RARA-AVIS: About that noir/ not noir script

From: Dick Lochte (dlochte@gmail.com)
Date: 28 Jul 2008

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    Prompted by all the hype in the world out there and in the confines of our noir-loving group, I went to see The Dark Knight. Quite a spectacle. Beautifully directed and photographed. But that script! Considering the overall purpose of this list, I'd assume that when it comes to movies or TV or comic books or whatever, our main interest would be in the writing or storytelling. But in the lengthy discussion of whether the film was or was not noir, I don't recall anybody saying anything about the overheated, underdeveloped, sometimes incomprehensible, repetitive and, worst of all, preachy script. How many times and in how many ways do we have to hear all that guff about Batman's negative effect on Gotham? We see it in the opening sequence, with the Batman wannabes getting in the way of the Scarecrow's arrest. Point made. Then we hear newscasters and the Joker and just about everybody chiming in on the plusses and minuses of having the Dark Knight on call.

    SPOILER ALERT

    And that finale with its endless salute to our hero's selflessness and bravery which comes right after the Batman's rubbing the Joker's nose in the basic goodness of the people of Gotham. Geeze. I'm guessing that Heath Ledger's death may have forced Christopher Nolan to shift things around at the end. But because of the incredible buildup of the Joker, to just leave him hanging from a building, laughing in defeat, seemed something of a letdown. I suppose the original plan could have been for him and the Batman to have had their final confrontation over Harvey Dent. Then, because of the situation, with the Batman being forced to go outlaw, it would have made sense for the Joker to have his last laugh. And the film could have gone out on a truly dark note.

    END OF SPOILER

    I also wonder what Nolan's reaction must have been when, with his movie presumably well underway, he sat down in a theater to see No Country For Old Men. At the very least he must have been impressed by the economy of having just one weird-looking unstoppable creator of chaos, the dark side of the hero, who used the flip of a coin to decide who lives and who dies.



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