De Palma's Black Dahlia to open Venice Fest

It’s time for fest fans to start getting frothy again as the 63rd Venice Film Festival – which kicks off on 30 August - has announced its line-up.

And among those that will be in competition for a Golden Lion is Brian De Palma’s new film, The Black Dahlia. The story sees a pair of cops (Josh Hartnett and Aaron Eckhart) investigating the true-life murder of actress Elizabeth Short (Mia Kirshner). But when they start becoming a little too obsessed with the case, it interferes with Eckhart’s relationship with Kay (Scarlett Johansson). And Hartnett becomes infatuated with a mysterious femme fatale (Hilary Swank) with a dark link to the dead woman.

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