How Dark the Knight

The Dark Knight was definitely my favorite film this year. I was had a desire to be a professional filmmaker. At some point in my very early 20's I realized that I lacked some of the determination, and perhaps innate skill, to make a successful go of it. I still love film, and I enjoy getting a filmmaker's perspective on the choices they make in the production process.

There is no question about Christopher Nolan's technical skill as a director. The Dark Knight was an extraordinary crescendo of action and feeling that left me thinking about it for days. I thought the themes in the movie, while dark, were well worth thinking about.

In this piece, from an L.A. Times blog post, Nolan revisits one scene from the film, his favorite, and if you enjoyed the movie you may like what he has to say. An excerpt:

Christian and I had talked a lot on "Batman Begins" about finding a moment in that film where you actually worry that Batman will go too far. A moment where his rage might spill over and he would break his rules. We never found that moment. It just wasn’t there in that story. There was a lot of strength and aggression in the way he played the part, but I don’t think the story provided that element of losing control. What the Joker provides in the second film is the fact that his entire motivation is to push people’s buttons and find their rules set and it turn it on itself. And Batman of course places such importance on his rules, his morals. It’s what distinguishes him, in his mind, from a common vigilante. The Joker is able to twist him around and make him question his own approach and his own actions.