On January 22, 2008, Heath Ledger died of an overdose at his home in New York. Those who haven't watched "The Dark Knight", I am afraid it is difficult to truly understand the meaning of this news.
This is not to say that the cause of Heath Ledger's death must have any direct connection with his performance in TDK, although this is one of the rumors on the ground.
This is not to say that Heath Ledger's performance in TDK has reached a height that shocks the world. Regarding acting, I have always kept in mind Maggie Cheung’s words: "Every time I look ugly, people say that I am good at acting." For an actor, a similar rule is probably "Every time I act neurotic, people say that I am acting. Good." Whether it is Wu Zhenyu or Huang Qiusheng, whether it is Anthony Hopkins or Russell Crowe, they have been practicing this proposition time and time again, and Heath Ledger is no exception. ——I don’t want to obliterate Heath Ledger’s performance in performance and the sensational enjoyment just because watching his performance itself. That is one of the most essential pleasures of watching movies. I just don’t want to. Because of his untimely death, his achievements are infinitely elevated. Although, if next year’s Oscar awards the nomination and even the statuette to him behind him, I will be very grateful.
What really makes me feel sentimental is his potential and ubiquitous talent in this film. He is so young, and in time, he will surely be among the greatest actors in history. But he died.
Going back to the movie itself, many people say that this is a joker movie. I can't agree at all. I would even say that Heath Ledger's overly gorgeous performance robbed the scene and made the main body of the movie look inferior. Or on the other hand, the real skeleton of this movie is not solid enough, which makes the whole movie weirdly lose its balance and flow into Heath Ledger's personal show.
If there is no joker, or a mediocre actor adopts a comic style acting, what is left of this film?
I think that in the director's intention, there are still a lot of metaphors and multi-layered pictures that need to be expressed. Whether it's the image of Harvey Dante's "two-faced man", the naked political references in the scene of the two yachts, or the theme that spans the entire film: Batman's rejection and sacrifice, these constitute the film. The connotation it should have. About the interweaving of light and darkness in the heart, about morality and depravity, about good and evil. Regrettably, all these propositions remain at the point-to-point level, and are more or less too straightforward philosophical arguments. Seeing Batman dial Harvey’s handsome face at the end, I said to my heart that this is too ingenious; seeing the black prisoner throw the bomb’s remote out of the window, I said in my heart, it’s too similar. It's a fable; when I saw Sheriff Gordon sing a hymn to Batman at the end, I said to my heart, this is too high and complete.
I admit that I was nitpicking. I even noticed that in the last scene, Sheriff Gordon's face was full of tears and sweat, but when he went downstairs to watch Batman leave, his face became too clean.
I'm just secretly regretting that this film is beyond people's imagination as a Batman movie, but after all, it still stays in the genre of comic movies, and failed to go further and enter the hall of great movies. Although, regardless of the depth of the theme or the weight of the cast, it was originally possible to achieve this step.
So let's take the second place and concentrate on watching Joker's radiant performance.
As for why I noticed so many irrelevant details, the answer is simple: cinema, IMAX version, twice.
——This is my only way to pay tribute, dedicated to Heath Ledger, the actor I have remembered since 10 things I hate about you ten years ago.
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