Note: This is the beginning of a series of articles I wrote around the time of Heath Ledger's death, but prior to the release of The Dark Knight. Obviously much more on these topics could now be said, and perhaps at some point I will. There's been some trimming, so the introduction reads a bit awkwardly.
I'm very impressed with the treatment the Batman franchise is receiving under Christopher Nolan and crew. Thus far a masterful handling of the classic Batman Spell. With "The Dark Knight" we can of course only speculate, and set our expectations based on earlier productions. We also can only speculate on the level of esoteric cognition behind Nolan's productions. Whether conscious or unconscious, "Batman Begins" positively vibrates with key esoteric symbols.
It is my every intention to avoid anything that smacks of sensationalism regarding the sensitivity of this subject. Because while Nolan and Company perform their magic with tremendous charisma, showmanship and artistry, it also seems they might have underestimated the potency of the magic they're wielding, to tragic consequence. It is an eerie feeling when art and life intersect in blurry ways. It is heartbreaking when art generates tragedy, as it often does. How appropriate that these very themes are addressed with such mastery in the Nolan brothers film "The Prestige", which I can't help reading as a sister-work to the Nolan Batman movies.
The fantasy genre very familiarly tells stories in sets of three, trilogies, serial triptychs. Three sides of the triangle, three levels of initiation, a Pledge, a Turn and the Prestige. To me it seems very natural that this is a secret trilogy, not an equilateral triangle, with part two forming an oblique angle between parts one and three. A Batman Angle.
Though I don't feel it is needed, synchronistic confirmation for this viewpoint comes from "The Prestige" itself and this image from "Batman" #1, the first appearance of the Joker:
Art by Bob Kane
A typical Batman pun that I extrapolated into Batman identifying himself with the King of Wands from the Tarot Minor Arcana. The King of Wands. Then in "The Prestige" magician Robert Angier (played by Hugh Jackman) sent a covert message to Cutter (Michael Caine) in the form of a miniature playing card stuck to the bottom of a glass Cutter was drinking from. The card was the King of Clubs. Out of a deck of fifty-two, why was that particular card utilized? Because the King of Clubs is the King of Wands, a status that Angier and rival magician Alfred Borden (Christian Bale) war over with mounting tragic results. Before we continue, note that Michael Caine, born Maurice Joseph Micklewhite, Jr., phonetically shares a (dark) pseudonym with Batman synthesizer Bob Kane.
Now there may be some sleight of hand at play with this trick, and how it's being described to us. According to the model, the Prestige is act three, the big pay off. Is it possible then that the segment titled "The Prestige" is itself actually the Turn, because it is Act II? Or is the title telling the truth and we're receiving the acts out of sequence? Nolan is notorious for playing with the chronology, the synchronism, of his story lines, while author Christopher Priest, who wrote the novel the film is adapted from, is known for his unreliable narrators.
What is clear at this time, however, is that "Batman Begins" is the Pledge, in nature, position and even by name. We are presented with something familiar, the story of Batman, and a promise is made that something spectacular is going to be done with it. "Batman Begins" positively bursts with promise. This is the cinema Batman, the perfect balance struck, the realization that the Batman story can be serious and fantastic in equal and supporting measure. "Batman Begins" is Batman Sublime.
Undoubtedly part of what makes this film such a work of quality is the gifted cast. It is always at least entertaining to cast a synchronistic eye on the players involved, and the connotations their other roles contribute to the complex Batman collage. This practice is fundamental to the conception of "The Prestige" as direct sibling to the Nolan Batman films, as all feature Nolan working with actors Bale and Caine, in easily relating roles.
So here we go into the Underground. Remember when Alice went down the rabbit hole, she fell down a well, a very long well, lined with shelves and cupboards with all sorts of items on them. She could only catch glimpses as she fell. It was such a long fall that Alice got a little sleepy, and she dreamily mused, "Do cats eat bats? Do bats eat cats?". So you've been forewarned. See you at the bottom.
Bale's career started as a child-actor. One of the first films he appeared in was the 1987 Swedish fantasy "Mio min Mio"/"Mio in the Land of Faraway", which costars Christopher Lee as (as we should expect) an evil knight named Kato. Bale plays a character named Jum-Jum, best friend to the title character. The film is based upon the novel "Mio, my Mio" by Astrid Lindgren, famous for Pippi Longstocking. The plot involves golden apples, genies in bottles and the all-important fantasy convention of the Other World. This establishment of Bale as a resident of the Other World is no small detail. You may share my interest in the fact that this Bale movie features a title track, "Mio My Mio" by a Swedish pop band called Gemini.
Pan pipes, Twin Towers, the Bridge, a Well, and that's just in the trailer. Noteworthy too is the image of two riders on a horse, the very seal of the Knights Templar. That same year Bale starred in Steven Spielberg's "Empire of the Sun", a adaptation of J.G. Ballard's semi-autobiographical novel. It is one of Spielberg's films exploring aspects of World War II. The Time Magazine review of the film compared Spielberg's film making skill to an act of legerdemain.
Bale and Christopher Lee were reunited in the 1990 production of Robert Louis Stevenson's "Treasure Island". Bale has twice been featured in treatments of the Pocahontas legend, as a voice actor in the 1995 animated Disney film "Pocahontas", and ten years later in "The New World", released the same year as "Batman Begins". Christian played no less a role then Jesus in a 1999 made-for-television movie dedicated to Jesus' mother, "Mary, Mother of Jesus". Delightfully Mary was played by actress Pernilla August, best known for her role as Shmi Skywalker, mother of Dark Knight Darth Vader.
Bale had a role in 1998's "Velvet Goldmine", a film vocally based upon the British glam rock in the seventies and the relationship between David Bowie and Iggy Pop. Bale's breakthrough role is largely considered to be as Patrick Bateman in "American Psycho", a 2000 adaptation of the novel by Bret Easton Ellis.
Note the combination of serial killer content with Mirror and Gemini/Alter Ego imagery in the movie's poster. The film leaves the reality of Bateman's violent actions up to the viewer to decide, suggesting they were perhaps the dark fantasies of a repressed sociopath, Bateman's Adventures Underground. Bateman. Bale played what has been called a similar role that year in "Shaft", starring Samuel L. Jackson in the midst of his portrayals of the Shaft-of-light saber wielding Jedi Master Mace Windu.
Hey, the Mona Lisa! Bale starred as Cleric John Preston in the 2002 dystopian action film "Equilibrium" (called "Cubic" in Scandinavia). It's like "Fahrenheit 451" with the violence amped up and church-hierarchy symbol play. The occult significance is apparent here at a surface level, as the film makes prominent use of a Theosophist/Symbolist William Butler Yeats' "He wishes for the Clothes of Heaven" ("Tread softly because you tread on my dreams"). Note the allegorical device of the mastery of an esoteric art. Writer/director Kurt Wimmer also created the 2006 Milla Jovovich sci-fi/viral vampire vehicle "Ultraviolet".
Bale's status as both a resident of the Otherworld and as the King of Wands/Master Magician, was established prior to his roles in either "Batman Begins" or "The Prestige" as he provided the voice for Howl in the English dub of Hayao Miyazaki's masterwork "Howl's Moving Castle", based on the novel by Diana Wynne Jones.
The Blue-toned Bird symbolism and the Dionysian Scarecrow are just the beginning of the many wonders of this deeply magical work of art. Note the fundamental relationship between King of Wands Howl and the Fallen Star/Fire Elemental Calcifer. 2004 also featured Bale as Trevor Reznik in "The Machinest", as a paranoid insomniac, a role where once again his character's homicidal actions are symbolic hallucinations. The film was inspired by and makes repeat reference to the works of Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoevsky.
Art by R.Sikoryak
This is a fascinating network of connotations brought to Batman via Bale's work, and given the talent and experience of his "Batman Begins" cast mates, it is not surprising to find numerous other noteworthy figures and roles added to the mix. I'll strive here for brevity, but, you know. Michael Caine has appeared in over 100 movies bringing a great deal to the parts of Alfred and Cutter. "The Dark Knight" write-ups stress the development of the Batman character, with emphasis on his role as a detective. A detective is an "uncoverer" or "unveiler", and as a device of Romantic fiction the detective genre is widely considered as stemming from the always relevant Edgar Allen Poe. And of course the works of Spiritualist Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (a close associate of magician Harry Houdini). Besides starring in both the original and the recent remake of "Sleuth", Caine portrayed Doyle's Sherlock Holmes in the comedy "Without A Clue" and Frederick Abberline in a 1988 made-for-TV "Jack the Ripper". Keeping to the Victorian-era, Caine was the title character(s) in a 1990 TV-movie adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson's Apollonian/Dionysian Alter-Ego classic "Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde", Submariner Captain Nemo in a 1997 version of Jules Verne's "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea", and Ebeneezer Scrooge in "The Muppet Christmas Carol".
The latter, of course, costarred Frank Oz. Oz directed Caine in his role as a master con artist in 1988's "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" (the same year as Caine's inept Holmes). Caine brought great history and charm to the part of Nigel Powers in "Austin Powers in Goldmember", as the father of both Austin and Dr. Evil. Da Vinci smirks at us again due to Caine's role in Neil Jordan's 1986 crime drama "Mona Lisa". That same year brought Caine one of his Academy Awards, for his role in Woody Allen's "Hannah and Her Sisters". Caine richly deserved the Oscar he received for his role as Dr. Wilbur Larch in Lasse Hallström's 1999 adaptation of John Irving's "The Cider House Rules". My absolute favorite Caine performance, however, was as the pot farmer Jasper in Alfonso Cuarón's breathtaking "Children of Men" from 2006, based on "The Children of Men" by author P.D.James.
Commissioner James Gordon has been a part of Batman's cast of characters since "Detective Comics" #27, Batman's first appearance. The amazing Gary Oldman plays him in Nolan's Batman films, and brings with him a host of intriguing correlations through his many exceptional roles. His big break, and my first awareness of him, came through his portrayal of Sid Vicious in 1986's "Sid and Nancy". Vicious is cited as one of the inspiring figures for Ledger's version of the Joker. Things get even stranger when we consider Oldman as Lee Harvey Oswald in the 1991 Oliver Stone classic "JFK". The next year saw Oldman deliver an incredible portrayal of the title character in Francis Ford Coppola's adaptation of "Bram Stroker's Dracula". In "Immortal Beloved" Oldman played Baroque master composer Ludwig von Beethoven, and he was Reverend Dimmsdale in the wrong-minded 1995 reworking of Nathaniel Hawthorne's classic "The Scarlet Letter".
Anything connected to "The Fifth Element" is significant in my book, and it featured Oldman as the villainous arms-dealer Zorg. Indeed, his villain roles are highly remarkable. He was Pontius Pilate in the 1999 TV-movie "Jesus" (a role played by David Bowie in "The Last Temptation of Christ"), Dr. Smith in the 1998 film version of sci-fi classic "Lost in Space", and Mason Verger in 2001's "Hannibal", based on the Thomas Harris novel and directed by Ridley Scott. And of course Gary Oldman was the sacrificial Sirius Black in the Harry Potter film series.
Liam Neeson was perfectly cast as the amalgamation of Batman characters Henri Ducard and Ra's al Ghul. In his film career he's played real world figures Oskar Schindler in 1993's "Schindler's List" (another of Spielberg's WWII epics), the title character of 1995's "Rob Roy" and Alfred Kinsey in "Kinsey" from 2004. His film debut was 1981's "Excalibur", playing the esoterically important figure of Gawain. He played the title role in 1990's "Darkman", a tragic figure mixing the motifs of super heroes and gothic monsters, a product of "Spider-Man" director Sam Raimi, who created the character in part because he was unable to license the rights to Batman or the Shadow. "Darkman" obviously also drew inspiration from Victor Hugo's "The Hunchback of Notre Dame". A more direct Neeson/Hugo association came in his starring role as Jean Valjean in the 1998 adaptation of "Les Misérables".
Followers of the major initiatory symbolic device of climbing Himalayan Mountains will appreciate Neeson's role as narrator of 1998's IMAX documentary "Everest". His role as mentor to Batman is especially apt given the similar (but reverse-natured) role he played as Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jin in "Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace", and also as Godfrey of Ibelin in Ridley Scott's 2005 Crusader epic "Kingdom of Heaven". He provides the voice of Aslan in the Disney adaptations of C.S.Lewis' "The Chronicles of Narnia", lest we forget the underlying solar-messiah-agriculture symbolism underlying just about everything. Neeson was also "Priest" Vallon in Martin Scorsese's monumental 2002 film "Gangs of New York", playing the father of Leonardo DiCaprio's sovereignty figure Amsterdam.
"Batman Begins", "Kingdom of Heaven" and "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" were all released in 2005, as well as Neil Jordan's comedy-drama "Breakfast on Pluto" based on a novel by Patrick McCabe. Neeson is featured, this time as a literal rather then a figurative priest, ironically named Father Liam, the illegitimate father of the movie's transgender protagonist Patrick "Kitten" Braden. Kitten is brilliantly portrayed by Cillian Murphy. Murphy is also part of the "Batman Begins" cast, bringing a fantastic, creepy vibe to Dr. Jonathan Crane/Scarecrow.
Murphy starred in two Danny Boyle movies, the viral zombie flick "28 Days Later", and "Sunshine", a science fiction piece about a mission to reignite the sun. In 2003 he had roles in both "Cold Mountain" and "Girl with a Pearl Earring", the Scarlett Johansson film about Vermeer, a master who more then likely utilized optical techniques to create his masterpieces. Cillian Murphy was exceptional as a hit man in Wes Craven's "Red Eye", also released in 2005, playing a character named Jackson Rippner.
"Girl with a Pearl Earring" (inevitably Aphrodite resonating) also featured Tom Wilkinson, who played Gotham City crime lord Carmine Falcone in "Batman Begins". Amongst Wilkinson's many roles are parts as General Corwallis in 2000's "The Patriot", a film featuring Heath Ledger's break out role, and in the HBO mini-series "John Adams" as Benjamin Franklin. He also played the memory erasing Dr. Howard Mierzwiak in 2004's "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind".
Noting the already numerous vampire associations, Dionysian entities that are easy to recognize as another presentation of Bat+Man, we also see Rutger Hauer in "Batman Begins", as the corporate villain William Earle, who attempts a take-over of Wayne Enterprises. He will ever be noteworthy for his role in Ridley Scott's "Blade Runner", playing the perfectly named Roy Batty. In the 1985 Richard Donner fantasy "Ladyhawke" he plays romantically cursed werewolf Captain Etienne Navarre. His vampire resume is nearly second to none. In 1992 he played chief vampire Lothos in the original "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" movie. In the 2004 remake of Stephen King's "Salem's Lot" he was Kurt Barlow, and as Count Dracula himself in the direct to video "Dracula III Legacy" from 2005, the same year as "Batman Begins". That year also saw Hauer appearing in Robert Rodriguez's adaptation of Frank Miller's "Sin City" as Cardinal Roark
Since "Batman Begins" replaces a film of Zorro with a super natural opera in its telling of the Batman origin, I find it a nice, likely accidental, touch that the story includes a character named Lucius Fox, employed as Batman's benefactor. And Morgan Freeman makes (almost) anything good. Freeman does wonders to make "Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves" as watchable as it is, playing the Hashishin-like Azeem, a character originally scripted as being named Aslan, believe it or not. Freeman should have won the Academy Award for his powerful performance as Red in Frank Darabont's 1994 "The Shawshank Redemption", based on a Stephen King novella.
Freeman plays the aptly named Detective Somerset in David Finscher's gothic symbolist classic "Se7en". Noting the strong showing for major religious figures in our lineup, we can hardly ignore Freeman's roles as God in "Bruce Almighty" and "Evan Almighty". He is hands down the best thing about the disappointing botch job "Dreamcatcher" based on a highly complex novel by King, playing Col. Kurtz as a nod to Joseph Conrad. In 2005, the year of "Batman Begins", Freeman also had releases featuring him as narrator, in Spielberg and Cruise's "War of the Worlds" H.G. Wells remake (a major league hoax model) and the documentary "March of the Penguins", which is obviously pertinent as we're talking about Batman. Of course he's automatically awesome because he used to work with Spider-Man back in the seventies.
This one's a little more creepy:
What a fun word to sing about. He doesn't drown because he's already dead.
Speaking of which, I really enjoy Katie Holmes as Rachel Dawes, but I suppose I'll always be endeared to her due to her role as Hannah Green in Curtis Hanson's 2000 film version of Michael Chabon's "Wonder Boys". Chabon helped craft the script of the second Spider-Man film and I'm pretty certain understands the concept of the comic book super hero as magic spell and golem.
Sadly madness seems to reign as Holmes opted out of "The Dark Knight" in favor of "Mad Money", or so the story goes. They recast the role with the Maggie Gyllenhaal. She is of course the sister of Heath Ledger's "Brokeback Mountain" costar Jake Gyllenhaal. Jake Gyllenhaal was one of the contenders for the role of Batman that Bale eventually received. The Gyllenhaals appeared together as brother and sister in the dark (of course) Wonderland psychodrama "Donnie Darko". And she is a key character in "Mona Lisa Smile", noting the continued Da Vinci trend.
"Batman Begins" faux-Ra's al Ghul portrayer Ken Watanabe is probably best known for his role as Katsumoto in the 2003 Tom Cruise vehicle "The Last Samurai", and his roles in "Memoirs of a Geisha" and "Letters From Iwo Jima". He was rumored to be playing Marvel's Silver Samurai (a Steve Gerber character) in "The Wolverine", which returned Hugh Jackman to the Dionysian role. \
I make no apologies for being obsessive, and you have to admit, the information involved here is practically fractal. Things intersect in weird ways. The film making world is a relatively small circle. And of course it's natural that super heroes with such explicit similarities as Batman and Spider-Man (the former certainly informing the latter) will naturally bump shoulders from time to time. But really, in such strange ways just by looking at the cast of "Batman Begins" alone, Spider-Man via Michael Chabon, Spider-Man via the Electric Company, Spider-Man via Darkman. If Spider-Man is expected, what about Da Vinci hiding behind the veil of the "Mona Lisa", Dracula and his kin, or the underlying resonance of World War II? These are essential ingredients of the Bat-Collage, and we find them at play here in all sorts of non-linear ways.
So that's the major cast members of "Batman Begins". In a future article I'll take a close look at the cast in action and the film's use of esoteric symbolism.
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