Post 3, Group B - Neo-Noir, Nolan, and the Batman by JJ Leath

                          

Before Zack Snyder and Ben Affleck made Batman a pop-culture disaster, the Caped Crusader was interpreted by the British filmmaker Christopher Nolan. In class, we discussed the theory that a movie directly reflects the director’s vision, thoughts, and subconscious. This was shown through recurring themes throughout the body of Hitchcock’s work. Because Hitchcock was in control of so much in his films, his essence was reflected in them. I recently watched The Dark Knight, the second film in Nolan’s Batman trilogy, and thought it would be interesting to look at Nolan’s interpretation of Batman and how his Neo-Noir styling was reflected in these movies. Through the use of a central theme of good people falling into ruin along with classic Noir styling, Nolan not only portrayed a Batman that was completely unique to any film portrayal before, but he also furthered the genre of Film Noir in the process.

To understand Nolan, you first have to start with a foundation in classic Film Noir. Nolan’s films are riddled with classic archetypes within the Noir style. What it means to be within the Noir styling is somewhat loose, but there are certain themes and character archetypes that are nearly always present. As Nathaniel Rich puts it in his book San Francisco Noir “…[the term Noir] describes, in its most narrow application, a series of American films made during World War II and the years following, punctuated by violence and pervaded with a profound sense of dread and moral uncertainties. The heroes tend to by cynical, tough, and overwhelmed by sinister forces beyond their control. Film Noir tries to make sense of the complexities and anxieties of the postwar urban experience by exploring the rotten underside of the American city, a place where the American Dream goes to die.” Later in his book, Rich goes on to say that what it means to be Noir is somewhat loose. In other words, there are no rules, only conventions and themes. In the video we had to watch for class, some of these themes were stated. A major theme is a dive into chaos and misery for the main characters. There is no riding off to the sunset in Noir. Things either go from good to terrible or bad to worse. Further, Noir is often interested in breaches of human morality and challenges moral conventions and ideals. In a time of sexual prudence, Noir was increasingly suggestive. In a time where the heroes were good and triumphed, Noir heroes were flawed and had lives riddled with failure. Noir is dark, gritty, and often based around stories of crime and corruption. This makes Noir a perfect style for Nolan, who throughout his career has made it his style to comment on epistemological and metaphysical concepts along with the nature of human morality. And with themes of misery, crime and corruption, Noir is perfect to depict the life of Bruce Wayne.

For those of you who don’t know (spoiler alert), Bruce Wayne is Batman. In 2003, Nolan approached Warner Brothers in order to passionately pitch his version of the life of Bruce Wayne. Why would Nolan be so interested in a superhero movie? Nolan is no Michael Bay. While many directors and studios do superhero movies for the action and consequential revenue, these motivations would be extremely out of character for Nolan, especially early in his career when he was trying to make an artistic name for himself. So, if it wasn’t for the money, why would Nolan be interested in the life of Bruce Wayne? I think it is ultimately because he had a vision for what he could do with Bruce Wayne. The actual story of the Batman is simply a vehicle for Nolan, a vehicle that allowed him to push the genre of Neo-Noir to new areas and a vehicle to comment on human morality and the condition of life.

Before Nolan’s moral commentary and genre expanding endeavors are discussed, I think it is important to note many of the classic Noir homages Nolan tipped his hat to in this trilogy. First, he reused many classic Noir character archetypes for the supporting characters. For example, Anne Hathaway’s portrayal of Catwoman falls within the classic “Black Widow” archetype in Noir. She is dangerous and empowered. She meets Bruce as she is robbing him, and she pickpockets the keys to his Lamborghini at a charity event. Most importantly, she takes care of herself. As women grew more independent after World War II, this became an increasingly common character in Film Noir as an alternative to the “damsel in distress” archetype in classic film. 

In addition to characters, visual themes in Nolan’s Batman trilogy are largely derived from classic Noir as well. Most of the scenes are at night, it is often raining, and the use of light and shadow is heavily relied on. There is a particular moment in The Dark Knight that references the Noir trick of using of shadow to imply something nefarious is going on off screen when the subject matter is too risqué to show explicitly. In classic Noir, this was often done to imply sex. In The Dark Knight, this is used to imply grotesque violence. In this film, the Joker carves open the face of a mob boss using a pocket knife while murdering him. This is particularly gruesome, so it is shown by focusing on a shadow off the frame. These are clichés in Noir, and I think Nolan used them to make sure that there was no confusion about the fact that this is a Noir film. In order to push the boundaries of the genre, he needed to establish it as a movie within the genre first.

The major deviation from classic Noir for Nolan was the character archetype used for Bruce Wayne. In classic Noir, main characters are “sinners.” This was mentioned in the video we watched for homework in this class. Main characters fall into chaos and misery in Noir, but the causation of misery is the result of their own poor choices and immoral behavior. In Double Indemnity, the main character falls into chaos and misery because of murder and sexual desire. As an audience, this allows us to observe this chaos but not feel too particularly sorry for the affected character. Nolan’s Bruce Wayne, however, couldn’t be any more moral and his misery isn’t caused by deviant decisions. This is a significant deviation from Noir. From this, the main plot driver in Nolan’s Batman Trilogy comes forth: innocent decisions and moral behavior doesn’t guarantee you happiness or freedom from misery. This theme can be immediately seen in Nolan’s portrayal of Bruce’s parents murder. This event has been portrayed 100 different ways, but the main theme has always been Bruce’s parents were randomly mugged and murdered. Nolan, however, made the murder occur after Bruce wanted to leave an opera because he was afraid of the bats being portrayed by dancers. If Bruce would have stayed in the opera, his parents wouldn’t have been killed. It was innocent, he wanted to leave because he was scared, but he still blames himself and despises his own cowardice all the way into adulthood. An innocent decision led to unimaginable misery.

Upon his parents’ death, Bruce becomes a billionaire, but wealth doesn’t save him from misery. It is evident through the series that Bruce couldn’t care less about his wealth. When the before-mentioned Lamborghini was stolen by Catwoman, he didn’t care. Nolan makes sure to make it clear that wealth was an ineffective refuge from Bruce’s misery. Nolan then follows Bruce through a journey to escape the scars of his parents’ death, and this eventually results in him becoming the Batman. He does this for good; he wants to help Gotham with his wealth and courage. Bruce is a good man, and his mission is moral. The plot-driver being a moral main character behaving morally is another significant deviation from classic Noir. This is crucial though, for this theme of the “miserably moral hero” is what Nolan uses to comment on morality and the human condition. The noble decision to become Batman just causes more misery for Bruce. The woman he loves refuses to be with him while he is Batman, and in the end, the woman he loves is murdered by his archenemy, the Joker. Further, Bruce bankrolls Harvey Dent’s campaign for DA, and Batman helps Dent lock away most of the mob in Gotham. But as the Joker causes Dent to fall into madness and become Two Face, Bruce has to have Batman take the fall for Dent’s eventual death, or all of Dent’s work would be undone. This sacrifice doesn’t bring him glory, it brings the city he loves to hate him. From here, Nolan makes important commentary: you won’t always be celebrated for being the hero, and further, doing what is right isn’t a recipe for happiness. Misery is a part of life, and it isn’t always your fault that you are miserable.

Through the use of classic Noir elements, Nolan screams at you “THIS IS A NOIR!” But, through deviation from main themes, Nolan screams at you “MISERY ISN’T ALWAYS YOUR FAULT!” This does three things. First, Nolan extends the genre of Film Noir. There is now another character for the Noir archetype – the moral, miserable hero. Nolan would use this archetype in many more films, one of the most notable being Interstellar. Second, Nolan created a unique interpretation of Batman. Before, the portrayal was generally cheesy. Now, Batman is shown as a complex character with extremely dark, philosophical undertones. Third, Nolan comments on the nature of morality. Moral behavior can still lead to misery. Those who are downtrodden may not be inherently bad, they may just be unlucky. Further, doing what is right doesn't guarantee that you will be the hero in the eyes of the masses, and, in fact, it may just make you the villain. But, with Bruce as an example, I believe Nolan is saying do what is right any way. With these three elements as his vision, Nolan made a silly superhero movie something much more meaningful.

References:

Nathaniel Rich, San Francisco Noir (New York: Little Bookroom, 2005), 8