Why so serious?
At different points in the new Batman film the Joker tells the story of how he got his wide scar of a smile, each time including this phrase, "Why so serious?". It's mocking, it's cruel, it's ambiguous, and wholly representative of this brilliant film. This is a daring blockbuster - not because of the dark content matter or the level of violence (eye-poppingly high for a 12A certificate) but because of the way that the film refuses to satisfy the audience's desire for a simple answer. This knight is stumbling around in the dark rather than dressed in shining armour and the story arc is not the usual one of strife followed by resolution. Although he is dedicated to doing good, Batman finds things constantly slipping out of his control and his triumphs appear temporary and flimsy. Unlike Batman Begins, director Christopher Nolan's first Batman film, there are successes but no moment of exhilarating pay-off - which suits me fine, because that was the least memorable part of the previous film. What stayed with me from Batman Begins was Christian Bale's restrained, but clearly tormented, Bruce Wayne and the ethereally handsome Cillian Murphy as Dr Jonathan Crane / the Sandman Scarecrow. His use of a sack and hallucinogenic drugs to send people mad was a DIY retort to Batman's extensive bag of tricks. Murphy reappears briefly in The Dark Knight and it's clear that Nolan is reminding us of his character - storing him up for a future instalment.
This time an even more memorable adversary has been conjured up for Batman in the form of Heath Ledger's Joker. The Joker is a nightmare clown, all smeared make-up, smoothing back his greasy hair and licking around the corners of his lips. It's the eyes that make the most impact, however, calculating and unpitying. The Joker's only super power is his ability to operate so close to the edge that in trying to get to him you go toppling over yourself. Characterisation is rather beside the point in this sort of film, but what is impressive is the sharpness of the script. It avoids cliché, even when setting up ideas like Batman's inner darkness, which we have seen depicted over and over again. Quite how perilous the terrain can be is obvious from adaptations of other Frank Miller comics like 300 and (heavens preserve us) Sin City, which both had me squirming. The performances are also very good - this is a comic book film, but it's not cartoonish.
The Dark Knight has been filmed for Imax as well as conventional cinema, as was the case with Batman Begins, but this time around this seems to have translated into a picture so sharp that you could cut yourself on it. Seeing this film at the Imax would probably leave me so overwhelmed as to need a sojourn in Arkham Asylum, the sense of spectacle is so intense; and I'm not usually impressed by buildings exploding and lorries overturning. Mark Kermode will be reviewing The Dark Knight on tonight's programme - will he share my enthusiasm?
Just one thing, I would have loved to see what Christopher Nolan could have done with Watchmen, Alan Moore's graphic novel. After years in development hell (having had directors including Terry Gilliam attached to the project) Watchmen has been filmed by Zack Snyder the director of... 300. Perhaps he'll do a great job, but 300 felt like a two-hour advert for something, goodness knows what - perhaps gym membership. I console myself with thoughts of the next Batman, I'm very curious to see what Nolan does next. Might his powers extend to integrating Catwoman and Robin into the film without tipping the whole thing into a camp nightmare? At the moment anything seems possible.
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The premise of Robin the boy wonder wouldn't fit into Nolan's "Hyperrealism" take of Batman which dictates that everything in the film has to "work" in reality to an extent hence the redesigned batmobile in begins and the importance that the bat-cycle's design was functional. A 12 year old circus performer or any other young boy wouldn't fit in Nolan's Gotham.
Catwoman on the other hand would be a much easier fix especially compared to say Mr Freeze unless you strip him of his cold suit which he needs to survive.
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I think what should stay with you is murphy played Scarecrow - not sandman!
I'm pretty sure all though the name "the dark knight" suggest otherwise this isn't based on the frank miller books, as batman was 70 in them! okay im a massive geek, but who cares. I watched the intro sequel on the blu ray, and its everything batman should be, a smart, psychological action film that happens to contain comic book characters.
Just don't bring in robin, or bat girl or bat dog. Robin barely works in the comic books, let alone a film, The next bad guy i'd like to see is the ventriloquist a genuis character.
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Er, yes, thanks for pointing that out. Don't know why the Sandman popped into my head - I was never a fan of the comic. Must be that Nick Cave album I've been listening to.
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Excellent film, really makes use of the ambiguities in the 'hero/vigilante' role Batman takes on as self-appointed protector of Gotham.
"Might his powers extend to integrating Catwoman and Robin into the film without tipping the whole thing into a camp nightmare?"
Depends - how much you read into the apparent throwaway comment about the new batsuit being probably resistant to cats!
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Dark Knight is probably the most intelligent response to 9/11 yet. The bombs on two boats scenario is based on 'the prisoners’ dilemma' derived from game theory. The idea being that two players in a game can choose between two moves; either 'cooperate' or 'defect'. The idea is that each player gains when both cooperate, but if only one of them cooperates, the other one, who defects, will gain more - but they can’t confer. (U can Google it 4 more.) Joker wants to demonstrate that ultimately everyone is as murderous and ruthless as he is. The passengers could attempt to save their own lives by destroying the other boat, providing they act first. Joker expects one boat to do so. But there is also a moral dimension, by destroying a boat the survivors will also be mass murderers and both boats choose not to do so. It’s telling this particular scenario was chosen for the film.
On 9/11, if those in one tower could have saved themselves by choosing to destroy the other tower would they have done so? (But then becoming terrorists themselves.) Nolan is saying that no they wouldn’t have they'd decide to take their own chances and someone else would have to take the moral responsibility as to whether they live or die. (There’s also a rough parallel with nuclear deterrence here.) This demonstration of basic humanity is the defeat of Joker and what he stands for.
Harvey Dent suffers greatly in the film and arrives at a mental state that believes everything is arbitrary, that there is no morality, good, bad, justice, or fairness in the world. Everything is morally equivalent. Two Face crucially abandons being led by moral choices, letting the coin flip do the same. He’s thrown into a nihilistic moral wasteland between Joker and Batman. And that is where US foreign policy is with Guantanamo Bay and Iraq whilst pretending to itself that it is the world`s White Knight; preferring to let people believe the legend of Harvey Dent rather than the reality of what he became. (The man Who Shot Liberty Valance is referenced in the film.) Another key plot point is about the use of surveillance technology, immensely topical given the Patriot Act and UK anti terror laws.
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“Some men aren’t looking for anything logical. They can’t be bought, bullied, reasoned or negotiated with. Some men just want to watch the world burn.”
For almost all of us that have seen ‘The Dark Knight’, these lines are burned into immortality. They encapsulate the essential battle that exists between Batman and The Joker, as well as the internal struggle that burns inside Bruce Wayne. Thus giving rise to his alter ego.
On reflection they raise a much deeper argument on the status of our own lives. Is this really the case? Do some people have a predilection for violence, or chaos, or general all round malevolence? Are some among us destined to commit atrocities, just as there may be some of us destined to achieve greatness?
It’s a very convenient argument for some. Yes, we are all born evil and all that. There is no helping some of us. We just want to be bad, and, by hook or by crook, bad we shall be. Nah, I don’t buy it myself. It’s just that – too convenient. This argument lacks an appreciation of the world in which we live, a tough, often cruel environment that stretches the limits of our consciousness and our own internal conflict, a world that challenges us everyday, and examines us, often under the most trying of circumstances.
Now, in this environment we are faced with a choice. How that choice becomes manifest has so much to do with the environment in which we find ourselves, but also our own desire to make one decision rather than another.
For The Joker, he was never able to recover from the brutality of his father (if you believe that particular story) and so set upon a course of cathartic chaos. This story has been played out in many a life. Cause and consequence, rather than being impervious to it, we are shaped by it. We respond in a myriad of reactions that are all too human…and hey, why shouldn’t they be, we are after all human.
So, some want to watch the world burn, and others want to see it flourish.
Right, but “what would you have me do?” Well… “Endure, Master Wayne.”
It’s not really that easy is it? If it were, the world would be a place without conflict. Endurance, put in the simplest of terms, is the ability to continue over long, exhausting periods. To do this a series of steps needs to occur one after the other…oh, and for a really, really long time! But to endure that is what we must do.
The first step for us all is to log on to www.oneloveformusic.com. That’s the easy part. What you do beyond that is your choice….
www.oneloveformusic.com
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