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Audio readings of TRANSlating Everything content and wacky discussions!
Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight is an absolute banger. Watch it on the biggest or the smallest screen and it’s a symbolic experience.
Just like then, I still have criticisms about the movie. But just like then, I don’t really care about those criticisms.
Just like then, the story, the action, the visuals, getting to see Batman doing more Batman shit better than any Batman had ever done before — you know, serving as the world’s greatest detective (the Snyder films really Biffed that aspect)— it all culminated in a movie that’s only grown more esteemed with each passing year.
And nestled at the core of the movie is that performance. You know the one I’m talking about — the Nolan-verse’s incarnation of the Joker as played by Heath Ledger.
…the guy from A Knight’s Tale?
The very same one. He will rock you…right off your horse.
A Knight’s Tale (Sony Pictures)
Heath Ledger proved every naysayer wrong. As the Joker, Ledger delivered a performance we’re still talking about today. It was so good that the guy won a post-humous Oscar after his sudden death in January 2008.
And no sooner do I stop to appreciate not just the majesty of the movie but the majesty of Heath Ledger’s performance before I see those dates and put together the timeline faster than Batman (no Snyder no whammy).
If the film was still being editing, did Heath get to see his performance before he passed?
What might Heath Ledger have said about the success of his performance?
How did Christopher Nolan respond to Heath Ledger’s ideas about how to present the character?
And what was it like for Christopher Nolan to edit Heath Ledger’s performance so soon in the wake of his death?
The answer to that question and more.
Unanswered Questions About Heath Ledger’s Joker
TRANSlating Everything
Chapters/Table of Contents
Introducing Heath Ledger— 0:00
The Dark Knight is still an absolute banger — 00:49
Unanswered questions — 1:52
Rare Heath Ledger interview clips offer possible answers — 2:23
Michael Jai White, legendary actor and star of the 90s film adaptation of Spawn, describes the generosity of Heath Ledger as an actor — 4:41
Christopher Nolan describes the experience of editing Heath Ledger’s performance so soon after his death — 5:12
Did Heath Ledger see his performance as Joker before he passed? — 6:51
What success meant to Heath Ledger — 7:11
Final thoughts — 8:11
Clips taken from
heath ledger talks about playing the joker (CinemaStix)
Heath Ledger talk about the Joker (Antoine Movies)
Nolan comments on editing Heath Ledger’s performance as “Joker” so soon after Heath’s death
Nolan on retaining the darkness and ambiguity of the characters
A Knight’s Tale (Sony Pictures)
The Dark Knight (Warner Bros)
Nolan comments on editing Heath Ledger’s performance as “Joker” so soon after Heath’s death
Christopher Nolan offered brief but touching comments on the experience of editing Heath Ledger’s performance of Joker so soon after Heath’s death.
“It was tremendously emotional, right when he passed, having to go back in and look at him every day. But the truth is, I feel very lucky to have something productive to do, to have a performance that he was very, very proud of, and that he had entrusted to me to finish.”
When asked about which moment he most enjoyed watching in the edit bay, Nolan said:
“There is a pretty amazing meeting of the minds between Batman and Joker in the middle of the film that we haven’t wanted to show to people yet. We want to save that for the movie. It’s very much an acting scene, but I would be lying if I said it was a purely verbal smackdown.”
Describing the source of Heath Ledger’s performance choices:
“A lot of [the Joker] came from Heath himself and conversations we had very early on,” Nolan said of the character’s ultra-violent, anti-establishment ways. “We talked about Alex in ‘A Clockwork Orange,’ we talked about Johnny Rotten and Sid Vicious, having a younger approach to the Joker, really tapping into what can be threatening about a guy like this. It seemed that the youthful-anarchy idea [worked best]. It is that fear of a teenager, the fear of the rebel in society that some of these people embody and that gave us the idea of having a little bit of a punk aesthetic to it.”
In “Dark Knight,” Nolan explained, Gotham is the Joker’s town — and everybody else is just living in it. “I felt like I really had to get on and [finish Ledger’s work], and I felt very fortunate to have something like that to get on with,” he said. “The truth is, the performance is so iconic. It’s so not Heath Ledger; it is the Joker. He just inhabits it. It’s riveting to watch this incredible performance. I am very proud to work with him on this. I know he was very proud of the role, and I am very excited to show it to people. I think they are going to be blown away.”
Christopher Nolan reveals whether Heath Ledger saw his performance before his death
At a New York Times-sponsored discussion on July 16, 2008, Christopher Nolan revealed whether Heath Ledger saw his performance before his death.
Nolan said, “He saw the IMAX prologue. We [screened] that for him in London,” Nolan told a sold-out crowd.
Extra stuff: designing the Joker and retaining the ambiguity of the character
The PGA hosted a special IMAX screening of WB’s The Dark Knight. Following the screening, IT Pro editor Chris Green moderated a Q+A with co-writer-producer-director Christopher Nolan and producers Charles Roven and Emma Thomas.
Nolan said:
I like to say that [Ledger’s Joker] cuts through the film like the shark in “Jaws.”
Nolan also described Gary Oldman’s performance in Batman Begins vs The Dark Knight, and it’s pretty funny.
He had to be very restricted and subtle in “Batman Begins” and he enjoyed that challenge but at times it was like watching a Ferrari in traffic.
Study after Velázquez’s Portrait of Pope Innocent X and the Dark Knight (Warner Bros)
Check Wikipedia for further clown holes:
Hemming designed Joker’s overall appearance, which he based on fashion-and-music celebrities to create a modern and trendy look. Influence also came from the 1953 painting Study after Velázquez’s Portrait of Pope Innocent X by Francis Bacon — suggested by Christopher [Nolan]— and the character’s comic-book appearances.
The outfit consists of a purple coat, a green vest, an antique shirt, and a thin, 1960s-style tie that Ledger suggested.
Prosthetics supervisor Conor O’Sullivan created Joker’s scars, which he partly based on a scarred delivery man he met, and used his own technique to create and apply the supple, skin-like prosthesis. John Caglione Jr designed Joker’s “organic” makeup to look as though it had been worn for days; this idea was partly based on more of Bacon’s works.
Caglione Jr used a theatrical makeup technique for the application; he instructed Ledger to scrunch up his face so different cracks and textures were created once the makeup was applied and Ledger relaxed.
Ledger always applied the lipstick himself, believing it was essential to his characterization.
Rare production photo of Heath Ledger on set as “Joker without makeup” — damn, that’s some good makeup
From Reddit!
That’s it for today folks
Selfie plus Batman symbo (Warner Bros) and a photo by Fábio Magalhães on Unsplash
Thanks for joining us today to talk about Heath Ledger, the Joker, and the Dark Knight.
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