| Category: | Movies | | Genre: | Cult |
DISCLAIMER: This is not actually a review since this is an upcoming film, but for the reason that my journal section is dedicated to entries regarding my art, I am posting this here instead.
After all the noise has died down and after consuming many glasses of red wine, here I am still switched on to my fangirl self. This has been triggered by a particular teaser Evan has shown me last Saturday, which of course, led to a series of research and finally this post which is meant to satisfy my excitement.
My being a Batman fan and my liking for Heath Ledger are fused into this:
Yes, it's finally showing on the summer of this year.
And that, my dears, is one of the major things to look forward to this 2008.
(Thanks to gulay guy Evan for sharing this.)
 The first time Katre told me the news that Heath Ledger was chosen by director Christopher Nolan for the role of Joker in "The Dark Knight" (the highly anticipated sequel to Batman Begins), I was stumped. It was just that I couldn't picture him acting that part which Jack Nicholson has so well portrayed in the 1989 movie with Michael Keaton. But then again, it could've been that I have just gotten used to Ledger's pretty boy image. Apparently, Nicholson wasn't happy with it either as can be seen in this snippet of his interview with MTV: MTV: What do you think of another actor, Heath Ledger, playing the Joker in next summer's "The Dark Knight"?
Nicholson: Let me be the way I'm not in interviews. I'm furious. I'm furious. [He laughs.] They never asked me about a sequel with the Joker. I know how to do that! Nobody ever asked me.
MTV: It was never brought up?
Nicholson: No. It's like, in any area, you can't believe the reasons things do or don't happen. Not asking me how to do the sequel is that kind of thing. Maybe it's not a mistake. Maybe it was the right thing, but to be candid, I'm furious.
MTV: I'm surprised to hear you sounding competitive about a role like that.
Nicholson: Well, the Joker comes from my childhood. That's how I got involved with it in the first place. It's a part I always thought I should play.
MTV: Will you see the new film?
Nicholson: I'm not inclined to watch it because of what I said. But if it's a good movie, I'll catch up with it somewhere. I don't think they ever really captured Tim Burton's spirit [since he stopped being involved]. They kind of drove the franchise into the ground. Tim Burton's a genius. He had the right take on it. That's why I did the movie. I did the movie based on a single conversation with him. We both come from the cartoon world originally. We had similar ideas. Tim said [the Joker] should have a humorous dark side to him. [Burton is] one of the great moviemakers. I think the world of him. He's the most unassuming man. And he doesn't feel pressure. That's what I love about him. Once he's in there, he's smiling making the movie. That's it!  According to the more keen fans, Tim Burton's Joker is a fantastical one as with his approach with all his Batman films while Nolan's is a more realistic one which sets Batman Begins apart from its predecessors. The Joker, Heath Ledger is to portray, is based on the Joker on Allan Moore's one-shot 1988 comic book The Killing Joke, which is said to be one of the darker Batman stories (which I must get my hands on and I hope Kuya Mike gives this to me as a late Christmas present. Hehehe!). It tells the Joker's tale and, as an article about it on Wikipedia states, it explores his origin and the hopelessness that believes his "evil clown" persona is effected toward adding more depth to the character. Here, the Joker serves as an unreliable narrator as he tells his story and his underlying motive to "illustrate the inherent insanity of Batman's mission: dressing up as a bat to fight criminals." You can read the rest of the article by clicking on this link. Michael Caine, who plays Alfred (Bruce Wayne's butler), has nothing but high praises for Ledger: “I tell you the big surprise in the new ‘Batman’ — Heath Ledger as the Joker,” Caine told reporters in New York Tuesday. “He’s fantastic. He’s gone in a different direction than Jack (Nicholson) … Jack was like a really scary old, nasty old uncle with a funny face. Heath is like the most murderous psychopath you’ve ever seen on the screen,” Caine said.
Ledger's is a menacing Joker described to have gray skin with horrible scarring, which is far different from the old clown-like Joker with smooth, perfectly white skin (I'm sure we, Batman fans, are all gonna miss that though). Meanwhile, here is Heath Ledger's statement when asked to discuss the process of getting himself into the mindset of acting as the Joker: "It's a combination of reading all the comic books I could that were relevant to the script and then just closing my eyes and meditating on it. I sat around in a hotel room in London for about a month, locked myself away, formed a little diary and experimented with voices - it was important to try to find a somewhat iconic voice and laugh. I ended up landing more in the realm of a psychopath - someone with very little to no conscience towards his acts. He's just an absolute sociopath, a cold-blooded, mass-murdering clown, and Chris has given me free rein. Which is fun, because there are no real boundaries to what The Joker would say or do. Nothing intimidates him, and everything is a big joke."Inspite all the hearsays, may it be bashing or high hopes that The Dark Knight is going to f-ing rule, I'm just gonna have to keep myself from getting all too excited and not to expect anything. It's better to receive this upcoming film with a clean slate. Afterall, the trick is to not stick too much to Nicholson's interpretation of the Joker and just see how Nolan's turns out. Compare if you must after the new Batman movie comes out. Sure there could have been other actors who could have better fit the role features-wise, but biases aside, Heath Ledger's homicidal psychopath rendition of the Joker might just surprise us all once The Dark Knight hits the big screen. Thus I am ending this post by letting the fangirl in me scream her lungs out: I must get tickets to the premier of The Dark Knight by hook or by crook!
And despite Heath Ledger's make-up, making him a sort of weird version of The Crow with green hair and red lipstick... I still say he's one hell of a gorgeous evil clown.  | Heath Ledger as The Joker! Yes, I know it would work!
Looking forward for this movie since last year. Wow. :0 |
 | Really looking forward to this one. I'm such a fan of Batman, I still need to add The Batman Begins to my DVD collection and yet another one coming. Watching it in silverscreen ain't just enough for me, haha! |
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Heath Ledger as The Joker! Yes, I know it would work!