Hasty, Anna- Batman

Tim Burton’s film, Batman, undeniably has film noir traits. Burton uses these elements from film noir to create a unique and diverse film with characters that have already been developed in a previous TV show. In my opinion, the most prevalent elements he uses include the isolated feel of a modern city, violent death, and lastly determined, beautiful women.

            The entire filming of Batman occurred on the sets of Pinewood Studios right outside of London. This set was used to create Gotham City, which although incredibly similar to commonly known places like London or New York City, the set allowed Gotham to have it’s own isolated feel to it. Gotham was a city unlike any other- allowing it to be both modern and secluded at the same time; which is extremely rare to what is normally seen in films.

            In Batman, violent death occurs often and with causality throughout the entirety of the film. People often die and are immediately forgot about, never to be mentioned in the film again. For example, The Joker’s wife in the beginning of the movie when he was still Jack Napier committed suicide soon after he destroyed her face to create his own type of art. The fact that she jumped through a window was casually spoken about in conversation and then her character was never brought up again. The Joker also performs mass killings without thought. For instance, when he poisons cosmetics or releases a deathly gas from balloons causing the citizens of Gotham to fall to their deaths left and right. In addition to these examples of violent death, arguably the most prominent from this film comes from the scene when The Joker shoots Batman’s parents right in front of him when he was a child, making Batman become who he is.

            Vickie Veil, Batman’s love interest, can be compared to the qualities of a woman in film noir. She is determined from beginning and end to the film. While nobody really believed in Batman in the beginning, but she did and she was determined to catch a picture for her newspaper job. Even when he was saving her life, she pulled her Nikon camera from her shirt and found a way to snap a shot. (Even though he managed to steal the film from her later that night.) Towards the end of the film, she was determined to keep Batman safe. She ran to the Batmobile when she saw it flying from the sky to try and save him, even though it was a dangerous situation for her and The Joker ended up finding her before she found Batman. And finally, she was portrayed to be incredibly beautiful. So beautiful that three men fall for her in the film- her partner in work for the Gotham newspaper, The Joker, and Batman himself.