Brokeback Mountain: Our Community's Common Bond > Heath Ledger Remembrance Forum
The Dark Knight: News, Reviews, your Views. "SPOILERS" welcome!
Ellemeno:
"With Ennis Del Mar, the young actor delivered a performance so stunning and true that we’ll never be able to quit him."
Thanks very, very much for posting, Meryl. :-*
Penthesilea:
--- Quote from: Meryl on July 17, 2008, 07:15:09 pm ---From the Tribeca Film Festival newsletter, a wonderful article, clearly written by a Brokie:
http://www.tribecafilmfestival.org/news-features/features/heath.html
Wednesday July 16, 2008
Heath Ledger, You Got Us Good
By Nathaniel Rogers
When people talk about "promising" actors it means they’ve generally been impressed but they’re still waiting for one great performance or signature role to come. Ledger’s death came far too early; there’s no disputing that. But promising isn’t the right word for his gifts. His breakthrough performance was not a promise made but a promise fulfilled. Ledger’s death and this towering performance have placed us in the awkward position of Jack Twist himself. We’re still staring greedily at Heath Ledger, asking in vain for more. With Ennis Del Mar, the young actor delivered a performance so stunning and true that we’ll never be able to quit him.
--- End quote ---
The author of the article already had me at the headline. And it only got better while reading.
At the blue part, I thought, finally someone gets it!
Thanks so much Meryl for posting :-*.
I think this should also be posted in the Brokeback Mountain Resources Forum, it clearly belongs there, IMO. Would you, Meryl?
Oh, and I'll also post a referring link to your post on HHH.
southendmd:
OK, I saw the 12:01AM show tonight. SPOILERS ahead, perhaps...
You've been warned....
It's almost 4AM here, so the following will be less than coherent.
Like I said at the Culture Tent, after the first few moments of recognizing little Heath quirks (mostly his mouth), I stopped seeing Heath and only saw the Joker. It is an amazing performance; he somehow goes beyond caricature so typical of this type of villain. While sadistic, he also supplies the only comic relief in an otherwise pretty dour film.
I am a confirmed wimp when it comes to violence in films, and this was way over the top for me. I actually thought of walking out a few times. The PG-13 rating is an absolute travesty, in my opinion. Even though there may not be much in the way of gore, I squirmed through most of the thing.
I found Christian Bale pretty stiff, and his Batman voice was an annoying loud whisper. I didn't detect much internal conflict in this performance. Gary Oldman acted circles around the rest of the main characters. Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman were delightful, and contrasted Batman/Bruce's lack of personality. Maggie was OK; I can't say much about Aaron Eckhart other than I liked his hair.
Heath had relatively little screen time. If there's an Oscar nomination, I would think it would be for supporting actor.
The so-called "tribute" during the credits was no more than a simple "In memory of Heath Ledger" and the fellow who died in an accident.
Sorry to be so negative, it's just not my kind of film.
I appreciated Heath's performance, but I will prefer to remember him as Ennis.
I'll be very interested in other Brokies' opinions.
Paul
Penthesilea:
I already replied to your comment on the other TDK thread; I'm following you around the board this morning ;D
--- Quote from: southendmd on July 18, 2008, 04:13:18 am ---
Heath had relatively little screen time.
--- End quote ---
Now this is a surprise. After all the hoopla, all the marketing campaigns centering around the Joker, I would have awaited that he is (almost) as much the central figure of the movie as Batman is, with plenty of screen time.
--- Quote ---I appreciated Heath's performance, but I will prefer to remember him as Ennis.
--- End quote ---
Without having seen TDK (obviously), I think many of us will agree with you.
southendmd:
Well, at least no nightmares! Of course, I only had about 3 hours of sleep.
I think my experience was tainted by the environment as well. I hate being herded like cattle along with hundreds of other moviegoers; it started about 20 minutes late; it was unnecessarily hot in the theatre; we had to sit through trailers for every action film coming out in the next decade; and the film itself is l-o-n-g, about 2 1/2 hours.
Chrissi, Heath's screen time was relatively short, in minutes at least. But, boy, it was quality time. I think some reviewer mentioned that the film drags when Heath is not on-screen and I would definitely agree.
His accent is bizarre (I'm sure you've seen the clips), he does this thing with his tongue that adds to his creepiness. He has one costume change that is hilarious. Funny, I don't want to spoil it!
The Joker embraces anarchy, and violence for its own sake, and so does the film. Probably why I didn't really like it.
But hey, lotsa stuff blows up, and there's a Mad Max-like chase scene.
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