As Oscar season approaches, the buzz behind this summer’s box-office conqueror “The Dark Knight” has begun to feel the scrutiny of definitely being considered as a contender this year, particularly in light of Ledger’s standout performance. The smash hit sequel to 2005’s Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, starring Christian Bale as the avenging masked crimefighter of Gotham City, Batman, and the late Heath Ledger as the maniacal and sadistic clown-faced criminal the Joker, opened July 18th to rave reviews. However, as Bale himself said before the film came out, “There are no prospects for that […] It’s the genre thing again, but hey, look, I’m very happy with what I did and what I set out to do. But it’s not award-worthy. It’s not the kind of thing that gets it. Listen, Heath’s performance is extraordinary, and I’m quite happy to say he steals the show. He does, absolutely. He’s just phenomenal in it.”
As the Oscars approach this February, The Dark Knight has finally begun to wind down from a half-billion dollar run at the box office, which owes much to Ledger’s much-lauded performance of the face-painted classic Batman villain. Ledger himself died this past January in New York, of an accidental prescription overdose, but has still been rumored to be the recipient of a posthumous nomination and even win. However CNN.com is reporting that besides for technical awards and perhaps a nomination for Bale, The Dark Knight’s chances for wins are slim. Still, the critical responses and massive box office draw, which has drawn comparisons to the film Titanic, over a decade ago, which went on to both box-office gold and Oscar gold as well.
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By Costa Koutsoutis (Source: Newsarama)
In the past, the Acadamy has overlooked films of this genre, in favour of the more dramatic movies. They don’t tend to go for the fantasy / sci-fi / summer blockbusters in the major award catagories, these type of movies usually get awards for technical achievment, make up, and things like that. However, I was pleasently surprised in 2004 when my favourite movie (The Lord Of The Rings) took everything it was nominated for in Return Of The King, including best director and best picture. Let’s hope that with The Dark Knight, the Acadamy will make similar recognitions.
Heath Ledgers performance in this movie has to be one of the best I’ve ever seen by an actor, and he should be recognized. Not with a sympathy nod, but because he seriously deserves the award. He shouldn’t be overlooked because he was in a summer “superhero” blockbuster – think about it – an award for acting should be just that. An award for an outstanding performance. It doesn’t matter the type of movie it is. If an actor can capture your full attention when they are on the screen, if you can look past the “actor” and see that he has made his character believable, if he can make you feel every emotion, make you laugh one minute and then completely shock you the next, if his character haunts you for days after seeing the movie, then he has entertained you with an outstanding performance. That is what a good actor does, and that is what Heath Ledger did in this movie. He put everything he had into making the Joker real, and he made you believe that you weren’t actually watching Heath Ledger, you were seeing this character that he had completely become. Heath Ledger had a talent that will be greatly missed.
The movie itself had everything to hold my attention, all the way through. Lots of action, drama, emotion, the occasional comic relief, a good story, it was very entertaining. The cinematography put you right in the picture, and the soundtrack took you on a rollercoaster ride of heart stopping action, and psychotic emotional terror. I would like to see this movie recognized by the Acadamy, I feel it is deserving of awards in many categories, and not just technically. We go to the movies to be entertained, and we, the paying audience, the fans, love to see our favourite movies recognized. I hope that next years Acadamy Awards will honour The Dark Knight in the many areas that it is deserving.