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Month: December 2020

Historical Context of The Dark Knight

Published by benjaminlewis on 13th December 2020

Sources:

YouTube. 2020. Terrorism, War, and Bush 43: Crash Course US History #46 – YouTube. [ONLINE] Available at: https://youtu.be/nlsnnhn3VWE. [Accessed 13 December 2020].

cpb-eu-w2.wpmucdn.com. 2020. Media Magazine – The Ideology of Nolan’s Batman Trilogy. [ONLINE] Available at: https://cpb-eu-w2.wpmucdn.com/blogs.grammar.sch.gg/dist/8/543/files/2017/11/Batman-1yl5lip.pdf. [Accessed 13 December 2020].

 

Significant Event in Politics / Society Details Relevance to The Dark Knight
2001 Election – Democratic Candidate Al Gore v.s. Republican George W. Bush.  A very close election solidified the Red/Blue divide, as it was extremely close and there was some tense political maneuvering in Florida for Bush to win, with Bush’s brother Jeb influencing the outcome of the result. The uncertainty surrounding the process used to determine the result of the election could tie into the corruption battled throughout the film, and how the authorities in charge cannot be entirely trusted.
September 11th 2001 – 9/11 Attacks.

War on Terror.

 Terrorists associated with Al Qaeda crashed two planes into the World Trade Center, or the Twin Towers. The Bush Doctrine – America would go to war with terrorism, giving no bias to country. (Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq.) ‘We love freedom, they hate freedom’ – Bush.  The war of terror can serve as a direct comparison to Batman’s crusade for justice within Gotham. However, it could be argued that Bush created the problems he then faced, whereas Batman is fighting a problem that has plagued him since youth.
Intervention in Afghanistan. Afghanistan was ruled by the Taliban who were harbouring Al Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden. America invaded and installed a democratic government. Darker times.
2003 Invasion of Iraq by the U.S.A On the pretence that they were harbouring dangerous weapons that they refused to give up. A democratic government was put in place but eventually it failed. It became a haven for Islamic terrorists, which it wasn’t before the invasion. Darker times.
Patriot Act. It gave the government and law enforcement unprecedented ability to combat domestic terrorism, which allowed spying on Americans without a warrant. Surveillance seen at climax of film – sonar technology.
American Recession Bush’s second term led to a net loss of jobs, and after a number of the Bush administration were indicted for federal crimes, the people lost faith in him as a president. The economy crashed further in 2007-2008, with the near collapse of the American banking system. Darker times.

Advanced Cinematography

Published by benjaminlewis on 13th December 2020

Advanced Cinematography Techniques:

An Analysis of the Cinematography of Robert Yeoman:

The Grand Budapest Hotel. 9/10 | by Andrea Patruno | Luci scribia | Medium

(The Grand Budapest – 2014 – dir. Wes Anderson)

This shot from Wes Anderson’s melancholic adventure The Grand Budapest Hotel utilises depth of field in a really interesting manner, having the character on the far right, Zero Moustafa, positioned in the foreground, but adjusting the aperture to create a deep depth of field, so that Zero doesn’t become the focus of the shot, but rather of equal importance to to M. Gustave and the hotel attendant beside him. This suggests that, while there is clearly a power dynamic between the pair, the two respect each other, and find great value in each others company. Additionally, the two pillars create upwards leading lines that draw the viewers’ eyes to the ‘Concierge’ sign, perhaps foreshadowing Zero’s eventual rise to such a position. The rule of thirds is used effectively in Yeoman’s cinematography to create a sense of imbalance in the frame, with M. Gustave standing directly in the centre and breaking the rule, perhaps a hint towards the world seemingly revolving around him and his heightened sense of grandeur, as well as his general attitude of being in favour of breaking convention, and Zero cast to the side, with his potential not yet being recognised by M. Gustave. However, in spite of the characters, and in Anderson’s signature style, the shot is perfectly symmetrical, implying that, at this point in the film, the hotel is a place of beauty and serenity, the last bastion of a soon-to-be-doomed age.

Why Is The Joker the Ultimate Villain?

Published by benjaminlewis on 3rd December 2020

Source for Video: The Dark Knight — Creating the Ultimate Antagonist (2016). The Dark Knight — Creating the Ultimate Antagonist. [online] YouTube. Available at: https://youtu.be/pFUKeD3FJm8.

Summary:

  • The reason the antagonist of The Dark Knight is so effective, is primarily because Batman and the Joker are both working towards the same goal; to win the battle for the soul of Gotham. However, they have different interpretations of what that soul should be. One fights for order, one fights for chaos. John Truby states that this is the best way to create true conflict, and a conflict that will arise until the end of time, or one of their lives.
  • The Joker turns Batman’s strength into a weakness, because he doesn’t fear death. He knows that Batman’s morality is intrinsically tied to his one rule, he will not kill, and, since he doesn’t care about death, turns it into a weakness. The only way for Batman to stop the Joker is to kill him, but that is exactly what he wants, because if he breaks Batman’s morality, he knows he will have broken him as a person.
  • The Joker exploits this to pressure Batman into difficult choices. For example, the more people the Joker kills, the heavier Batman’s own inaction will weigh his conscience, and Batman is forced to constantly ask himself whether it would be better for Gotham if he just broke his rule, just once. He also makes Batman decide whether his identity is worth the lives that Joker has promised to end if he doesn’t give it up.
  • Through his presentation of difficult choices, the Joker reveals what Batman is not willing to give up to save Gotham when he has him choose between Rachel Dawes, his love interest, and Harvey Dent,  a figure that could potentially save the city. He chooses Rachel, thus revealing one of the deepest parts of his character. We only know this about him because of the Joker.
  • Finally, he teaches the protagonist a lesson. Batman begins the film thinking that criminals are all able to be understood, that they have a clear motivation, usually for money or some other sort of personal gain. And at first, he tries to put the Joker into this box. However, the Joker has no motivation other than chaos, to ‘upset the established order’. He is a different type of enemy for the dark knight, and Batman has to evolve to fight him.

The Dark Knight Narrative Analysis

Published by benjaminlewis on 2nd December 2020

The Dark Knight subverts the hero’s journey in a number of ways. While it can be crudely fitted into the generic narrative beats of the journey, one would have to ignore significant, meaningful portions of the film. For example, Joseph Campbell stated that the hero begins in equilibrium, that equilibrium is disrupted, and then eventually it is restored, the status quo having changed for the better. However, in The Dark Knight, Gotham’s equilibrium is disequilibrium, it is a city overrun with crime, despite Batman’s one man crusade for justice. The Joker enters Batman’s narrative and tips the tide of the city even further into chaos, but when he is defeated, Gotham is still a hive of crime and chaos; the disequilibrium is still intact, and the Joker has corrupted their one hope for a positive, legal, and just change. In essence, Batman’s hero’s journey is never completed, whereas the generic superhero’s always is.

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