Josh Friedman immediately set about adapting the more than 300-page novel into a screenplay, but he couldn't open the scene after years of messing about. Later, the director changed, and Brian de Palma was the director, and the script was rewritten, and the play was able to start shooting.
"The Black Dahlia" is no ordinary story, and Brian de Palma takes it seriously, of course, and he's intent on going back to the glory days of American noir, with long faces in male actors like Humphrey Bogart's and actresses like Looks like Lauren Bacall and Rita Hayworth. The film's two male actors, Josh Hartnett and Aaron Eckhart, are not well-known, but with good conditions, long faces, and plasticity, they can act in this film. As for Scarlett Johansson, the most popular actress in the United States in 2006, she was reborn in this film. She no longer appeared in a sexy image, but instead appeared as a film noir actress, which is not only refreshing, but also makes people believe that she has a higher ambition. level development.
It must be mentioned that the film's photographer Vilmos Zsigmond and music Mark Isham are both masters. If you pay attention, you will find its brilliance. Delicate pictures and subtle music are not made by accident, but carefully arranged. As for the details of clothing, makeup, props, scenes, etc., they can be seen everywhere. Those details wouldn't be so rich if it wasn't for Brian de Palma's dedication.
This complex story has been adapted into a movie, which not only develops in multiple lines, but also has multiple layers, which is not easy to follow. However, just by looking at the pictures, we can actually see Brian de Palma's thoughts. He presents the American society after World War II. , the collusion of officials and businessmen, the mix of dragons and snakes, the corruption of the police, and the corruption of morality, but he uses the triangular relationship between two men and one woman as the backbone of the story, attracting the audience to watch the movie. Therefore, I don't think it matters whether you can understand the ins and outs of the plot of this film. Anyway, the author and screenwriter of the original novel are just fictitious plots to explain the unsolved case of that year. I think it's more important to see the painstaking work of Brian de Palma, an American director who is respected by European fans, and who we should respect.
This film is very good, if you can't catch up with the plot, then pay attention to the actors' appearances, shapes, scenes, photography and music! There will be gains. (Finish)
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