DePalma's "Dahlia"
Brian DePalma's The Black Dahlia debuting at the Venice Film Festival....great. I truly don't believe anything good can come of this film except a spike in James Ellroy's book sales. The '40s noir thing is over...done to death. DePalma -- a truly exciting and out-there director from the late '60s to early '80s, and an occasionally successful commerical director from the mid '80s to mid '90s, has been over in the sense of failing to read or respond to the culture for years. I used to love the guy but then he made Femme Fatale and that was it. Two likely solves to the real Black Dahlia murder have been published -- take your pick but they both sound pretty good to me. Alas, DePalma's film, based on Ellroy's "The Black Dahlia", is fictional. DePalma's chops are always first-rate -- the guy has always been an audacious pro -- so it might make for a good sit but I keep getting these vibrations and radio signals telling me it won't be.
Posted by Jeffrey Wells on July 25, 2006 at 4:03 PM
comment #1
De Palma Fan says ...
I love De Palma more than anyone, but SNAKE EYES sealed it for me. That's when I realized he had lost it. I have hopes for DAHLIA, but I don't think De Palma has transcended his style and technique into the 21st Century and I don't think he gives a shit to do so. He has a very elegant way of looking at film and is probably too arrogant a person to change with the times, but I sit and wait and hope anyway.
Posted by De Palma Fan at July 25, 2006 4:08 PM
comment #2
Just stay behind the camera, Brian says ...
The script was great, but I heard DePalma rewrote it -- which terrifies me.
Posted by Just stay behind the camera, Brian at July 25, 2006 4:25 PM
comment #3
sprofessor says ...
De Palma would being making great movies expect he hasn't the faintest idea what a good script looks like. The good ones he has gotten must have been accidents. But most of the time he doesn't seem to really care. For this reason I've always found him very frustrating. Far as I'm concerned, Stone deserves most of the credit for Scarface.
Posted by sprofessor at July 25, 2006 4:27 PM
comment #4
Dixon Steele says ...
Yeah, DePalma was the Man.
Then SNAKE EYES...FEMME FATALE. Didn't even want to try MISSION TO MARS.
Still, crossing my fingers on Dahlia...
Posted by Dixon Steele at July 25, 2006 4:28 PM
comment #5
Geoff says ...
I love Femme Fatale
Posted by Geoff at July 25, 2006 4:42 PM
comment #6
Daniel Zelter says ...
Jeff+Dixon: I guess that means you had no problem with the first Mission Impossible...
Posted by Daniel Zelter at July 25, 2006 4:43 PM
comment #7
Anonymous says ...
Verhoeven's Zwartboek is looking really good.
Posted by Anonymous at July 25, 2006 4:47 PM
comment #8
Mike Gebert says ...
I stayed at a hotel in L.A. a couple of weeks ago. In the bar, the signature drink (whatever that means) was called The Black Dahlia.
I look forward to drinking a Tate-LaBianca in another 10 years.
Posted by Mike Gebert at July 25, 2006 5:12 PM
comment #9
Palermo says ...
De Palma rules. It's the critics who lost it.
Posted by Palermo at July 25, 2006 5:16 PM
comment #10
Alex says ...
Femme Fatale definitely divided people, but I thought it was great - ludicrously funny and, in the end, with a real art consciousness that got to me.
As far as Black Dahlia...who knows. I don't see any reason why it can't be at least in the class of The Untouchables. And I really don't see why the film should be dinged because it's not a piece of history or investigative journalism.
Posted by Alex at July 25, 2006 5:19 PM
comment #11
nickc says ...
Femme Fatale is a fucking masterpiece. PURE cinema.
Posted by nickc at July 25, 2006 5:19 PM
comment #12
lasardo says ...
if you're over and done with the 40s noir thing, why the constant push for hollywoodland?
Posted by lasardo at July 25, 2006 7:02 PM
comment #13
Zachary says ...
For me DePalma has been hit and miss his entire career. Granted, due to being 27, I haven't been able to watch his movies chronologically.
Hits:
Scarface
Mission Impossible
The Untouchables
Casualties of War
Carrie
Femme Fatale (DePalma redeemed himself from the 1-2 misfire of SE and MTM.) If it wasn't for this movie, I would be ignoring The Black Dahlia.
Carlito's Way
Misses:
Bonfire of the Vanities (Thanks to the talent in front and behind the camera, I consider this to be the worst movie ever made.)
Snake Eyes
Mission to Mars
Posted by Zachary at July 25, 2006 7:48 PM
comment #14
Rod says ...
Some of us thought Lumet was over too (please, that Melanie Griffith jewish jewel thingie?) and then Jeff wet himself over "Find Me Guilty" enough for me to go see it...and it really is one of the best films of the year. SO...I have faith for DePalma. I love the fact that he doesn't really give a fuck and does his own thing, and will always love the elegant fluid movement of his camera and the way he cuts a film - "Dressed To Kill,""Blow Out," "Carlito's Way," "The Untouchables," "Carrie," "The Fury" (fucking brilliant), "Mission Impossible" (first one still awesome), and, for me, parts of "Raising Cain," "Body Double," "Scarface," and especially the unrelenting "Casualities of War" all place him as an original. True, his last three pictures were ridiculous, but so what? All the geniuses have turkeys, too.
Posted by Rod at July 25, 2006 8:53 PM
comment #15
Anonymous says ...
Fincher was attached to this for a long time. And unlike DePalma, Fincher doesn't fancy himself a writer. And... well, you'll see.
Posted by Anonymous at July 25, 2006 9:18 PM
comment #16
Dash Hammet says ...
It's not "40's noir" anyway. It's 21st century neo-noir. The two are not the same.
The thing about styles of narrative is that nothing is ever truly "over" if one has the talent and vision to reinvigorate it for a new generation of eyes.
Does DePalma? We'll see.
Posted by Dash Hammet at July 25, 2006 9:45 PM
comment #17
Joel says ...
I agree with the Femme Fatale lovers - sure, it's an stylistic construct, but a supremely entertaining, surprisingly powerful one in the end.
Posted by Joel at July 25, 2006 10:08 PM
comment #18
Daniel Zelter says ...
Why the hell do people like the first MI? It's just a bunch of Bible references and Tom Cruise hanging from a rope. In other words, utter bullshit, and nothing like the show.
Posted by Daniel Zelter at July 25, 2006 11:53 PM
comment #19
Markus R. Mueller says ...
Femme Fatale - great, masterpiece
Snake Eyes - Almost great/ending sucked
Mission Impossible - Big Fun, best score of the nineties by Danny Elfman
Mission to Mars - Entertaining (but mediocre) movie
I love De Palma!
Posted by Markus R. Mueller at July 26, 2006 3:10 AM
comment #20
Manoj says ...
de Palma is hit and miss for me but he elevates shoddy material with some great set pieces. Femme Fatale is an excellent example of this.
Posted by Manoj at July 26, 2006 4:09 AM
comment #21
Mike Gebert says ...
"Mission to Mars - Entertaining (but mediocre) movie"
Mission to Mars-- 2001 For Dummies
Posted by Mike Gebert at July 26, 2006 6:03 AM
comment #22
Sean Richardson says ...
Gebert - you're being too kind to the movie. 'Mission to Mars' was 'Star Trek V: The Final Frontier' for dummies.
Posted by Sean Richardson at July 26, 2006 7:14 AM
comment #23
Anonymous says ...
Check out this gory pic from the flick --
http://kino-express.ru/pics/misc3/blackdahlia_17.jpg
Posted by Anonymous at July 26, 2006 7:55 AM
comment #24
Michael says ...
To you Femme Fatale backers...is that the one with Antonio and Rebecca Romijn? If so, are you kidding me? The dream film?
Posted by Michael at July 26, 2006 11:13 AM
comment #25
Anonymous says ...
Snake Eyes -- "almost great"
Are you on drugs?
Posted by Anonymous at July 26, 2006 11:19 AM
comment #26
Jay T. says ...
Ellroy's book is an absolute masterpiece - probably his best next to American Tabloid and right up there with L.A. Confidential. However, I was more excited back when David Fincher wanted to adapt it.
Posted by Jay T. at July 26, 2006 1:14 PM
comment #27
Markus R. Mueller says ...
No, I'm not on drugs. Maybe I should be.
I can't help it - I think it's (almost) great. But I also love "Ferry to Hongkong" with Orson Welles and Curd Jurgens. So maybe I don't have any taste at all.
Posted by Markus R. Mueller at July 26, 2006 1:51 PM
comment #28
Anonymous says ...
I've heard the Mark Isham score for BLACK DAHLIA and it's fantastic - maybe the best score of his career. You won't be disappointed. Wets my appetite for the film. The only thing that gives me pause is the Avi Lerner producing banner.
Posted by Anonymous at July 26, 2006 4:28 PM
comment #29
Clifford Anderson says ...
SNAKE EYES sealed it for you? I don't know, man... I think RAISING CAIN was the beginning of the end. I've hated John Lithgow ever since.
Posted by Clifford Anderson at July 26, 2006 11:11 PM
comment #30
Anonymous says ...
Some trailer footage up at Youtube --
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBzzrhg0rlQ
Posted by Anonymous at July 27, 2006 9:14 AM
comment #31
Alexandro says ...
Maybe someone can confirm this, but one BIG Femme Fatale fan was no less than Martin Scorsese...I mean he was big on it...true.
Posted by Alexandro at July 27, 2006 10:14 AM
comment #32
cadavra says ...
I saw FEMME FATALE when it previewed at Showeast, and after sitting through one boneheaded P.O.S. after another, it was like a bucket of champagne right in the kisser. But I can understand why some people hate it; you have to understand that DePalma is the star of the film and the actors are just his pawns, not unlike DUCK AMUCK on another thread. If you can't buy into that, the film simply won't work. I thought it was easily his best film since RAISING CAIN, which also relied on this device; the moment where Frances Sternhagen is dragged back into the middle of a lengthy tracking shot--as if to say, "No, don't go this way, stay with the camera"--is laugh-out-loud genius.
Posted by cadavra at July 27, 2006 11:47 AM