An Oscar for Ledger?

Have you guys heard the Oscar talk yet for Heath Ledger?

First, “Heath Ledger gives a blockbuster performance in the new Batman movie. His work as The Joker will absolutely be nominated for an Oscar... Ledger offers perfect pitch, perfect tone...”

And then, Mr. Peter Travers of the Rolling Stone, in the Dark Knight’s very first review, wrote:

“I can only speak superlatives of Ledger, who is mad-crazy-blazing brilliant as the Joker. Miles from Jack Nicholson's broadly funny take on the role in Tim Burton's 1989 Batman, Ledger takes the role to the shadows, where even what's comic is hardly a relief. No plastic mask for Ledger; his face is caked with moldy makeup that highlights the red scar of a grin, the grungy hair and the yellowing teeth of a hound fresh out of hell. To the clown prince of crime, a knife is preferable to a gun, the better to 'savor the moment.'

“The deft script, by Nolan and his brother Jonathan, taking note of Bob Kane's original Batman and Frank Miller's bleak rethink, refuses to explain the Joker with pop psychology. Forget Freudian hints about a dad who carved a smile into his son's face with a razor. As the Joker says, 'What doesn't kill you makes you stranger…' Ledger's Joker has no gray areas — he's all rampaging id. Watch him crash a party and circle Rachel, a woman torn between Bale's Bruce (she knows he's Batman) and Eckhart's DA, another lover she has to share with his civic duty. 'Hello, beautiful,' says the Joker, sniffing Rachel like a feral beast. He's right when he compares himself to a dog chasing a car: The chase is all. The Joker's sadism is limitless, and the masochistic delight he takes in being punched and bloodied to a pulp would shame the Marquis de Sade. 'I choose chaos,' says the Joker, and those words sum up what's at stake in The Dark Knight.”


Sara Stewart of the NY Post wrote, “If he had a soundtrack, it would be something along the lines of the Sex Pistols, whose singer, Johnny Rotten, was cited by the actor as one of his inspirations for the role, along with Malcolm McDowell's performance in A Clockwork Orange. His puckered grin of a scar and cracked, sweat-smeared makeup are a punk-rock take on the original, purple-suited archnemesis. Ledger developed a whole new body language for the character. His Joker's tendency to lick his lips and blink extra slowly gives him, at times, the appearance of a demonic lizard.”

I love it! I love his whole take on the Joker, certainly his laugh but also his lizard-like lip-licking. I especially love the rampaging id without any pop psychology explanation beyond his addiction to chaos. Why explain it all? Isn't the mystery of his wicked villainy far more interesting?

I don’t recall where I read this exactly, perhaps it was the NY Times, but Heath saw an uncut version of the film before he died, loved it, and asked Nolan to play it again, which he did for him, of course.

Here’s the brand new extended trailer if you haven’t seen it.



Great, great fun.

-MM