The Dark Knight

Chapter 10 of The Art of Watching Films by Joseph M. Boggs and Dennis W. Petrie discusses the importance of acting, the goal of the actor, and how to "become the character." Heath Ledger certainly aced in each of those areas in Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight. The first paragraph of the chapter explains that when we consider going to a movie, we don't care who directed the movie, we care about who is in the movie. It's so true. If I like an actor or actress enough, I will go see the movie no matter what. The paragraph goes on to say that the work of an actor commands most of our attention, which is also very true. Hearing about Heath Ledger's preparation for joker and his death prior to the films release had many people thrilled to see the movie. Sadly, Batman (Christian Bale) wasn't the center of attention this time.

Chapter 10 also explains the goals an actor has in a movie. It reads "The ultimate goal of any actor should be to make us believe completely in the reality of the character." Ledger certainly did his homework to become the evil, horrifying villain in this movie. I believe Ledger put himself in the shoes of the villain so he could act out the role perfectly. Every time I see the movie, his creepy laugh gives me the goosebumps. I think that is amazing that an actor could do such a thing. The article "Film Review: The Dark Knight" by Sukdev Sandhu stated "It's rare in a blockbuster of this kind for the superhero to be only the second most important character." I agree, but I think it was for the best! Ledger had the ability to really relate to this character and he did so in a magnificent way. When describing the other actors in The Dark Knight, Sandhu said "None of them, in charisma or in sick, slick calculation, can hold a candle to the joker." The article also discussed Ledger's make up in the movie. "It focuses attention on his eyes which, when they're not gleaming with diabolical relish, are glazed, mournful, impossibly tired and old." Every time the joker explained how he got his scars, I took a better look at his make up and realized how much it added to his character.

Chapter 10 went on to discuss how to become the character. It reads "If an actor's goal is to obscure his or her own personality and to become another person on the screen, the actor must learn to behave reflexively and naturally as this new character." I think that Ledger acted so well with this personality, it almost seemed as if it was his true self! The article Ledger could earn a posthumous Oscar Nod compiled by Times Wires expressed the feelings of many people who worked with Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight. Director Christopher Nolan said "Working with Heath was absolutely marvelous. I think it's a real testament to his extraordinary ability that, when people see this film, they are so struck by the monstrous nature of this character." I believe that many people felt that way about Ledger's role. Nolan continued to say, "But anybody who knew him knew that he was utterly the opposite to that. I've worked for a long time with the performance, putting it together. It's very gratifying to me, at this point, to see that people are receiving it very much the way he intended it to come across." This goes to show that Ledger did have a very different personality from the joker, but was able to alter his own personality into something gruesome and scary.

Maggie Gyllenhaal, who played as Rachel Dawes in The Dark Knight, explained that the scene she did with him was very scary and full of tension, but had a blast shooting it with Ledger. Gary Oldman (James Gordon in the film) said "Whatever Heath channeled into, he's found something quite extraordinary. It's arguably one of the greatest screen villains I think I've ever seen." All of the cast Ledger worked with seemed to have the same views on his performance as the joker. I imagine that many viewers were astonished to see his acting talents in The Dark Knight.

The Dark Knight is an amazing movie with great sound effects, action, and wonderful actors and actresses playing the difficult roles. It was great to see two Oscar wins come out of the movie including Best Supporting Actor for Heath Ledger. I felt that all of the actors in this movie did a great job of relating to their characters with Ledger's performance being the most outstanding.

Times Wires, comp. "Ledger could earn a posthumous Oscar nod." 17 July 2008. Google. 22 Mar. 2009 http://www.tampabay.com/features/movies/article700901.ece.

Sandhu, Sukhdev. "Film Review: The Dark Knight." 12 Dec. 2008. Google. 22 Mar. 2009 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/filmreviews/3557106/Film-review-The-Dark-Knight.html.