Comments on: THE DARK KNIGHT- premiers midnight 7/18/08

By: Guillermo Romero

Guillermo Romero — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 03:48:43 +0000

A very good review, indeed, and straight to the point. As a personal note, Ledger’s Joker was, to me, very much inspired in the main character of Les Chants de Maldoror, a relatively little known prose poem (some call it a novel, but it definitely is not one) written by Isidore Ducasse (Lautreamont) in 1868. The central character mutilates his face to simulate a smile, just as Joker tells us he did:

“Throughout my life I have seen, without one exception, narrow shouldered men performing innumerable idiotic acts, brutalising their fellows, and corrupting souls by every means. They call the motive for their actions: fame. Seeing these exhibitions l’ve longed to laugh, with the rest, but that strange imitation -was impossible. Taking a penknife with a sharp edged blade, I slit the flesh at the points joining the lips. For an instant I believed my aim was achieved. I saw in a mirror the mouth ruined at my own will! An error! Besides, the blood gushing freely from the two -wounds prevented my distinguishing whether this really -was the grin of others. But after some moments of comparison I saw quite clearly that my smile did not resemble that of humans: the fact is, I -was not laughing.”

Lautreamont, Les Chants de Maldoror

By: craig

craig — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 21:29:31 +0000

Thanks for the correction DK, stayed up a little too late writing that one.

By: Bryan

Bryan — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 14:59:45 +0000

I agree with the review, but pretension is all over it. If the reviewer huffed “get over it” and “finish your spaghetti-o’s” to the “average movie-goer’s” face, they’d make him grateful for being in the safety of his computer chair. The reviewer’s dismissive, almost insulting, attitude toward fans of the 1989 Joker is likely the same attitude he imagines “they all” have.

Project much?

By: DK

DK — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 13:40:24 +0000

Excellent review…..definitely on the money!!! My only negative about it is that the word through is not spelled t-h-r-o-w. I think I just gave away my profession.

By: Greenpointer

Greenpointer — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 12:21:16 +0000

Saw it. Liked it. I will accept Chicago as Gothem. I will give Heath Ledger a major whopping nod for doing a convincingly accurate “agent of Chaos” portrayal of the Joker (definitely Oscar material).

But I will say this: The movie is WEIRDLY RACIST! Blacks are targeted and brutally slain throughout the film. The predominant crime lord is Chinese and there’s some hackneyed butchery of Russian accents (I know, my Moskovite girlfriend was with me and cringing.)

Anyone else find the film weirdly racist?