Batman (1989)
Directed by Tim Burton
Featuring: Michael Keaton | Jack Nicholson | Kim Basinger | Billy Dee Williams | Jack Palance | Robert Wuhl | Michael Gough |
Directed by Tim Burton
Featuring: Michael Keaton | Jack Nicholson | Kim Basinger | Billy Dee Williams | Jack Palance | Robert Wuhl | Michael Gough |
Batman: The Animated Series was my introduction to Batman as a kid, but Batman (1989) was my first live-action Batman film experience. I viewed it on a small TV through a VHS rental. I thought it was fantastic at the time, and to this day it remains one of my favorite films. I was rarely able to see it while growing up, so each time I watched it I did so closely to make sure I never missed a detail. I would hum composer Danny Elfman's Batman march for days afterwards to keep it fresh in my mind. This movie more than any other bears a huge nostalgia factor for me.
That said, I never really noticed until recent years the sheer depth and magnificence of the film's imagery. I think that because so much of the film is big and bold, viewers often overlook the subtleties of the presentation. What's remarkable is that for a film that was (to some extent) constructed on the fly, with a script changing and progressing during the filming process, the movie bears a fantastic thematic coherence. It is clear that, even in segments which were last minute rewrites (such as the finale!), the overarching vision of Tim Burton and the scriptwriters governed and guided the film to success. Its a story that never loses its way, precisely because the filmmakers understand the archetypes and imagery involved so well that it can't lose its way. No small feat, that.
The film opens with the camera sweeping through a huge, oddly angled structure. Its not immediately obvious what it is, until the camera pans back to reveal the bat symbol. To say that symbol is iconic would be an understatement. In '89 it was partly responsible for creating "batmania" across the world - an extraordinary level of hype for a film. That symbol was everywhere. Its simple, evocative, powerful, and elegant.
Elfman's Batman theme is still the most recognizable for the character. Elfman has admitted in the past that the theme is partly inspired by Bernard Hermann's soundtrack to Journey to the Center of the Earth. Listen to 0:38 - 1:22 below for an example.
That said, I never really noticed until recent years the sheer depth and magnificence of the film's imagery. I think that because so much of the film is big and bold, viewers often overlook the subtleties of the presentation. What's remarkable is that for a film that was (to some extent) constructed on the fly, with a script changing and progressing during the filming process, the movie bears a fantastic thematic coherence. It is clear that, even in segments which were last minute rewrites (such as the finale!), the overarching vision of Tim Burton and the scriptwriters governed and guided the film to success. Its a story that never loses its way, precisely because the filmmakers understand the archetypes and imagery involved so well that it can't lose its way. No small feat, that.
The film opens with the camera sweeping through a huge, oddly angled structure. Its not immediately obvious what it is, until the camera pans back to reveal the bat symbol. To say that symbol is iconic would be an understatement. In '89 it was partly responsible for creating "batmania" across the world - an extraordinary level of hype for a film. That symbol was everywhere. Its simple, evocative, powerful, and elegant.
Elfman's Batman theme is still the most recognizable for the character. Elfman has admitted in the past that the theme is partly inspired by Bernard Hermann's soundtrack to Journey to the Center of the Earth. Listen to 0:38 - 1:22 below for an example.
The rest of the tune was composed on an airplane, with Elfman making trips to the bathroom to hum the theme into a voice recorder every time he got a new idea. The producers were skeptical about hiring Elfman - they wanted the musician Prince to compose the whole score - but when Burton and Elfman showed them the Batman theme they were sold.
The main theme is characterized by six notes: a four note minor key ascent and a two note major key descent. Not only does it subvert the listeners expectations by not quite building to a heroic crescendo, it also expresses the interruptive force of the Batman persona - Bruce Wayne is really two people, a "duality" as he calls it in the sequel, and this two-movement theme captures that well. As such, I have to say its a lot more nuanced and thought out than Hans Zimmer's two-note ascent theme for the character, which could be (and has been) used for just about any other character (the "theme" appears frequently, for example, in the Transformers film scores). Elfman's theme not only influenced Shirley Walker's haunting theme for the animated series, but also Eliot Goldenthal's theme for the Schumacher films (which features a similar minor ascent and major descent).
The opening titles present what is possibly the darkest rendition of the theme, rivaled only by the "Descent into Mystery" track which plays as the Batman brings Vicki Vale to the Batcave in his Batmobile. The Batman Returns (1992) opening titles feature a more peppy, energized version of the march, lightened a bit by a fairy-tale-ish choir. Some Elfman fans prefer one opening title track over the other. For me personally, I like both for what they are. I don't think they need to be pitted against one another.
The main theme is characterized by six notes: a four note minor key ascent and a two note major key descent. Not only does it subvert the listeners expectations by not quite building to a heroic crescendo, it also expresses the interruptive force of the Batman persona - Bruce Wayne is really two people, a "duality" as he calls it in the sequel, and this two-movement theme captures that well. As such, I have to say its a lot more nuanced and thought out than Hans Zimmer's two-note ascent theme for the character, which could be (and has been) used for just about any other character (the "theme" appears frequently, for example, in the Transformers film scores). Elfman's theme not only influenced Shirley Walker's haunting theme for the animated series, but also Eliot Goldenthal's theme for the Schumacher films (which features a similar minor ascent and major descent).
The opening titles present what is possibly the darkest rendition of the theme, rivaled only by the "Descent into Mystery" track which plays as the Batman brings Vicki Vale to the Batcave in his Batmobile. The Batman Returns (1992) opening titles feature a more peppy, energized version of the march, lightened a bit by a fairy-tale-ish choir. Some Elfman fans prefer one opening title track over the other. For me personally, I like both for what they are. I don't think they need to be pitted against one another.
After the opening title, we get a panorama shot of Gotham City. I love Gotham city in this movie. It was mostly designed by Anton Furst, who pulled from a variety of resources and inspirations to give the city a dark multi-cultural, cluttered, crowded look. The city is covered in perpetual smog, its streets are trashy, and it frequently looks like it has just rained. Most of Gotham was built on a soundstage for this film but to me it has always looked believable and lived in. Apparently Furst wanted the city to look like hell on earth.
Parts of the city design were derived from the old German expressionist film Metropolis (1927), which features (among other things) a ginormous structure termed the "Tower of Babel" and a character called "the Whore of Babylon." These figures are archetypes of fallenness and wicked human pride in the Bible, where they appear at the beginning (Genesis) and end (Revelation) respectively. Both figures are antitheses of the Garden of Eden, a paradise of perfection and flourishing from which humanity was exiled after disobeying God's command. In Metropolis these images are used to evoke the sense of a wicked city forged through the suffering and death of innocents and workers. Burton draws on these archetypes by association. Gotham is sort of Babel, a microcosm of the fallen world ruled by evil, an oppressive and corrupt place. Some more religious imagery pops up in this film and in its successor, Batman Returns (1992). More on that later.
The opening scene is inspired by a similar scene in 'Night of the Stalker' (Detective Comics #439, March 1974). We see two parents and their young son wandering the street. The father tries desperately to hail a cab, to no avail. The family is lost, and trying not to look that way. They stick out like a sore thumb. The actors here do a great job, because you can really feel their anxiety. They head down an ominous alleyway. The viewer gets the sense that they are very much like the Wayne family long ago. Perhaps even a comic book reader expects them to be the Waynes on a first viewing. They get mugged, and the woman screams...
We get our first shot of "Batman" overhead, on a balcony. Its actually an animation of the caped crusader - glaringly so. Its one of the worst shots in the film, unfortunately. One of those things where the idea is great but the execution... less so.
We cut to the crooks on the rooftop. One of them is rummaging through their spoils while the other nervously looks around. See, there was this guy who ran into the "bat" and fell off a roof to his death, the nervous guy says. Maybe they shouldn't have turned the gun on the kid, he says. Its a great buildup, because it not only shows the legend of Batman is taking hold, but it also emphasizes that he's a protector of the helpless. This criminal knows it. The kid is innocent, defenseless. You don't turn your gun on a kid. Batman will throw you off a roof.
As Batman is famous for saying in the comics, "criminals are a cowardly and superstitious lot." Here we see that superstition taking hold.
The opening scene is inspired by a similar scene in 'Night of the Stalker' (Detective Comics #439, March 1974). We see two parents and their young son wandering the street. The father tries desperately to hail a cab, to no avail. The family is lost, and trying not to look that way. They stick out like a sore thumb. The actors here do a great job, because you can really feel their anxiety. They head down an ominous alleyway. The viewer gets the sense that they are very much like the Wayne family long ago. Perhaps even a comic book reader expects them to be the Waynes on a first viewing. They get mugged, and the woman screams...
We get our first shot of "Batman" overhead, on a balcony. Its actually an animation of the caped crusader - glaringly so. Its one of the worst shots in the film, unfortunately. One of those things where the idea is great but the execution... less so.
We cut to the crooks on the rooftop. One of them is rummaging through their spoils while the other nervously looks around. See, there was this guy who ran into the "bat" and fell off a roof to his death, the nervous guy says. Maybe they shouldn't have turned the gun on the kid, he says. Its a great buildup, because it not only shows the legend of Batman is taking hold, but it also emphasizes that he's a protector of the helpless. This criminal knows it. The kid is innocent, defenseless. You don't turn your gun on a kid. Batman will throw you off a roof.
As Batman is famous for saying in the comics, "criminals are a cowardly and superstitious lot." Here we see that superstition taking hold.
The great part of this scene is that Batman actually shows up while the two goons are talking. We see him arrive in the background like some shadowy monster. In Batman Begins, director Christopher Nolan utilizes smash cuts and musical stings to create a slasher movie vibe when Batman first encounters criminality in the Narrows. Here, Burton goes for something more elemental, something that feels born out of the old Hammer monster films. Its a quiet, building horror, the approach of a vampiric figure. Its like the approaching shadow of Nosferatu (1922). Criminals use the fear of brutality against the innocent. They intimidate by physical threat. Keaton's Batman deploys a different kind of fear against them, something more psychological. Something they can't threaten. Something spectral, that physical weapons can't affect. Nolan's Batman focuses more on shock tactics, disorienting his foes by popping up out of nowhere. Here Burton's Batman focuses more on building a supernatural presence.
I'm not saying Burton's Batman is necessarily better than Nolan's because of that distinction. Both are drawing from the comics in their interpretation. But there's a considerable difference nonetheless.
Keaton's batsuit looks great, even if the cowl is sometimes ill-fitting. He flaps his wings a few times like some unholy creature and the thugs on the roof pretty much crap their pants.
I'm not saying Burton's Batman is necessarily better than Nolan's because of that distinction. Both are drawing from the comics in their interpretation. But there's a considerable difference nonetheless.
Keaton's batsuit looks great, even if the cowl is sometimes ill-fitting. He flaps his wings a few times like some unholy creature and the thugs on the roof pretty much crap their pants.
There's a quick fight scene. Batman throws one goon through a wooden door, and wraps a line around the leg of the other one and drags him across the roof. There's an odd bit of editing where he drags the goon a bit, then looks at him really hard, then drags him some more. I'm not sure what that was about.
But then he picks the goon up and holds him over the side of the building, threatening to drop him to the ground below. The goon wails out "What are you?"
"I'm Batman."
Keaton doesn't deliver that line like Christian Bale, with a harsh growl intended to strike fear. He doesn't deliver it with a sort of matter-of-fact ambivalence like George Clooney. He delivers that line with a cold conviction. You not only believe this guy is Batman, but you believe that he believes he's Batman. This isn't just a persona for Bruce Wayne. This is who he is, deep down.
Afterwards, the goons are loaded into an ambulance, moaning about a giant bat. Which tickles Alexander Knox, a reporter on the scene, who may be the only reporter in all of Gotham who believes in or is even interested in these "Batman" sightings. He's stonewalled by a rotund, grizzled detective named Erkhart. Its a nice scene that establishes that Batman isn't really well known yet, he's still a myth. A really scary myth.
But then he picks the goon up and holds him over the side of the building, threatening to drop him to the ground below. The goon wails out "What are you?"
"I'm Batman."
Keaton doesn't deliver that line like Christian Bale, with a harsh growl intended to strike fear. He doesn't deliver it with a sort of matter-of-fact ambivalence like George Clooney. He delivers that line with a cold conviction. You not only believe this guy is Batman, but you believe that he believes he's Batman. This isn't just a persona for Bruce Wayne. This is who he is, deep down.
Afterwards, the goons are loaded into an ambulance, moaning about a giant bat. Which tickles Alexander Knox, a reporter on the scene, who may be the only reporter in all of Gotham who believes in or is even interested in these "Batman" sightings. He's stonewalled by a rotund, grizzled detective named Erkhart. Its a nice scene that establishes that Batman isn't really well known yet, he's still a myth. A really scary myth.
We're introduced in the next scene to District Attorney Harvey Dent, a politician who describes himself as a "man of few words." Someone should call Knox to the scene to report on another mythological creature sighting.
Harvey pledges to put an end to organized crime in Gotham, and to take down Boss Carl Grissom. Of course, Harvey doesn't actually accomplish anything at all in this movie, he's only here to remind us that one day he becomes Two-Face, and we'll never get to see that performance, so he's basically a glorified extra. See the other guy in the above picture? The one who looks really sleepy? That's Jim Gordon. He accomplishes zilch also. I'm not really sure why these guys are in the movie, other than to show how inept Gotham's "long arm of the law" is.
Harvey pledges to put an end to organized crime in Gotham, and to take down Boss Carl Grissom. Of course, Harvey doesn't actually accomplish anything at all in this movie, he's only here to remind us that one day he becomes Two-Face, and we'll never get to see that performance, so he's basically a glorified extra. See the other guy in the above picture? The one who looks really sleepy? That's Jim Gordon. He accomplishes zilch also. I'm not really sure why these guys are in the movie, other than to show how inept Gotham's "long arm of the law" is.
Jack Napier, Carl Grissom's top hitman, watches Harvey on the telly and has a good chuckle over his speech, indicating that he too knows Gotham's finest are utterly worthless. He's chilling with his bosses' girlfriend, Alicia, who he clearly doesn't keep around for the stimulating conversations... he treats everything she says as if its sheer stupidity.
He goes to preen in a mirror. This bit might seem irrelevant at first blush, but it actually is really important. First, the mirror motif appears several times in the film, and is meaningful each time. More on that later. Second, in the dialogue his girl says "you look fine," to which Jack snarls "I didn't ask." In other words, he wasn't looking in the mirror because he's in any way insecure about his appearance. He was looking because he knows he looks good. This guy is a grade A narcissist (so is Alicia, judging by the portraits hanging throughout the apartment). If this was the modern day I suspect his Facebook page would be covered by selfies. At any rate, this scene establishes his whole arc throughout the rest of the film (yes, despite what some might lead you to believe, Joker does get an arc!).
He goes to preen in a mirror. This bit might seem irrelevant at first blush, but it actually is really important. First, the mirror motif appears several times in the film, and is meaningful each time. More on that later. Second, in the dialogue his girl says "you look fine," to which Jack snarls "I didn't ask." In other words, he wasn't looking in the mirror because he's in any way insecure about his appearance. He was looking because he knows he looks good. This guy is a grade A narcissist (so is Alicia, judging by the portraits hanging throughout the apartment). If this was the modern day I suspect his Facebook page would be covered by selfies. At any rate, this scene establishes his whole arc throughout the rest of the film (yes, despite what some might lead you to believe, Joker does get an arc!).
Jack meets up with Ekhart in an alleyway (surprise, surprise, Ekhart's corrupt!). They clearly don't like each other and they threaten one another, with Jack talking big about how one day he'll be in charge and Ekhart should "look to the future." Jack cackles his way through the scene, showing that he's already a bit like the Joker in that he enjoys threatening people a wee bit too much.
His arc in this film isn't that he suffers tragic facial scarring and then becomes a homicidal maniac. He's always been psychopathic, but that insanity has been somewhat restrained by his vanity and lust for power. He wants to be respected, to be the guy on top. He wants to be like Carl Grissom. When he is betrayed by Grissom and falls into the vat of chemicals, it shifts his perspective on his ambitions. Now he'll never be respected in that way - he looks like a clown. But dammit, he'll make people respect him, he'll put his face everywhere and make the whole world identical to him if that's what it takes. Joker is a character who is both angered by the hand that fate has dealt him and also intelligent enough to see the dark humor, the black irony, in it. By becoming the one who inflicts a clown-like appearance on people, he transforms his own perceived victimhood into a weapon. He refuses to allow tragedy to control him by attempting to be the one who controls and dispenses tragedy. This film is all about tragedy and how human beings respond to it (more on that later).
There's not a lot of depth to this scene, but I like the way its lit and the performances are fun to watch.
His arc in this film isn't that he suffers tragic facial scarring and then becomes a homicidal maniac. He's always been psychopathic, but that insanity has been somewhat restrained by his vanity and lust for power. He wants to be respected, to be the guy on top. He wants to be like Carl Grissom. When he is betrayed by Grissom and falls into the vat of chemicals, it shifts his perspective on his ambitions. Now he'll never be respected in that way - he looks like a clown. But dammit, he'll make people respect him, he'll put his face everywhere and make the whole world identical to him if that's what it takes. Joker is a character who is both angered by the hand that fate has dealt him and also intelligent enough to see the dark humor, the black irony, in it. By becoming the one who inflicts a clown-like appearance on people, he transforms his own perceived victimhood into a weapon. He refuses to allow tragedy to control him by attempting to be the one who controls and dispenses tragedy. This film is all about tragedy and how human beings respond to it (more on that later).
There's not a lot of depth to this scene, but I like the way its lit and the performances are fun to watch.
We get a scene of the Mayor talking about celebrations for Gotham's 200th birthday, mainly to set the stage for the big parade scene at the end of the film. There's a hilarious shot of the most depressing "Happy Birthday" banner since Dwight K. Schrute's banner for Kelly Kapoor on The Office. The banner is partly obscured by two knight statues that look like they were brought here from Amon Hen.
Alexander Knox makes his way to his office at the Gotham Globe, enduring some snarky remarks from coworkers on the way there. No one takes his fascination with the Batman seriously. Except... who is that at Knox's desk? None other than Vicki Vale, a news reporter straight from the comics. She's been doing some war-zone photography in the made-up country of Corto Maltese. She's now ready to snap some pictures of the elusive Batman. Knox is excited that someone - an attractive woman, to boot - believes him. They make plans to go to the 200th Anniversary Charity Ball at Wayne Manor to fish some answers out of the mayor and Harvey Dent. Also, here commences a running gag in which Knox tries to flirt with Vicki and she rebuffs him.
Vicki is important to this story because she's a mediating figure, someone who is no stranger to tragedy (she's photographed horrific scenes of wartime genocide) but yet someone who has personally not been scarred by it. She's a bridge between a broken world of tragedy and the hope of a "normal" world, a world of love and light. She's sympathetic to hurting people while also offering a safe haven away from that pain and angst, rather than simply an extension or alternate variation of that pain. Its this sort of purity amidst tragedy, light amidst darkness, that makes Vicki so attractive to Bruce (who wishes he could escape his sorrow) and to Joker (who wants to snuff out that light and purity). One wants to escape and prevent tragedy, the other wishes to inflict and revel in it, and Vicki is caught in the middle of this war as the means by which each wishes to achieve their vision.
Vicki is important to this story because she's a mediating figure, someone who is no stranger to tragedy (she's photographed horrific scenes of wartime genocide) but yet someone who has personally not been scarred by it. She's a bridge between a broken world of tragedy and the hope of a "normal" world, a world of love and light. She's sympathetic to hurting people while also offering a safe haven away from that pain and angst, rather than simply an extension or alternate variation of that pain. Its this sort of purity amidst tragedy, light amidst darkness, that makes Vicki so attractive to Bruce (who wishes he could escape his sorrow) and to Joker (who wants to snuff out that light and purity). One wants to escape and prevent tragedy, the other wishes to inflict and revel in it, and Vicki is caught in the middle of this war as the means by which each wishes to achieve their vision.
Meanwhile, Carl Grissom has called a crime family meeting in his office, which is just wrapping up. He pressures Jack into making a raid on the Axis Chemicals plant. During this conversation Jack is playing with a deck of cards. In one of my favorite shots in the film, he holds up a Joker card just as the elevator to Grissom's office arrives with a Psycho-esque screech. Its a very ominous foreshadowing of what's to come. The next time Jack comes through that elevator he'll be the Joker. Brilliant stuff.
Its worth noting that both Carl Grissom and (in the next film) Max Schreck are corrupt businessmen with offices in high towers (very similar to the Tower of Babel in the aforementioned Metropolis). They are lords on high keeping the little people under their thumb. The only guy who seems free of their power is Bruce Wayne, as his manor isn't in the shadow of their towers but is outside Gotham in the country.
At the charity ball, Knox tries unsuccessfully to get some information about the Batman from Harvey Dent and the mayor. Dent simply chuckles: "Mr. Knox, we have enough problems in this city without worrying about ghosts or goblins." The mayor is more abrupt: "No comment." Dent's suggestion that belief in the Batman is belief in the supernatural is important - it plays into the theme in this film that Batman is less a vigilante and more a mythological figure. That theme reaches its climax in the finale, when Batman serves as a mythological... well, we'll get there later. Just keep in mind that this imagery is going somewhere, it isn't just thrown in for atmosphere.
At the charity ball, Knox tries unsuccessfully to get some information about the Batman from Harvey Dent and the mayor. Dent simply chuckles: "Mr. Knox, we have enough problems in this city without worrying about ghosts or goblins." The mayor is more abrupt: "No comment." Dent's suggestion that belief in the Batman is belief in the supernatural is important - it plays into the theme in this film that Batman is less a vigilante and more a mythological figure. That theme reaches its climax in the finale, when Batman serves as a mythological... well, we'll get there later. Just keep in mind that this imagery is going somewhere, it isn't just thrown in for atmosphere.
Vicki is wandering about and asking for Bruce Wayne. When she asks the actual Bruce Wayne where the playboy millionaire is, he says he is not sure. The film seemingly plays this as a somewhat amusing moment, as if Bruce is so taken with Vicki's beauty that he babbles the wrong answer. But the truth is something more psychological, and it goes to Bruce's duality. He just told a criminal on the rooftop with absolute conviction, "I'm Batman." Now someone is looking for Bruce Wayne, but he's not sure that he is Bruce Wayne anymore deep down. Is there a Bruce who could pursue a life with a beautiful woman like this? Or did that person die with his parents in an alleyway decades ago?
Its worth noting here how much Michael Keaton's face looks like the Batman cowl, what with the arched eyebrows and angled features. Its another way that the film subtly, almost subliminally, suggests the blurring of Bruce's dual identities. Keaton's features are handsome, even gentle, but at the same time chiseled, statuesque, as if to suggest this handsome face is the real mask and that if he pulled it off Batman would be underneath. This is another way in which Keaton was perfect for this role.
Its worth noting here how much Michael Keaton's face looks like the Batman cowl, what with the arched eyebrows and angled features. Its another way that the film subtly, almost subliminally, suggests the blurring of Bruce's dual identities. Keaton's features are handsome, even gentle, but at the same time chiseled, statuesque, as if to suggest this handsome face is the real mask and that if he pulled it off Batman would be underneath. This is another way in which Keaton was perfect for this role.
Vicki catches Knox's eye and they wander into a side room full of suits of armor. Knox, still trying helplessly to woo Vicki, starts cracking jokes about the various pieces on display. Bruce silently enters and walks behind them, listening in bemusement. When a suit of Samurai armor becomes the topic of discussion, Bruce interjects that he bought it in Japan. Its one of the only indicators in the film that Bruce is a world traveler, and that he was (no doubt) in Japan preparing to become the caped crusader.
There's a short bit of what is mostly small talk (and more Knox Knox jokes, including one about a grant, to which Bruce hilariously seems to fake a smile). Alfred interrupts and tells Bruce that Gordon had to leave "rather unexpectedly," setting up the Axis Chemicals sequence to follow. You'd think that this information, followed by Bruce's sudden departure, would seem peculiar to Vicki and Knox, but they seem oblivious to its import.
After Bruce leaves, Knox mugs in front of a large mirror, and cracks "Bruce Wayne? More like Bruce vain!" Keep in mind, Bruce as a character has only just been introduced in this scene, much as Jack Napier was only just introduced in his apartment (which also prominently featured a mirror, see above). Jack really is vain. But Bruce isn't. His playboy millionaire identity is just a facade, an outer shell, a disguise. His real identity is Batman. And the scene drives this point home...
After Bruce leaves, Knox mugs in front of a large mirror, and cracks "Bruce Wayne? More like Bruce vain!" Keep in mind, Bruce as a character has only just been introduced in this scene, much as Jack Napier was only just introduced in his apartment (which also prominently featured a mirror, see above). Jack really is vain. But Bruce isn't. His playboy millionaire identity is just a facade, an outer shell, a disguise. His real identity is Batman. And the scene drives this point home...
... as it is revealed that behind the mirror is the Batcave security system, monitoring Knox and Vicki through one-way glass. Behind Bruce's supposed "vanity" and riches is his true identity: Batman. Jack Napier is all about his exterior, his face and appearance, which Joker in the film wants to plaster everywhere, even on the one dollar bill. Bruce is all about the inside, his anger, his tragedy, his rage, which he expresses and extends outward through his Batman costume.
The mirror imagery in this film thus accentuates the difference between Batman and Joker and the way in which they've reacted to tragedy. Joker goes crazy later when he looks at his scarred visage for the first time in a handheld mirror. All his ambitions are wrapped up in his appearance. But for Bruce mirrors and appearances are only useful for disguising the rage and pain that lurks behind them. He doesn't much care about what people think of Bruce Wayne. That's not who he really is.
The mirror imagery in this film thus accentuates the difference between Batman and Joker and the way in which they've reacted to tragedy. Joker goes crazy later when he looks at his scarred visage for the first time in a handheld mirror. All his ambitions are wrapped up in his appearance. But for Bruce mirrors and appearances are only useful for disguising the rage and pain that lurks behind them. He doesn't much care about what people think of Bruce Wayne. That's not who he really is.
In the cave, Bruce sits and watches his guests for a moment, before watching a recording of Gordon and another police officer leaving for Axis Chemicals.
Continue on to [Part 2].