A Hollywood Press Junket | Meet the Stars of "The Black Dahlia"

I work at a public radio station in southern California.  Though employed by a broadcast news organization, I am not a reporter, a host, or an editor.  I work in financial development.  So, when asked by our New Media Manager to write an article to publish on gather.com about the movie The Black Dahlia, I naturally leapt at the opportunity to have an "assignment."  It takes even less to persuade me to attend a private screening of the film and the press junket too!

The screening is held at the Directors' Guild of America (DGA) on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, mere blocks away from the legendary and notorious Sunset Strip, filled with bars, restaurants and clubs.  The Hollywood scene in general serves as an appropriate backdrop for The Black Dahlia, a film noir-esque piece inspired by the mysterious and violent murder of Elizabeth Short, an aspiring actress who came to Los Angeles to chase her dreams.

Upon arrival to the DGA, I receive a press packet that includes a program and a cd.  The program lists all of the cast, crew, production staff, etc. with bios and paragraphs about casting, inspirations, true life events, and other relevant anecdotes.  The CD contains publicity/production photos.  Since photos are't allowed, I return to my car to deposit my camera cell phone  before making my way through and entering the plush red theater at the DGA.  Indeed, with all of these ingredients I feel as if I was attending a fine theatrical stage production.  The film gets underway sans the typical bevy of trailers, coming attractions, and advertisements and I feel as though I am among the elite:  the film critics who cross their arms with the expectation to be impressed, or else.  The lights dim and the film begins. More about the movie on Friday.

Following the screening, I contemplate the novel.  I have not read the James Ellroy book the film is based on and can't help wondering how they might differ.  I fully acknowledge that it is rare for me to enjoy the film version of a story more than the book that it is based on but I continue to be open-minded to the possibility.

The press junket, scheduled for the following day, is to take place at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel in downtown Los Angeles.  What is particularly fitting for this selection of venue is that besides being the home of the earliest Academy Awards, it is also reputed to be the last place that Elizabeth Short was seen alive.  I make my way up to the check-in table during the lunch break.  After a mistaken detour to the conference room occupied by the Hollywood Foreign Press, I manage to get where I need to go.  As is the custom in Hollywood, my name is on a list and I am handed another press packet and a gift bag that includes a Black Dahlia hat and t-shirt.  At the end of a long classy hallway is the smallish room where the junket will occur.  This particular session is for print, online, and radio press.  I enter into several rows of chairs for the reporters with a sort of head table draped with linen and adorned with multiple microphones of assorted shapes and sizes.  There are two chairs behind it.  I grab a seat near a large ornate fireplace and begin to unpack the instruments of my newly acquired role of reporter.  I remove the press packet, reporter's narrow notepad, and a digital recorder and start to read through the program for one last brush-up on the names and references.

The time comes to begin and a slew of individuals sweep into the room.  A team of men with ear pieces and radios attached to their belts stake the place out.  They make sure the table is in order, cables are properly dressed, and give looks to infer that the time has come for everyone to take their seats.  They make a casual yet firm announcement that Scarlett will be the first person and ask for the first five questions.  Several reporters raise their hands and one of the men randomly selects them and gives them a number from 1-5 to establish the order of questioning.  He then goes over the sequence with another man who will be tasked with getting the wireless microphone to the reporter asking the question so that everything runs through the public address system set up in the room.  The press conference is ready to begin.

Scarlett Johansson, Josh Hartnett, Brian De Palma, James Ellroy and Josh Friedman are scheduled to take turns coming into the room to field questions from the reporters and discuss their experiences with The Black Dahlia.  All are accompanied by an entourage of sorts that always includes their publicist who observes the proceedings from the side of the room with alert eyes and ears and readiness to intervene on behalf of their celebrity clients.

The following hour and a half is a delightful whirlwind of rotating personalities.  Scarlett warmly speaks of being a fan of Brian de Palma and that she convinced him to cast her as Kay though she feels she wasn't right for the role.  Despite being film noir, she had never thought of Kay as a femme fatale but enjoyed the challenge of the gritty realism and the impossibly unrealistic dialogue associated with the genre.  Her goal was to "keep the integrity with the appearance of ease and natural delivery."   We are all surprised when she speaks about her sentimentality about LA and then goes on to say that they were shooting in Bulgaria.  As it turns out, a majority of the filming was done there with the obvious exception of the familiar Hollywood exteriors like Echo Park, the Frolic Room, among others.  While she can report "no casting couch stories" she admits that she rarely has to audition but acknowledges that she likes it.  She is "an actor for hire" and is "always up for a challenge."

Josh Hartnett begins his turn with a joke about having all of his teeth.  We all chuckle as we recall the gruesome scene in the film that his character, Bucky Bleichert, gets his front teeth knocked out by Aaron Eckhart's character Lee Blanchard.  On genre, he chats about the inclination of noir films to pose damsels in distress and then turns that on its ear and justifies their viewing by suggesting the lusting by the audiences for something darker.  When asked if his home in Minnesota is a sort of cocoon he replies that it is not.  It is an opportunity for him to take a step back and to separate his sense of self from his work.  Josh is asked if he was instantly attracted to Scarlett and he quickly retorts "I was instantly attracted to EVERYBODY on this film."  His publicist notably relaxes at his response.  In preparation for the film, Josh did an exorbitant amount of training in the boxing ring but this wasn't only helpful in the boxing scenes.  The mindset of the boxer to take apart an opponent went a long way in developing Josh's approach to Bucky's ability to take apart a case.  The last question is whether the boxing served as a metaphor for him and he smiles and says that he was "so focused on the character that I haven't thought about it yet."

Brian De Palma spent much of his time going back to his perspective on filmmaking.  It tends to be all about locations.  Film is a series of visual ideas and emphasizes the importance of specificity and unique images.  He actually goes so far as to say "any idiot can do this.  I think about everything that goes up on that screen."  The Black Dahlia is no exception.  When asked about his favorite location in LA, he responds that it is all generic.  There is an audible reaction.  He adds that specific vision and a great art director make the film. If you can't find it--create it.  "I create an illusion.  You fall in love with it.  I kill it."  Towards the end of the interview, in between questions, Brian blurts out "How come nobody has commented on my fantastic lesbian floorshow?  I am very proud of it!!"  A room full of reporters then ask, in a sing-song fashion, "how about the lesbian floorshow?" and he is glad we asked. He talks of the final night in shooting in Bulgaria where a lesbian chorus line makes out with each other on the floor of the stage in a nightclub where KD Lang makes a cameo appearance as a singer.  And then there was the kissing.  "Hilary and Josh kissing is so erotic.  Hilary is tasting him like he is a grape--a piece of fruit."  It was all quite delicious.

Josh Friedman, who wrote the screenplay, and James Ellroy, the writer of the novel The Black Dahlia, arrive to take their turn together.  Before the bustle has quieted for the interview to begin, James Ellroy leans closely to one of the microphones and begins a high-pitched barking.  We all look on...uncertain what to make of it...which is, essentially, the underlying theme of the rest of the interview.  He has this deliberate and cautious way of speaking strikes me as curious--as if he is trying to be political and careful.  He then informs us that dysfunctionalism corrupts the motion picture process 99.9% of the time and that another film will not be made from one of his books.  When asked about the relationship between the two writers, Mr. Friedman responds with respect and admiration for Ellroy's work and Mr. Ellroy speaks almost clinically as to Mr. Friedman's screenplay.  He indicates it is a reduction and compression of story and that it retains the arc of character.  The interview continues with large vocabulary words and very precise comments, never exactly answering questions asked.  He tells us that he hates popular culture and doesn't own a television.  Most of the time he can be found in the dark, lying on a couch, and brooding.  "Obsession works for me and has almost killed me on several notable occasions."  Fittingly, the session ends with a comment by Mr. Ellroy explaining that Mr. De Palma's film ends his public discourse of The Black Dahlia.

As I pack up my reporting implements and make small talk with the other reporters, I wonder what exactly happened during this creative process between Mr. Ellroy, Brian De Palma, and the rest of the powers that be.  On the way home I decide to pick up a copy of the novel so that I, too, can lust for something darker...though I will probably leave the lights on and definitely won't be brooding.

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