The anarchist’s jokebook
First, the city would have to be in chaos. The rule of law should have broken down. Anarchy must reign in the streets. The criminal syndicates would have control of the economy. A small, embattled police force must defend the citizens against the ganglords and against their own cops.
Fortunately I am not describing Manila but Gotham, a city so sick that it needs a mysterious vigilante in a bat costume to patrol its streets at night. A society gets the heroes it deserves, and this hero is a freak.
Review of The Dark Knight in Emotional Weather Report, today in the Star.
Answers to questions you might be asking, unless you wandered onto this site purely by accident >>>
July 18th, 2008 at 16:57
I read your review of The Dark Knight. As I was reading it, I was reminded of Kurosawa’s film “Ran.” The film has a character who utters this line: “In a mad world, only the mad are sane.” The character says this of his boss, the daimyo Hidetora, who has gone insane. Of course, you know which character says that. He is the Fool; in other words (surprise!)– the Joker.
The last movie I saw in a theater was The Two Towers. After reading your review, I’d gladly shell out…umm, how much for a movie nowadays, I wonder. Well, it can’t be more than 500, right? Hehe (laughs nervously).
Anyway, I’d see it. I’d even ask my girlfriend to come watch it with me.
July 19th, 2008 at 09:52
I was surprised to find that you and David Denby (The New Yorker) used the same phrase “looked into the abyss” to describe Heath Ledger’s performance in the Dark Knight. That was uncanny!
July 19th, 2008 at 10:57
I saw it, you’re right, it’s a great movie! I thought I was going to watch a comic-book flick, but it was more than that, it was really top notch.
Somehow the Nolans have managed to weave together a lost hero, a golden boy, an insane clown, a love triangle, a mob of criminals, a cowardly accountant, a weaponsmith with a conscience, a wise and faithful butler and Gotham City to form a movie that, perhaps, tries to act like a mirror. The society is bleak, everyone is bitter, heroes are taken down, heroes lose hope, and every time some normal fella displays an occasional rash of courage and character we are surprised to the point of disbelief.
Now I have to go get a new pair of black tights.
July 19th, 2008 at 12:29
Rosy, the abyss line is actually from Nietzsche. When you look into the abyss, the abyss also looks into you. It’s frequently quoted when hunting serial killers.
July 19th, 2008 at 17:09
The best movie adaptation of a comic book. I keep repeating this to people who thinks the action “takes their breath away.” No, the action is suffocating. Denby actually calls it a “constant climax.” It’s not the Batman that will come to Gotham Southeast Asia, but The Joker. A principled criminal, much like Hannibal, who will bring chaos just so we can all be taught a lesson we will finally learn.
July 19th, 2008 at 17:10
As long as it’s in moderation, let me clean up the grammar:
The best movie adaptation of a comic book. I keep repeating this to people who think the action “takes their breath away.†No, the action is suffocating. Denby actually calls it a “constant climax.†It’s not the Batman that will come to Gotham Southeast Asia, but The Joker. A principled criminal, much like Hannibal, who will bring chaos just so we can all be taught a lesson we will finally learn.
July 22nd, 2008 at 07:30
^^ Oh the many times I used to fantasize, when I was younger, about doing pretty much the same sort of thing. When I saw the movie last Saturday, I thought I was looking at a version of myself, the one that could have happened if I actually acted out on those fantasies years ago.