The
Law of averages applies to everyone doesn’t it?
Everybody screws up at some point of time just to even out the frequency
of their successes. Sportsmen have had a lean patch, actors have had movies
that have bombed at the box office, and even the greatest of directors have
floundered after having promised much. It is acceptable since we are human
after all, but yet that dreaded Law seems to avoid one man in particular (much
to our relief)–Christopher Nolan. He has never ceased to amaze us in all of his
ventures, a short filmography it may be and he has a long journey ahead (yay!
For that) yet never has a director in such a short span of time has promised us
so much and ended up delivering more than what was expected.
When
“Rises”, the final conclusion to The Dark Knight trilogy was announced three
years ago it had everyone’s curiosity and the moment when the trailers were
released, it had everyone’s attention. From contemplating who the villain would
be, to discussing what the Lazarus Pit was–a set-piece that was shot at Jodhpur,
movie geeks world over had been caught in a state of frenzy and mass hysteria
(Yours truly included) over the Caped Crusader’s final exploits. To sum it up
the hairs on the back of my neck have been standing for three long years. Having
mixed a bit of philosophy in the narrative of an enigmatic comic book hero, and
a score of such epic proportions that even the Greek Gods would want it to be
played in the background during a joust, Nolan’s Batman is not just a movie
character watching whom leaves us enthralled, but is also a source of
inspiration to live by the code “Give it your all, and ask for nothing in
return.”
Nolan
had taken a forgotten hero, a lost symbol of hope and courage who was caged
within the pages of comic books and had turned him into a pop culture
phenomenon. If the first part dealt with how Bruce Wayne becomes the Batman,
the second part tells us the story of Good versus Evil–the Evil residing within
everyone one of us, and one Clown who was hell bent on showing us that deep
down the world was as gory as the scars on his face.
“You
see, their morals, their code, it's a bad joke. Dropped at the first sign of
trouble. They're only as good as the world allows them to be. I'll show you.
When the chips are down, these... these civilized people, they'll eat each
other.”
The Joker proclaims, a villain with no code who wants to bring the
ugliness within people to surface. He
succeeds in bringing the dark side of Harvey Dent to the fore as he manipulates
the Savior of the masses to becoming a Villain, the hero the people believed in
turns into a deranged psychopath in search of vengeance. In the end after
Harvey’s death Batman takes the wrap for the crimes committed by Dent, a
decision which he justifies by saying :
“Sometimes
the truth isn't good enough. Sometimes people deserve more. Sometimes people
deserve to have their faith rewarded.”
He
becomes the fall guy to help the people of Gotham sustain their faith in Good, he
shields the people from getting a look at Harvey’s scarred side. He is whatever
Gotham needs him to be, the Vigilante becomes the Villain so that people keep
their faith on that pristine humane face of Harvey Dent–the White Knight. The
first two installments of The Dark Knight trilogy was more than a big budget
summer blockbuster, it could not be restricted to a specific genre, it was way
beyond all that, it was a philosophy, a spiritual journey that dealt with Hope,
Fear, Justice, Chaos–the third and final segment of which will deal with Pain.
I am
not going to review the movie as there are way better reviews
out there. I am still reeling from what I had watched last night, these could
only be termed as the after-effects of having watched something spectacular
unfold. All that belief, hope and anticipation that you had for three years culminates
into a three-hour smorgasbord of visuals, sounds and emotions that leaves your
heart and mind brimming with a staunch devotion to the man behind the Dark
Knight trilogy.
Christopher
Nolan may not fall in the league of Scorsese, Spielberg, or Kubrick–I for one
feel that he may also be left Oscar-less since those at the panel of the
Academy may dub him as nothing more than a manufacturer of summer blockbusters.
His stories may seem flawless when viewed first because the narrative is of
such gargantuan proportions and the stakes are so high that you never focus on
the finer details (Sample Inception which was a heist story not without its
flaws). He may not be a story-teller like the afore mentioned directors, you
cannot expect him to make a movie on genocide, or a drama on a married
couple whose marriage is on the rocks, or a down in the dumps boxer beating all odds and coming back to win
the title championship. A storyteller of that kind he may not be but he is something
more than that, he is a wizard Mr. Wayne. He knows how to get your hearts
racing, he knows how to get the crowd on its feet and clapping, for those three
hours within the movie hall all your attention belongs to him. You are left
mesmerized by the genius of Nolan. Pfft! Move over the Scorseses and the
Spielbergs, he doesn’t need to be in a league like that, he is in a league of his own! That isn’t to say that his style is all
shock and awe, hidden underneath those behemoth settings, behind all that carnage
that give a larger-than-life feel to it is the subtle truth, a one-liner that
serves as a punch line which has a deeper meaning to it that would make even Confucius
proud. In “The Dark Knight” all our questions regarding who the Joker was, and
what drove his actions, his motivation was answered with that one line by the wise Alfred.
“Some
men just want to watch the world burn.”
I had
been alien to the concept of Fanboyism in cinema (it’s a different story when
it comes to television) I am a movie geek but there hasn’t been any movie character
in recent times who has affected me the way in which Batman had. Be it his sense
of righteousness, he putting his life on the line to save his beloved Gotham, his
pain of having lost his loved one while blaming himself for the misfortune, Nolan’s
Batman is one of the most troubled cinematic heroes out there. He is more
human, he is flawed, he has his set of rules, he is all conquering, all
encompassing, yet he never makes himself to be bigger than the law. He makes us
believe that anyone can be a hero, even doing a little thing like putting a
coat over a kid’s shoulders and telling him everything is alright.
As the
days to the release neared, the excitement had reached a fever pitch. Display images
on Facebook and Twitter were changed, dialogues from those numerous teasers and
trailers were memorized by heart and spoken with that gruff Batman tone, the
trailers were watched/listened to umpteen number of times, t-shirts with Batman
prints were bought to wear for the occasion. With the world having shrunk
thanks to social media, notes were exchanged, links were pinged, endings were
discussed, leaked background scores were listened to just to keep the intensity
going. All of Bat-tards were united together to witness what would be the final
hurrah of the Dark Knight. As the lights went out, a hundred strangers in the hall
were brought together by their common love for a symbol of justice for which
they cheered. Heroes are for everyone, and everyone wants a
piece of a Hero. And as the lights came back and the end credits rolled we realized
that we had gotten the ending we needed, the ending The Dark Knight deserved.
While
narrating the story of a Hero, a saga that spanned seven years Christopher
Nolan took us on an emotional roller coaster ride, he told us the tale of a
Hero who transcended every race, religion and community the society was bound to and brought people the world over together. As the final words of this glorious chapter were written Nolan unbeknownst
to himself had grown on from being a Hero to a Legend.
Image Sources:
http://www.fanpop.com/spots/the-dark-knight/images/2861438/title/behind-scenes-with-joker-photo
Image Sources:
