Looking out of the window

So, I finally caught ’The Dark Knight’ after letting it sit on my PC forever, and boy was I glad I did. The sheer brilliance of the movie blew me apart and then reassembled me. Talk about justice, righteousness and dubious morality of the so called ‘civilized’. Poignant questions that a mad man poses to the outlaw vigilante.

I know you’re supposed to watch such movies for the cool effects and the IMAX camera work and of course Batman. But enough had been said on those things already and I am not really into the whole superhero mania. Batman’s dark aura and visible moral ambiguity make for the perfect Film noir and it shows in the grey and black tones and the gravelly voice. Literally and figuratively speaking, The Joker makes a splash of colour with only his bizarreness and turns Bruce Wayne’s monochromatic world upside down and inside out.

‘The Dark Knight’ raises a lot of questions on issues of control and rules. The Joker mocks the convenience of people’s goodness and their will to be upright citizens as and when the occasion is conducive to such behaviour. When the rules are off, he demonstrates how easily they can shed the trappings of morality and altruistic humanity to look out for themselves. 

Heath Ledger has really given the world his best work as the Joker, who hides behind the mask of dark humour and unleashes anarchy, refusing to abide by the dictates of logic or plan.  His argument about how the worst forms of cruelty go unquestioned simply because they can be justified on grounds of public interest makes us pause and think.

Aaron Eckhart also impresses. Both as Harvey Dent, the righteous DA of the mythical Gotham City and as Two-Face, the reckless, revenge driven villain who seeks his vengeance on those who’ve  wronged him using flipism i.e. (an ostensible normative practise of making decision  by flipping a coin).  He exhibits the futility of trying to be good in a flawed system. A philosophy which is similar to that of Batman himself who works outside of law, to help uphold it. Christian Bale does an admirable job of portryaing the flawed but larger than life Batman, who struggles with the collateral damages his actions cause.

To watch this film simply as a superhero cult movie would be a great injustice to it.  Even if it does have predictable resolution, it speaks of larger ideas- of the rationality that lies underneath madness, and the fragility of human morality.