ESSAYS

Paint It Black (On Two Film Versions of James Ellroy’s Novels)

The article compares the film Black Dahlia, 2006, by Brian de Palma with the film LA Confidential, 1997, by Curtis Hanson and then both of the films with the novels of the same names they were based on. In his analysis and interpretation of LA Confidential the author primarily focuses on the contents.

In the case of Black Dahlia he lays a greater emphasis on the expression given De Palma’s greater tendency towards stylization and rhetoric. The author states that while LA Confidential outshines the novel it was based on by its narrative economization and a clearer marking of the basic story-line, the film by De Palma seems to be too baroque for its own good.

Joško Žanić