Hans Zimmer - www.hans-zimmer.ch

© by musicfromthemovies.com, Rudy Koppl

By Rudy Koppl
What appears as a comic book action adventure extravaganza has been transformed into a sorrowful American tragedy by the brilliant Chris Nolan. You can hear it throughout the music with the anticipation created by Zimmer and Howard’s rhythmic string compositions and their collision of ideas that run throughout.

Like the simple theme for Batman, those two notes performed by a swelling brass section are carefully crafted eschewing any heroic fanfares as Zimmer explains, "I don't see Batman as a typical superhero, so I wanted to avoid anything 'super' in the music. I kept thinking about the Bat Symbol. It is the iconic representation of Batman, but at the same time, it is dark and unadorned." "Batman is a very complex character," Howard adds. "We're still getting to know him, so to try and attach a musical theme to him that defines him in any way would be misleading." This is their continuing journey carefully underscoring a myriad of emotions and complex relationships with a delicate touch. No matter how simple Zimmer and Howard make it seem, when their writing intertwines a completely new animal is born. Whether written together or apart, the torn ambience between the composing relationships create a third space which solidifies the score. This is the most interesting part that takes us into a thriving black hole of personalities, characters, conflict, and the need to overcome evil.

The Dark Knight is a magnificent accomplishment in filmmaking. Many of the comic book films out there, like the Spider-man series, Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, and many more, use special effects (CGI) that give the viewer the impression that they’re watching a video game and not a film. The look of Nolan’s film is quite different, using IMAX as the tool that gives us breathless scenes from vast cityscapes, the director makes his film look realistic by shooting on location (Chicago),using amazing stunts, and live special effects as the root of his visuals. “I’ve always wanted to use IMAX,” admits Nolan as he continues, “It’s the worlds highest resolution format.” This mixed with a fantastic story, superb script, great acting, and an excellent score, makes this film the best one of the summer. It’s clever manipulation of walking the fine line of breeding horror with the comic book genre subconsciously. Characters like The Joker and Two Face are terrifying with a flipside to their humanity. It’s what the director makes you think, not necessarily see, that propels the drama. “To me, it takes me back to when I was a kid going to movies,” remembers Chris. Like in the film’s opening sequence, The Joker sticks a grenade in a bank manager’s mouth, wires it to the back of a school bus, and then merrily drives off in the bus letting us think the inevitable. Instead of seeing the bank manager’s head blow up, it’s the inference of thought that takes on an effective blow to the psyche. Just like in The Prestige, deception is the order of the day. Nolan’s constantly asking the question, “Who can you trust?” or “Who is the next victim?” It’s imbedded in an ‘in your face character’ like The Joker. Ledger’s last role is so powerful it’s too good for an Academy Award. It’s not Heath’s villainy; it’s the drama, his terrifying stories of mommy and daddy, his motive, not the money, but playing the game and having the fun of his life while destroying everyone else. It’s that gliding pitched effect from Hans that we hear frequently when the tension around The Joker is reaching unbearable levels; a performance that blurs the lines between reality and fantasy as Ledger actually becomes The Joker. This is where filmmaking ends and a lifetime begins.

It was Friday May 30th, a perfectly spl... read more

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15:34, 2008-10-04
posted by Fabrice