Jump to ContentJump to Main Navigation
Brian De Palma's Split-ScreenA Life in Film$
Users without a subscription are not able to see the full content.
Brian De Palma's Split-Screen: A Life in Film

Douglas Keesey

Print publication date: 2015

Print ISBN-13: 9781628466973

Published to University Press of Mississippi: September 2016

DOI: 10.14325/mississippi/9781628466973.001.0001

Show Summary Details
Page of

PRINTED FROM Mississippi SCHOLARSHIP ONLINE (www.mississippi.universitypressscholarship.com). (c) Copyright University Press of Mississippi, 2021. All Rights Reserved. An individual user may print out a PDF of a single chapter of a monograph in MSSO for personal use.date: 07 March 2021

The Black Dahlia (2006)

The Black Dahlia (2006)

Chapter:
(p.270) Chapter 27 The Black Dahlia (2006)
Source:
Brian De Palma's Split-Screen
Author(s):

Douglas Keesey

Publisher:
University Press of Mississippi
DOI:10.14325/mississippi/9781628466973.003.0028

This chapter depicts a plunge back into the nightmarish world of film noir with The Black Dahlia (2006). The story pivots around the lust-murder of Elizabeth Short (Mia Kirshner), dubbed the “Black Dahlia,” the wannabe starlet who ended up in stag films before having her face slashed from ear to ear and her body cut in half. Elizabeth herself becomes the object of obsession for key male characters in the film. The Black Dahlia, the chapter argues, presented the image of Elizabeth's severed corpse as a way to call attention to the sexploitation and victimization of women. Moreover, the chapter searches for an autobiographical resonance in the film's male characters, particularly in the form of the lead character Bucky's (Josh Hartnett) troubled family memories and fraternal rivalry with his partner Lee (Aaron Eckhart).

Keywords:   The Black Dahlia, film noir, lust-murder, Elizabeth Short, sexploitation, victimization, women, troubled family, fraternal rivalry

University Press of Mississippi requires a subscription or purchase to access the full text of books within the service. Public users can however freely search the site and view the abstracts and keywords for each book and chapter.

Please, subscribe or login to access full text content.

If you think you should have access to this title, please contact your librarian.

To troubleshoot, please check our FAQs , and if you can't find the answer there, please contact us.