The Dark Knight Inner Monologue?

[smatt584]

With the apparent complexity of TDK, do you think that there should be an inner monologue in the form of a Bale voiceover? would this destroy the movie or add another layer of complexity to the film? It worked in the comics, what about a live-action interpretation?

 

[Nepenthes]

A narration from Bruce Wayne might be okay...but I definitely don't want to hear Batmans thoughts and since they're same person it wouldn't really work.

I like the way Batman was portrayed in BB. Shows up, hurts some dudes, gets the job done and leaves. Imagine the docks sequence with a voice over, "Falcone's goons. Time to make them fear the night. Feel my dread. Blah Blah. Blah Blah. " No keep the Batman quiet, fierce and mysterious.

 

[McGarnagle]

I feel a voice-over would be appropriate after the scene in which Dent is scarred. "I will never forget the sound of his screaming."

 

[smatt584]

The action scenes would be too much with the narration, but just think of what could be done with Bruce/Batman contemplating clues or think of the possibilities of portraying his inner torment. Like the scene near the beginning of "Year One" when he's shot and sitting in his father's study in the dark and brewing about his parent's death and how he's failed them. I would love a scene like that in the movies, but they aren't really possible with the same emotional impact unless there's an inner monologue.

 

[Nepenthes]

^ I think on screen those types of feelings CAN be conveyed without words, and are often more powerful without. Pictures can't act. Someone like Bale can dramatise their emotions sitting alone in a room in complete silence. Really, him talking to himself like "father, I have failed you" would be a little cheesy. Just show Bruce looking small underneath his fathers portrait.

 

[Fried Gold]

I don't know why more comic book movies don't employ a VO. The Punisher would work fantastically well (imagine something like what's on Dexter).

Batman, I'm not so sure, but I would rather it was Batman's VO than Bruce Wayne's.

 

[Fried Gold]

^ I think on screen those types of feelings CAN be conveyed without words, and are often more powerful without. Pictures can't act. Someone like Bale can dramatise their emotions sitting alone in a room in complete silence. Really, him talking to himself like "father, I have failed you" would be a little cheesy. Just show Bruce looking small underneath his fathers portrait.

Yeah, but think of how well it worked in Sin City

 

[smatt584]

Not to mention that someone sitting below a portrait in silence would not seem so much dramatic, but...boring.

 

[blind_fury]

It's lazy storytelling.

I'd prefer Batman's action speak volumes regarding his superior thought process and masterful approach to challenges.

The Man with No Name from the Clint Eastwood spaghetti westerns was a good example of this. His posture, mannerisms, and presence said more than words could possibly convey. And he spoke few words so when he did finally speak his words were taken more seriously.

 

[smatt584]

It's not laziness, could you imagine Fight Club working without a narration? Some stories just work better with words, that's all.

 

[Nepenthes]

It is lazy storytelling. A basic rule is you don't have characters explain how they feel, you demonstrate it. In Fight Club the VO was used for a specific purpose that's different from typical VO's - it was to create the impression that Tyler Durden is a separate character. Think about other movies that have them- The Notebook for example had another specific purpose.

Yeah, but think of how well it worked in Sin City

^ different tastes I guess. To me an VO would be spoonfeeding to an audience. Things left unsaid are powerful when an audience can pick up on them themselves. And he wouldn't just sitting below a portrait, he'd be *emoting* it's what actors do. There'd also be lighting, camera work and set design that all helps convey a mood.

Yeah, but think of how well it worked in Sin City

Totally different type of movie. Sin City was a over-the-top riff on crime noir and pulp conventions, a VO fits right in.

 

[blind_fury]

Fight Club is the exception to the rule. The character is an isolated whiner who has alot he wants to say about society. Batman is a stoic figure. To hear what he's thinking inside his head would demystify the character.

Inner monologues are for underdog characters who are conflicted(Taxi Driver, Full Metal Jacket, Apocalypse Now) not stoic, focused alpha males who are legendary and need to remain mysterious to seem somewhat unaccessable to the common man(Clint Eastwood characters, Indiana Jones, James Bond).

 

[TheBatman072]

Ehhhh...


No thanks.

 

[itsthebatman]

Fight Club is the exception to the rule. The character is an isolated whiner who has alot he wants to say about society. Batman is a stoic figure. To hear what he's thinking inside his head would demystify the character.

Inner monologues are for underdog characters who are conflicted(Taxi Driver, Full Metal Jacket, Apocalypse Now) not stoic, focused alpha males who are legendary and need to remain mysterious to seem somewhat unaccessable to the common man(Clint Eastwood characters, Indiana Jones, James Bond).

Good post. Explains it very nicely.
Mask of the Phantasm has that great scene where Bruce goes to the gravestone and talks to his parents about how he is feeling now he has met Andrea. If he had just been standing there, looking anguished, it wouldn't have been as good. Voice-over would have been jarring. The monologue to his dead parents did the trick perfectly.
God, I want a graveside scene.

 

[Secret_Riddle]

It would be a little to..raimi spider-man esque for my taste.

 

[the_monk]

I think it could work...but it's not right for the take Nolan has on Batman.

 

[Agentsands77]

Yeah, but think of how well it worked in Sin City

SIN CITY is a pseudo-parody of film noir, of which narration is something of a stable. It's a send up of a classic noir item. It's knowingly silly, but silly nonetheless.

 

[Manic]

Overused narration can get annoying, even in comics. Nobody wants a play-by-play voice-over where Batman tells the audience what they're already looking at. And the audience doesn't always need to be told what the characters are thinking.

However, I do like past tense voice overs. It indicates the story is being told to us (or someone else) as having happened already. And it's great when used sparingly (like at the beginning of each act, or just at the very beginning and end of the movie).

On the other hand, that would be inconsistent with the first Batman movie. We didn't need voice overs before, so why start?

 

[JackBauer24]

Nolan did employ present-tense narration in Memento (as opposed to past-tense narration of movies such as Fight Club and Goodfellas), but I really don't see it working in TDK. If only for the fact that there was none of it in BB - you don't change the style half way through a trilogy.

 

[Sun_Down]

Some narration could be cool, but not necessary.

 

[Anguissette1979]

I would imagine that TDK will follow the same style as BB. In other words, no VO.

 

[Two-Face]

I liked Michael Caine's VO in The Prestige, I wouldnt mind him doing the VO.

 

[Salcido]

Im not really sure about a voice over narriation, the way BB was done was perfect.

 

[Hobodeluxe]

I think it would work if done right. The perfect casting for Frank Miller's DKR would be Rourke doing Marv in a Batsuit. He has Batitude.

 

[Chucktallica101]

With the apparent complexity of TDK, do you think that there should be an inner monologue in the form of a Bale voiceover? would this destroy the movie or add another layer of complexity to the film? It worked in the comics, what about a live-action interpretation?

Meh. I don't think that it would work as well on film as it did in the comics.