Film noir refers to a movie style that is found is Hollywood
crime dramas. From reading the article about film noir, I was able to pick out
several aspects of film noir that can be found in Tim Burton movies, and more
specifically, in Batman. The setting
of Batman is Gotham city, a fictional
town that has fallen into the hands of crime. Tim Burton depicts the city as a
place where the sun never shines and only darkness (literal darkness) can be
found. This darkness adds to the film
noir characteristic of a modern city that is isolated. The words “film noir”
are French for “black film” which should say a lot about the style and
appearance of these types of movies. Another detail that adds to this idea of
isolation is that fact that no other city is mentioned throughout the movie, it
is solely focused on Gotham. This film also has a conflicted anti-hero, the
Joker, who is in between the distorted clown faced man he has become, and the
tan makeup covered man he is attempting to show the world he is. He is unable
to accept that this white skinned, green haired man is who he is, not matter
how much makeup he covers it up with.
The mood and style of the movie feeds into an off-balance feel
to the world that can’t be shaken. There is a huge gap between the different
classes, which obviously isn’t a good feelings, and all of the impoverished
people are covered in dirt and dark colored clothing, while the wealthy are in
bright colors and are displayed with more color and light to them. The film
being filmed in a studio allowed for more control of the lighting, and the
ability to give this contrast between the two classes. There is also a
claustrophobic feel to this movie; there are a lot of shots that are angled in
such a way that the viewer is unable to tell exactly how big the space which is
being filmed, actually is.
These are just some of the many film noir physiognomies that can
be found in Batman. At the same time
that he is using these filming techniques, Burton is also undermining them at
the same time. Most noir films are dark, but Burton takes it to a whole new
level. Not once in this film was the sun shown, there is a permanent gloomy appearance.
He also pokes fun at the whole idea of the film angles being claustrophobic.
Bruce Wayne shows up to Vicki Vale’s apartment he comments on how there’s “lots
of space”, as does the Joker when he arrives soon after. There is no way for
the audience to know how spacious this apartment is because from what is being
shot, the apartment appears very small.
Hey Cristina! I liked how you commented on the constant state of gloominess Gotham City was in, even though they were in a studio so they had the option to make it brighter. I thought that was a very interesting point. To be honest, I didn't even notice that the sun literally never showed up once. For some reason I'm thinking it did in Vickie's apartment, but that's the only scene that comes to mind and I could be completely wrong. My favorite thing you pointed out in this post though was that no other city was mentioned besides Gotham. It really made Gotham seem like a place of its own in the film. Anyways, I really enjoyed reading your blog post! :)
ReplyDeleteI actually just started thinking about how sunlight was never really shown in the film. In the book, the city was described as "Hell that continued up through the Earth." I think you describe that perfectly. The Skyscrapers are so tall that the sun is never shown once. Yes, there was sunlight faintly shining through the blinds in Vance's apartment. But notice how every character in the movie avoided the sun. The men wore hats, Vance had every window in her apartment shut with curtains. I think that this mood could have come from the feeling of the general American populace when, as Professor McCay said, Reagan won (or lost?) the election.-Nick Arceneaux
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