Director:
Ramzi Abed
Studio/Production Company:
Bloodshot Pictures
Genre:
Mystery
Sub-Genre:
experiemental
Length:
Feature
Website:
http://www.myspace.com/blackdahliamovie
Score:
4/5
A poem more than a story, a hypnotic trip between reality, dreams and the creative space between the them, Ramzi Abed’s film is a bold vision, a rich, dense piece of art, captivating, confusing and wildly, breathtakingly original. Undeniably reminiscent, of course, of Lynch’s “Mullholland Drive”, it is, I believe, far more successful.
Oddly challenging the definitions of the “real” world with creative visions of it, obsessive delusion, fantasy and dreams, “The Devil’s Muse” blurs the lines between what is actually happening, what has happened and who is or is not doing what. The plot, in as much as it can really be called a plot in the conventional sense, sort of splits it’s focus on the story of a young, aspiring actress in L.A., Lisa Small, who auditions for the lead role in a film about one of Hollywood’s most celebrated unsolved murders, that of Elizabeth Short, The Black Dahlia, in 1947. As Lisa becomes more and more obsessive about her preparations for the role, her tenuous grip on reality loosens further and further. At the same time, a serial killer is targeting the other actresses who are up for the role. So, in some odd way, the film is not really about anything in the conventional narrative sense in which the audience is compelled to follow a character arc, their growth and change, but it really is about what is happening to the characters, whether or not we know what is actually happening.
Abed is in full command of his vision here, creating a complex, sometimes frustrating but ultimately surprisingly satisfying film.
Ramzi Abed
Studio/Production Company:
Bloodshot Pictures
Genre:
Mystery
Sub-Genre:
experiemental
Length:
Feature
Website:
http://www.myspace.com/blackdahliamovie
Score:
4/5
A poem more than a story, a hypnotic trip between reality, dreams and the creative space between the them, Ramzi Abed’s film is a bold vision, a rich, dense piece of art, captivating, confusing and wildly, breathtakingly original. Undeniably reminiscent, of course, of Lynch’s “Mullholland Drive”, it is, I believe, far more successful.
Oddly challenging the definitions of the “real” world with creative visions of it, obsessive delusion, fantasy and dreams, “The Devil’s Muse” blurs the lines between what is actually happening, what has happened and who is or is not doing what. The plot, in as much as it can really be called a plot in the conventional sense, sort of splits it’s focus on the story of a young, aspiring actress in L.A., Lisa Small, who auditions for the lead role in a film about one of Hollywood’s most celebrated unsolved murders, that of Elizabeth Short, The Black Dahlia, in 1947. As Lisa becomes more and more obsessive about her preparations for the role, her tenuous grip on reality loosens further and further. At the same time, a serial killer is targeting the other actresses who are up for the role. So, in some odd way, the film is not really about anything in the conventional narrative sense in which the audience is compelled to follow a character arc, their growth and change, but it really is about what is happening to the characters, whether or not we know what is actually happening.
Abed is in full command of his vision here, creating a complex, sometimes frustrating but ultimately surprisingly satisfying film.