 Brian De Palma’s 1940s crime noir The Black Dahlia will open the Venice Film Festival on August 30, organisers announced today. The new film from the director of The Untouchables (which was presented at Venice in 1987) will not only open the festival but will also compete in the Official Selection and is the first title to have been announced to compete for the coveted Leone d’oro or Golden Lion. Last year's winner of the top prize was Ang Lee’s Brokeback Mountain. De Palma is expected to attend the gala premiere of his new film with his two stars Scarlett Johansson and Hilary Swank.
The Black Dahlia stars Josh Hartnett, Aaron Eckhart, Scarlett Johansson and Hilary Swank in a crime story that takes places in 1940s Los Angeles. The adaptation of the James Ellroy novel of the same name follows the friends and former boxers, Bucky Bleichert (Hartnett) and Lee Blanchard (Eckhart), who are both in love with the same woman, the mysterious Kay Lake (Scarlett Johansson), a former friend of a gangster. A terrible crime that the two are called on to investigate will change their lives for ever: the murder of Elizabeth Short (Mia Kirshner), a girl with ambitions to be an actress, known as the Black Dahlia, who is found brutally murdered on the hillsides of Hollywood. During the course of the investigations, Bucky meets Madeleine Sprague (Swank) and begins a passionate relationship with her, although realising that she is indirectly involved in the crime, and that corruption and conspiracies dominate his police department. When Lee suddenly disappears, Bucky’s investigation turns into a morbid obsession.
The director and his Black Dahlia divas Johansson and Swank are expected to grace the red carpet on the Venetian Lido, as is Italian production designer Dante Ferretti, who chaired last year’s festival jury. French diva Catherine Deneuve will serve as Jury President for the 2006 edition of the world’s oldest film festival. The other jury members are Spanish director Juan José Bigas Luna, winner of a Silver Lion for Jamón, jamón in 1992 and a Best Screenplay Award in 1994 for La teta y la luna; Portuguese producer Paulo Branco whose production O Fatalista from João Botelho played In Competition last year; US filmmaker Cameron Crowe, on hand last year for the world premiere of his Elizabethtown; Russian actress Chulpan Khamatova, star of last year's Competition title Garpastum but probably better known for her turn as the sweet nurse in Good Bye Lenin!; Korean writer-director Park Chan-wook, whose Sympathy for Lady Vengeance screened In Competition last year, and Italian actor and director Michele Placido, who has had several of his films as a director In Competition, including 2002's Un viaggio chiamato amore (Best Actor Award for Stefano Accorsi) and 2004's Ovunque sei, which again starred Accorsi. The festival's 63rd edition will run from August 30th through September 9 on the Venetian Lido. |
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