-
Website
http://www.thefilmtalk.com/ -
Original page
http://www.thefilmtalk.com/2008/08/01/the-film-talk-part-30-dark-knight-of-the-soul/ -
Subscribe
All Comments -
Community
-
-
Top Commenters
-
Popular Threads
- 2012 – Raising Arizona Mashup
- Sundance at the Belcourt, The Film Talk on Facebook and Schwarzenegger in Star Wars
- The Tuesday Top Five: Anthropomorphic Animals
- TFT 96 – Where the Wild Things Are / 5 Ways to Make Your Film Better / Let’s Get Lost
- Problem of the Day: Has Martin Scorsese Made a Ghost Story? And if so, What am I Going to do About It?
That some of us are not who we purport ourselves to be??
http://www.stealthisbrand.blogspot.com/
"Dark night
There are other surreal aspects to what happens at Guantánamo Bay. As the first week of proceedings for Hamdan came to an end, trial observers went to see "The Dark Knight" at the military base's outdoor cinema.
The evening was all-American: families with lawn chairs and coolers with beer; public service announcements encouraging the crowd to honor American democracy by mailing in their absentee ballots; the playing of the national anthem; and then the movie.
Needless to say, it was weird to see "The Dark Knight" here. The movie is not a simple "good guys vs. bad guys" tale, but a rumination on the nature of good and evil, every person's capacity for corruption and redemption, and the triumph of basic humanity over self-interest. But the Guantánamo Bay detention facility is itself marred by the rendition, torture and ill-treatment of many of its occupants, and the deeply flawed trials that have commenced here. It is precisely these types of indecencies, committed by those with unrestrained power, that "The Dark Knight" disavows.
Allred was also in attendance at the movie, so I introduced myself to him as an observer for Human Rights Watch. The judge, who clearly takes his responsibilities seriously and is mindful of the historical moment at hand, seemed pleased.
"It's very important that you're here," he said to me.
Yes, that's true, I thought to myself -- better to be here than to let the trial go on without anybody from civil society witnessing it.
But I was not glad that either of us was there. A much better place to be would have been on the U.S. mainland, in a federal court, observing a trial that at its essence would be fair, impartial and just. What is unfolding at Guantánamo Bay is something very far from that."
Lister was formerly a professional wrestler who went by the name "Zeus".
Still listening to the podcast......
(update 12:56pm EST) ....finished listening. Had to stop and start a few times....great show, guys.
I went into the movie trying to guess who Jett was suggesting Heath Ledger's performance was based on -- I was wrong, but was glad to hear that the Good Prof. Dr. saw his performance initially as I did. I immediately thought Nicholson, but not Nicholson-doing-Joker-doing-Nicholson, but specifically his performance in The Shining. Good call, Prof. Dr.
But having heard the clip at the end of the show, I cannot argue with Jett's assessment as well.
Again, well done gentlemen.
+ would love to get Mr. Lister on the show, (am hoping the Prof. Dr.'s big-time show-biz connections will facilitate this!).
Just a thought, you guys may want to consider pre(re)viewing movies with a bit more in advance of their release to get them on posters. I'd suggest Death Race for the show, though that would be only two weeks in advance. I also think the probability of the boilerplate review being an actual review of the film to be rather high.
For example, in the scene where Joker performs his "disappearing pencil" trick, you never see (spoilers ahoy!!!) the pencil go into the guy's head...it is only implied.
In all the violence throughout this movie, you never see any "gore" or "blood".
I'm totally in agreement with Tom that this is anything but a kid's picture - I'm just guessing that this is the reason it garnered the PG-13 rating (as I'm sure the studios wanted to ensure so parents would, in fact, bring their kids).
Don't want to comment here 'cos of spoilers..
(@tracydempsey)
Feck it - since people are using spoiler alerts - spoiler alert!
Tom Waits thing was spooky alright; watched some YouTube footage after listening - good call. As to China as new superpower - thought that was pretty overt (as were the Guantanamo references); glass buildings are a sign of great wealth - and make for great shatter-y visual affects in action movies. (And glass drawers allow for you seeing objects therein 'activate'. :) )
Chicago architectural boat cruises/walking tours are great, btw!
Gareth said if he was Bush he'd be pleased with the message, but I think it's anti-Bush. Ability to spy on people 'for own safety' was temporary to remove an immediate threat, then sabotaged so as not to be abused in the name of some vague, permanent threat ('war on terror'). Theme of redemption whole way through, and explicit 'who are you to stand as judge/executioner' message, of course, with the ferries. And of course the notion of a true hero sacrificing himself so others don't have to 'go to war' is complete antithesis of the armchair generals ramping up patriotism to get young soldiers to go instead... (And Bill O'Reilly's just popped into my head, dodging Moore's question about 'would he send his son to war'. SJIHBOR. :) )
In short: I freakin' loved it! Twice.
(And am hoping the suit reference 'it should be okay against cats' (however it was worded) - was a bit of foreshadowing for possible follow-up w/Catwoman, rather than just a nod...)
And for the record, the "official" spoiler alert here at TFT is "spoilers ahoy!"...
You know, we never actually (spoilers ahoy) *saw* Rachel die....and if she
perceives that she was slighted by The Batman (who went to save Harvey, even
tho' Joker had switched the addresses and BM actually meant to save
Rachel)....then could be the makings of a future cat-lady?
(correction/edit): Looks like Angelina Jolie may have already signed on for a future Catwoman role...so that nixes my Maggie G. theory.
Jolie rumour was nixed in a few places - she's said she'd like the part, but someone involved in film itself pooh-poohed it I think..
Perhaps Maggie's character will appear to Batman like Marlon Brando/Jor-El
to Superman -- speaking to him as a phantom in the Batcave, with just the
giant head of Maggie/Rachel appearing before him?
for each - then Gordon asks Batman who he's going after..he says "Rachel"...
I think Dent mentions to his driver where he is going -- which I believe is
Rachel's address...? ...because he says he's going to see his girlfriend.
Also, now that I think about it, both times I thought it was strange Bruce said 'did I bring this upon her' as opposed to 'I let her die'. Former makes more sense if he had at least tried to save her, so regret was only in having putting her (and everyone else) at risk by pushing mob to point where they brought in the Joker.
Also, by referring to Dent as 'the best of us', and saying the Joker knew that, after Dent's charged them as responsible for Rachel's death, he could be referring to him going to save Rachel (selfishly) rather than Dent (selflessly) and the Joker having known that's what he'd do.
Hmm. So thought the scene was powerful for his sacrifice; but if he didn't, it was powerful for his humanity/flaws...
So opinion of film unchanged, happily. ;)
P.s. Re. Gyllenhall - her acting at the moment the (two-sided) penny dropped was great. But other than that was disappointed. Don't rate Holmes at all - still see Dawson's Creek every time she does that lopsided-smile-hair-tuck combo, so was delighted to hear Gyllenhaal was replacing her (loved her in Secretary). But too frothy in this. Shame...