Annotated Catalogue

How does Christopher Nolans Batman differ from other interpretations of the character/film?

Annotated Catalogue

Films
Item 1: The Dark Knight (2008) (Christopher Nolan, focus film 1)
'The Dark Knight' is the second film in Nolans' Batman trilogy. This film is my first focus film because it offers a more up to date interpretation of the Batman franchise. This trilogy is the latest instalment of the Batman franchise and 'The Dark Knight' was the most anticipated movie of the year. I have chosen to use 'The Dark Knight' as my focus film to answer my question because this is the middle film of Nolan’s trilogy and strings together a lot of the story. The cast and characters of this film are easily compared to the characters of other Batman films because they are all in other films. This film offers a more realistic interpretation of the source comic book material. This film is substantially more modern and almost hyper-real in the way that it brings to light real issues in the real world. For example there are aspects of terrorism and political issues which makes this film more relatable and closely linked with the times in which it was made. In some respects, this film is philosophical. It has deep meaning in the way that it focuses on the actions of people and the affect it has on the world - it is like Nolan is giving out a message that the real world needs a hero like Batman. 

Item 2: Batman (1989) (Tim Burton, focus film 2)
Tim Burton’s 'Batman' is my second focus film because it is a good comparison to Nolans 'Dark Knight'. Burton’s Batman was the darkest of the 'Batman' franchise and Nolan has notably been influenced by it. This is my second focus film because it is very easily compared to Nolans 'Batman' as they are similar in the way each director approached to films. This was the first 'Batman' film to offer a darker, more gothic feel, probably due to the auteur technique of Tim Burton. Another notable comparison between the films is Burtons Joker compared to Nolans Joker. The scars on Burtons Jokers face are very unrealistic, very surreal and clearly fake, they are not very believable and they leave a lot to be desired. However, the scars on Nolans Jokers face are more realistic in the way that they are not as heavily made up and they don't look fake and unbelievable. Nolans Joker is very much a realistic and is notably more humanised than Burtons Joker. 

Item 3: Batman and Robin (1997) (Joel Schumacher, focus film 3)
Joel Schumachers 'Batman and Robin' is my third focus film because it is very different to the other two films. This is not a dark and gothic take on the franchise, it is "purely entertainment" [Source ]. This is easily compared to my other two films because of the different interpretation of the film making the characters and situations into a very camp style. Schumacher even took the originally smart, formidable character of Bane and turned him into a cave-man-esque caricature which is a far cry from Tom Hardy's performance in Nolans 'Dark Knight Rises'. I will use this to compare with because it offers a different style of film making. It uses bright colours as opposed to the dark tones that Nolan and Burton used. This gives the film are more comic book feel to it and also gives it a camp, cheesy feel to it in the way that  it is entertaining. This focus film was regarded as an insult to the 'Batman' franchise, whereas the others were this. This will make a good focus point in my discussion. 

Magazines
Item 4: Total Film Magazine issue 198 October 2012 (interview with Tim Burton)
In this interview, Burton says that when he made his Batman, the dark gothic style of it was almost too much but when he looks at Nolans Batman now, he thinks how tame his work is and how much more boundary pushing it could have been. He realised how, at the time, his work was very 'out there' and controversial but now it is not as the audience has been desensitised. and refers to it as 'Batman on ice' because it is constantly changing and constantly out doing the previous one. This is good because it shows that Batman is forever changing and developing. This interview is useful as it offers Burtons opinion about his movie and the other directors movies. This shows Burtons perspective and offers an insight into his thoughts. 

Item 5: Total Film Magazine issue 194 July 2012
This discusses a comparison of sorts between every Batman film that's been made. It offers reviews about each film, and says that The Dark Knight had large boots to fill, but managed it with ease. I will be using this because it offers different arguments for each film, for example, there is a table on page 78 that shows how much each 'Batman' film made; 'The Dark Knight': $1,001,921,825, 'Batman': $411,348,924, 'Batman returns': $266,822,354, 'Batman Forever': $336,529, 144, 'Batman and Robin': $238,207,122 and 'Batman Begins': $372,710,015. It also gives another Tim Burton article in which, again, Burton says that Batman broke new boundaries and that Nolans Dark Knight was ground breaking in the way that The Dark Knight is a graphic novel film as opposed to a comicbook movie. The Dark Knight features themes such as terrorism and morals, and is very dark and features a character that is associated with being 'an outlaw'.

Interviews
Item 6: Christopher Nolan Interview (http://movies.about.com/od/thedarkknight/a/darkknight70408.htm)
In this interview, Nolan tells how he admires Burtons 'Batman' and appreciates that at the time it was made, Burtons 'Batman' was ground breaking and an entirely new level of the dark and mysterious 'Batman'. This is useful because Nolan goes on to say how Burton was an influence and inspiration on him in the way that he wanted his Batman to be dark too. It is also useful because it offers comparison as both directors' Batman characters are similar but have their respective differences. Nolan says how he wanted to make his Batman dark and intriguing and mysterious as Burtons Batman, if not more so. Nolan also says that he thinks his Batman is a slightly more surreal interpretation. This interview shows Nolan appreciates Burtons Batman as much as Burton does Nolans Batman and also shows why his Dark Knight was developed to keep up with the dark mood for contempory audiences.

Item 7: Interview with Michael Keaton
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ruJ3mq6CrLc
This is a YouTube clip of an interview with Michael Keaton. This is useful because it gives an insider’s opinion on his Batman film, for example, Michael Keaton says in response to the statement that Batman was the biggest thing either of them had done in their several years in the show business, Keaton says 'nothing is bigger than this one' and Burton says: 'i've been in the show business 35-40 years and this is the biggest thing i've ever gone'. They both offer reasons why they enjoyed being part of Batman, they mention that being in England was one of the best parts of being in the film, and Keaton says he was 'pretty knocked out by the enormity of it' which supports my question because it gives insight into Burtons Batman in the way that Burtons Batman was 'groundbreaking'.

Item 8: This is an interview with Tim Burton
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q87kv6CpyOM
Interview with Tim Burton about his Batman film. This clip shows Burton talking about why he made the film the way he did, dark, gothic and considerably different to how the franchise was presented in the comics, TV shows and previous older films, and what influenced him. This shows Burtons creative thinking behind his Batman film and what thought processes went into making it. Burton says that 'it needed a different energy' and 'doing it in a different place and with different people helped to create a different feel' and 'there's something about these characters that's very compelling in the world of night and the coolness of it'. Burton makes clear that he wanted to give the Batman franchise a 'different energy', and did so in his trademark way.

Reviews
Item 9: Review of Burtons Batman and Schumachers Batman
http://www.filmschoolrejects.com/features/how-tim-burton-and-joel-schumacher-took-a-visionary-approach-to-batman-lpalm.php
This website offers a comparison between Burtons Batman and Schumachers Batman and Robin. It goes into detail about how successful each film was and the difference between both. Schumachers Batman and Robin had a very camp feel to, it was very comicbook and colourful and cheesy, it was very much entertainment whereas Burtons Batman was very dark and gothic and very surreal, Burton is very much an Auteur and this is made evident in his Batman as majority of his other films are also dark and surreal. It also offers comparison between Burtons other films as well as Batman. It also says how Schumacher didn't carry on from Burtons gothic Batman and instead went in an entirely different direction with it. This is good because it offers another different opinion about the Batman films and compares Burton and Schumacher.

Item 10: Video comparing Batman Begins to The Dark Knight
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=x-jZwnczTmI
(Fan video comparing Nolans Batman Begins and The Dark Knight - excuse the bad language)
This YouTube video shows a man, that is a big Batman fan and movie buff, giving his opinion on Nolans first two Batman Films. He compares the story, villains and action in both the films and gives his opinion on which he prefers. I can use this because it is another person’s opinion on The Dark Knight and it offers different arguments for different elements of the film. This is useful as it offers a different insight into the the films from a modern, contempory fan that appreciated Nolans approach to the character and praises him.

Item 11: Review of Joel Schumachers Batman and Robin
http://viewerscommentary.wordpress.com/2012/04/20/special-review-batman-robin-joel-schumacher-and-the-inevitable-taco-bell-analogy/
This review supports Schumachers Batman and Robin by offering arguments in Schumachers favour, these arguments defend Schumachers choice to return the franchise to it's original cheesy, colourful, comicbook feel. This offers explanation for what Schumacher did and his reasoning. His reasoning was that he wanted to put 'style over substance' and quoting the review: 'There was no way that Joel Schumacher was aiming to be anywhere near a serious tone for Batman & Robin.' becuase he wanted to film to be more like the comicbook it originated from. It also shows that not everyone had an opposed view of the film and that some people liked Schumachers entertainment value.

Item 12: Film review of Schumachers Batman and Robin
http://www.cornponeflicks.org/batrobin.html
This is a review that doesn’t support Schumachers Batman and Robin. This talks about how Schumacher didn’t take the Batman franchise seriously enough and that he should never have made the film. It talks about how it wasn’t just Schumachers fault that 'Batman and Robin' was so bad but that he should have known better. Among this, there were multiple reasons the film was a failure, for example, viewers opposed the costuming - the rubber nipples for example and they also opposed the way that Schumacher took away Banes villainous masculinity and made him weak and stupid - he posed no threat to Batman during the film. This displeased Batman fans because Bane was the complete opposite in the comicbooks and Schumacher ridiculed him.

Pictures
Item 13:
Image of Nolans Batman taken from Google Images
Image of Nolans Batman web-address
This poster shows all the villains in Nolans Batman. This helps to answer my question because Nolans Batman had the most villains in his films than the other Batman films did. This supports the views on Nolans Batman Trilogy as Nolans three films are the films with the most real threat and suspense and the characters are the most realistic and offer more from the films.

Item 14:
Image of Schumachers Batman taken from Google Images
Image of Schumachers Batman and Robin web-address
This shows Jim Carey as The Riddler and Tommy Lee Jones as Two Face. This is Schumachers interpretation of two Batman villains. This is comparable to Nolans Batman because Two Face is also in Nolans Dark Knight. This explores the portrayal of the character as it is comparable to Nolans Batman picture and Burtons Batman picture. These images offer a chance to reflect on the mood of each film by looking at an image of the films and it also shows how Schumachers is so marginally different to the others.

Item 15:
Picture of Nolan taken from Google Images
Image of Nolan web-address

Item 16:
Image of Burtons Batman taken from Google Images
Image of Burtons Batman web-address
This is an image of Burtons Batman and The Joker. This is comparable to Nolans Batman because The Joker is one of the most important villains in The Dark Knight. I am able to compare not only the performances of the actors, Heath Ledger and Jack Nicholson but also the interpretation. The interpretation of both films are very dangerous and murderous. Burtons Joker is closer to the comics in the way he heavily relies on pranks and jokes and his make up is more comicbook-esque. Nolans Joker is a sociopath who simply enjoys killing. Both directors Jokers have different relationships with Batman - Burtons Joker wants Batman dead at any cost, whereas Nolans Joker is more psychological and recognises that he needs Batman as a protagonist to get what he wants.

Youtube clips

Item 17: YouTube clip of Schumacher
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iy4Pg1GRT2c
Schumacher apologises for his ‘disappointing’ Batman and Robin film.  This is a YouTube clip that shows Schumachers remorse for his film and shows that he isn’t happy that it didn’t get the response he was hoping for. This shows the real extent of the fans disappointment in the film compared to the love the fans have for the other films. This is made clear by the fact that Nolan is winning oscars and other awards while Schumacher got nothing of the sort.

Item 18: Interview with Heath Ledger
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acf_zzzIZQw
Ledger talks about his performance as the Joker, he mentions Burtons film and Nolans film, he mentions that if it’d have been Burton to ask him to play the Joker, he’d have said no, because he didn’t feel capable of reaching the standard that Jack Nicholson set. He says that when Nolan asked him to play the Joker, he jumped at the chance to put his interpretation of the Joker out into the world. He also says that he was not a comic book fan until this film. This also shows how the feel of the film and the character are very far from the comicbook origins.

Item 19: Clip of Heath Ledger as the Joker
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8PxG5zvgOM
This shows Ledgers award winning performance as the Joker in Nolans Dark Knight. This is relevant because it shows how Ledger and Nolan worked together to create an entirely new interpretation of the Joker. This is to show that, like Jack Nicholson and Tim Burton, Nolan and Ledger worked together to create a ground breaking performance.

Item 20: Clip of Batman and Two Face in The Dark Knight
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJma8pVAvH4
This shows Christian Bales performance as Batman when he comes up against one of the villains; Two Face. This is relevant because it shows Nolans interpretation of Batman and shows how he and Bale worked together, like Nolan and Ledger did, to recreate Batman.

Books

Item 21: Burton On Burton (Book)

This is useful because it offers insight into Burton, it shows his thoughts behind his films and his inspiration, it offers a chance to understand Burtons style and artistic process and also it shows that there is a method to his film-making in the way that Burton could be described as an auteur, because majority of his films are stylistically similar to each other. He talks about all the films he has made and he mentions Batman. This explains why he made Batman and how he wanted it to look and that he wanted to make a new interpretation of Batman. It also allows an insight into the way he makes his film and also he talks about his motives and thoughts.

DISCARDED ITEMS.

• Leslie H. Martinson’s 1966 Batman film starring Adam West as Batman, based on the TV Program about Batman. Clip of 1960's Batman. I didn't use this film because it wasn't very modern and my other films are quite similar in the time they were made and their style.
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yp94gmtVTfs Christopher Nolan interview this is not useful because I already have interviews with Christopher Nolan that have the same content as this interview. This talks about Batman and his personality and reasoning for becoming the Dark Knight. This was similar to Item 6 and therefore didn't feel the need to use it as Item 6 was more useful and informative.
• http://www.dccomics.com/batman This is the DC Comics website, it shows Batman through the years. I didn't use this because it doesn't refer to any of the directors I am writing about.
• The Complete Frank Miller Batman. This book didn't really offer anything of use to me because my work is nothing to do with Frank Miller, although he did write Batman comics. I felt that I could use other items better than this one.
• Website comparing statistics between Nolans Batman and Burtons Batman although this website compares Nolans Batman and Burtons Batman, the films are compared by how many tickets they sold when they came out. This is useful but it doesn't really relate to my work, so I didn't use it. I felt that the other book, Item 21, was more informative and actually relevant to my work as Item 21 is about Burton - one of the directors of one of my focus films.