The Dark Knight

Christopher Nolan: The Dark Knight (US 2008) with Christian Bale as Batman.

Yön ritari. US  © 2008 Warner Bros. D: Christopher Nolan. Based on the characters created by Bob Kane. DP: Wally Pfister – Digital Intermediate – 1:2,35 film print.
    C: Christian Bale (Bruce Wayne / Batman), Heath Ledger (The Joker), Aaron Eckhart (DA Harvey Dent / Two-Face), Michael Caine (Alfred), Maggie Gyllenhaal (Rachel Dawes), Gary Oldman (Gordon), Morgan Freeman (Lucius Fox).
    Viewed at Bristol, released by Sandrew, Finnish / Swedish subtitles by Timo Porri / Janne Staffans.

An obvious digital intermediate look, alas.

Already hailed by some as the film of the year. Certainly a strong fantasy film verging on horror, a picture that probes the vigilante theme, about the fascination of bypassing the legal instruments of justice. The cast is strong, but Heath Ledger stands out as the psychotic villain of pure evil.

The Tim Burton revival of the Batman world gave us Batman Returns, one of the greatest fantasy films ever.

Christopher Nolan consolidates his status as the great contender to Burton. His world is darker, more serious, better storywise; Burton is the greater creator of visual imagery.

Jack Nicholson created an outlandish Joker; Heath Ledger gives us one of the most frightening and disturbing monsters in film history.

A problem with all these films is their streak of sadism; we are invited to enjoy their joy of torture, disfigurement and destruction.

I recently saw again the complete Dirty Harry films; there is a significant parallel with Batman. Also the acknowledgement that the exposure to violence, even in the service of justice, is brutalizing.