In his neo-noir mystery, "The Black Dahlia," director Brian de Palma brings his camera into a morgue where the remains of the mutilated murder victim, Elizabeth Short, are displayed on an autopsy table.
Through the director's lens, we gaze with grim fascination at the grotesqueness of the crime, wondering not only who this woman was and how she met her fate but also what twisted mind could carry out such a heinous murder?
In real life, Short's remains were discovered on Jan. 15, 1947, by a passerby pushing a stroller past a vacant lot near 39th Street and Norton Avenue in L.A.'s Leimert Park, touching off a mystery that endures to this day.
The 22-year-old Short, nicknamed "the Black Dahlia" for her raven hair and black clothes, had been bound and tortured, her body severed at the waist, then drained of blood and washed clean. Her blue eyes were open with her hands above her head. Several of her internal organs were missing. There were gashes at the corners of her mouth leaving her with a maniacal, clown-like grin.
The body depicted in the film, which opens Friday, was reproduced from crime scene photos and is only fleetingly viewed on-screen.
"But once you see it, you'll never forget it," de Palma said. "If you are going to show the body and the way it was displayed and the horror of it, it has to be absolutely accurate. ... The most compelling thing about the 'Black Dahlia' are the pictures. Once you see those pictures, you never forget [her]. When you see a girl so beautiful, and she winds up like this, you say, 'My God, what happened?' "
For his source material on "The Black Dahlia," de Palma used James Ellroy's crime novel of the same title, which creates its own fictional scenario behind Short's unsolved murder. The film stars Josh Hartnett, Aaron Eckhart, Scarlett Johansson, Hilary Swank and Mia Kirshner as Short, the Black Dahlia.
The movie's plot revolves around Hartnett's character, police officer Bucky Bleichert, who, like his partner, is a prize fighter in his spare time. Both are in love with Kay Lake (Johansson), the former girlfriend of an imprisoned robber. Bucky also has a steamy affair with Madeleine Linscott (Swank), who may have had a lesbian encounter with Short.
To research Short, Kirshner read many books and articles--"everything from reportedly the way she spoke to the way she dressed. There was a very negative portrayal of her," Kirshner said, noting that Short's sexual history had become sensationalized because of the murder. "I felt it was much more important to humanize the person. At the end of the day, she really did deserve that."
Ellroy noted that there have been numerous theories about who killed Short proffered by authors of non-fiction books over the years, but while some theories seem more credible than others, "none of them are provable."
"It's a signature murder case," Ellroy said. "It was a hideous example of a sex murder."