The Black Dahlia
February 2007 Reviewed by: Mischa Hayek Format: DVD	(all ratings out of 5): Overall Enjoyment Picture Quality Packaged Extras Sound Quality

Brian De Palma’s The Black Dahlia is the latest telling of the unsolved Betty Short murder case that shocked LA in the late 1940s. This time the film is based on the James Ellroy novel of the same name that interweaves both fact and fiction, providing an ending to the unsolved crime. Josh Friedman wrote the screenplay, adapted from Ellroy’s novel.

Officer Dwight "Bucky" Bleichert (Josh Hartnett) and Sgt. Leland "Lee" Blanchard (Aaron Eckhart) are two vice squad detectives assigned to investigate the gruesome murder of a Hollywood starlet, Betty Short (Mia Kirschner), who is found naked on an empty lot, her body severed in half. Though both detectives become obsessed with solving the murder, Blanchard becomes unstable, much to the concern of his girlfriend, Kay Lake (Scarlett Johansson), and his partner, Bleichert, who feels he must intervene to protect him. Bleichert is also envious of Blanchard’s relationship with Kay, with whom Bleichert is falling in love. However, in the course of his investigation, Bleichert meets up with a Betty Short look-alike, Madeleine Linscott (Hilary Swank), who knew Betty Short and with whom he has an affair. Madeleine’s involvement with Betty Short -- and with her murder -- may be much deeper than Bleichert suspects.

De Palma’s The Black Dahlia is made for the quality home theater. De Palma’s trademark is to tell his story through visuals; dialogue is of secondary importance to him. This often presents a problem for his screenwriters since their focus tends to be on dialogue. De Palma uses long shots, holding the camera on a character or a scene for an extended time, creating a smooth, languid, and dreamy feeling. In The Black Dahlia, De Palma uses film noir techniques in many scenes -- high contrast, deep shadows, and acute angles. Yet The Black Dahlia remains characteristically glossy -- a look that is faithfully captured by this DVD transfer.

The Black Dahlia is available in both widescreen and fullscreen versions. Audio choices in the widescreen edition are English, Spanish, or French with subtitles in either Spanish or French.

Each version comes with approximately 40 minutes of extra features. "Reality and Fiction: The Story of The Black Dahlia" is a discussion with novelist James Ellroy (who also wrote L.A. Confidential) about the real crime and its impact on Hollywood and L.A. Real crime footage from the Betty Short murder case is used, but sparingly, since it is particularly gruesome and disturbing, but be prepared! Another featurette, "The Case File," is an opportunity to hear the thoughts of Ellroy and De Palma on the crew and casting as well as a chance to meet the actors and crew. There is some characteristic mutual admiration by the interviewees but not to the extreme. The third feature, "The De Palma Touch," is a quick introduction to director Brian De Palma’s unique visual style of filmmaking. One cannot expect many bonus features on a one-disc DVD release. However, I would have very much liked a director’s commentary -- a chance to get inside De Palma’s head as he made The Black Dahlia.

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