This scene takes place during the climax of Batman The Dark Night, which premiered July 14, 2008. The film won many awards such as two Oscars for best supporting actor Heath ledger, and Best Achievement of Sound Editing. Even though critics raved about this movie for its genius use of plot and acting, there is still one critic that would have rather this film be transferred to the art of theater
Walter Benjamin, writer of “ The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction” (1935), viewed theater acting as an art that connects the stage with audience. In Benjamin’s essay he argues that because the audience is viewing the film though a lens rather than a stage we can’t see the performance as a whole. In this scene while there is a close up on Batman’s face the audience is not allowed to see the Joker. It is because we cannot see the situation as a whole that we can’t view the Joker’s initial reaction to Batman’s statement. Walter also argues that even this powerful performance by Heath Ledger is nothing but an attempt to satisfy a peace of machinery. The actors in film can never truly satisfy and audience like a theater actor can. An actor of theater can allow himself to adjust to the audience’s emotion during the course of the performance, while an actor of film has no personal connection between the audience and himself. The audience watching a film cannot truly assess the situation as an entirety because film can only permit us to judging characters by the type of angle or shot that the director allows us too.
Modern popular films have spawned a new breed of actors. With society worried about what stars are wearing, rather than the love they produce on stage, the love of film can only decline.
It is a matter of how you would like to have the story told. A movie is far less open to interpretation, as long as you do not take your eyes off the glowing square (or mabye 16:9 rectangle?) theres nothing to say it isnt real.
ReplyDeleteThe lack of personal connection between the audience and actor enhances the reality of a film by letting you see only the character, not the actor. In a theater we would be judging the character of the actor, not the character, therefore defining the scene as fictional. The ability to interpret a live performance through choosing your own "camera angles" takes away from the original intent of the film.
I do agree with the closing statement that actors are getting more attention for their personal lives than their performances, whether this has lead to degradation of their acting is questionable but it does lead one to believe that an actor that has reached celebrity status would lack incentive to put on innovative new performances. Theatre however probably suffered the same thing in its heyday, who knows, maybe soon we will all be obsessed with what shirt the numa numa man is wearing.