Joker Of The Pack

WARNING: The following article may be inclusive of plot spoilers, integral to the storyline of “Batman: The Dark Knight”. If you choose to read on, you do so at your own risk, knowing full well that whatever you read from this paragraph onwards could potentially ruin the film for you if you haven’t already seen it, and still wish to.

The portrayal of the Joker, by the late Heath Ledger, in the latest “Batman” film was always going to be something difficult to judge accurately for the professionals. Film critics wouldn’t usually dare mention a bad word about the acting ability of a dead man. But had he thrown in an awkward, shoddy performance for his penultimate appearance on the big screen, outright lies in the media simply wouldn’t have cut the treacle. In that scenario, critics would have found themselves in the middle of a Catch 22 situation: they wouldn’t be able to make disparaging remarks about the quality of Ledger’s depiction of the aforesaid character, yet at the same time, they had no opportunity to shovel tripe into the mouths of an eager British public.

They were saved the hassle. Ledger was immense. The level of control he had over his role was of the highest standard; the Joker was displayed as being past the brink of sanity, though whenever he was given the chance to explain himself, more often than not, he was lucid and the viewer could empathise with his reasoning (if not empathise, at least see some sort of understanding).

In the minutes that followed the ending, I had a question put forward to me:

“What did you think of Heath Ledger as the Joker?”

My immediate response was distinct approval for the man, as I’d been exceedingly impressed. When posing the question back, I was a little surprised to hear the person say they disagreed, believing that any actor could have been cast successfully to play the face-paint donning hoodlum of Gotham City. First of, I knew what he meant, and refrained from taking exception to the comment just because I held a different opinion. Sure, many an actor probably would have been able to convince the majority of an audience that they’ve done a good job playing the film’s primary villain. That, however, would only be applicable to showing how mad the Joker is. When it comes to proving the Joker is far less mentally incapable as he first appears to be, the list narrows; sifting out those who do not possess enough skill or talent. For that reason, I don’t think there were many other than Ledger in a position to outperform him.

Perhaps I’m wrong. Perhaps I was so overwhelmingly dazed by the brilliance of the Joker himself, I lost sight of the man behind that face-paint and would have been just as enthralled if he were someone else. After all, Heath Ledger didn’t write the Joker’s lines, and those were what spoke to me.

By that reckoning, I should, if truth be told, be thanking the original writers for introducing such an intriguing character to the fold of the “Batman” series. It wasn’t solely his extensive knowledge of human behaviour that captivated me (he was aware that people are unperturbed when told a tank full of soldiers will die, but should they be alerted to the impending doom of an old woman nobody really knew, all hell would break loose), but his manipulation and exploitation of this knowledge was dumbfounding (may I make particular reference to the call for the public to kill the man about to expose the true identity of Batman within an hour in order to save the destruction of a hospital, or how he made hostages look like captors and vice versa late in the film).

You know you wouldn’t endorse the criminal activities that went along with his “special powers”. But I wanted to pay tribute to the intelligence he has at his disposal. So well thought out, I admire him for everything but his evil tendencies.