the dark knight. from the ridiculous. to the sublime.
Last night we saw The Dark Knight. (No spoilers, BTW.)
The first thing I noticed was Christian Bale’s mouth, and how well it suits a mask. After that, the only thing I noticed – was the other mouth and the way its owner used it to help create himself.
The interrogation scene in particular…terrifically disturbing.
The Joker’s “Great Social Experiment” and the one who first turned it on its head – reminiscent of The Misfit and the themes that surround him in another similarly seasoned story “A Good Man (Is Hard to Find)”. Maybe that’s just me reading too much Flannery. Or maybe that’s the genius of writer/director Christopher Nolan. A true hero…is hard to find. It’s not such a reach, you see.
The Euro made the case that Heath Ledger’s death made the movie. And of course he’s probably right. There’s no denying the added dimension. Doubtful most of us would try, as we will, to understand the core of a character Nolan and Ledger made such an effort to layer up, if the man behind it had not seemed, if only in an urban myth sort of way, to have become it.
Earlier this week I read about Oscar fanfare that would never be because Hollywood is apparently quite the cad when it comes to honouring late actors. That Ledger’s performance will be all but forgotten by the time nomination season rolls around.
I rather doubt it.
