32 pictures from ‘The Dark Knight’ featuring the unforgettable interrogation scene of “the Joker”

by Unbelievable Facts8 years ago
Picture 32 pictures from ‘The Dark Knight’ featuring the unforgettable interrogation scene of “the Joker”

The Dark Knight was released in 2008. The cinema buffs will always remember the brutal rivalry between Batman and the Joker played by Christian Bale & Heath Ledger respectively. Though there were numerous scenes, the iconic interrogation scene remains one of the all-time greatest superhero movie conflicts.

Heath Ledger’s Joker has become a cult character. His portrayal of the Joker is definitive and will remain unchallenged for years to come. The method actor Heath Ledger became known for his intense immersion into the characters (he played) and nothing exemplifies it than the intense interrogation scene from The Dark Knight.

Christopher Nolan, who directed the movie reveals that the interrogation scene was the central part of the movie. The scene provides the texture and sets the tone for the movie. On Heath’s Birthday, let’s revisit the unforgettable interrogation scene through the eyes of Christian Nolan, who shares why the scene was one of the first sequences shot for the film.

Dark Knight - Joker Played By Heath Ledger
Image Source: Imgur

“The scene that is so important and so central to me is the interrogation scene between Batman and the Joker in the film. When we were writing the script, that was always one of the central set pieces that we wanted to crack.”

Heath Ledger - joker
Image Source: Imgur

“On the set, we shot it fairly early on. It was actually one of the first things that Heath had to do as the Joker. He told me he was actually pretty excited to tear off a big chunk early on, really get one of the Joker’s key scenes up in the first three weeks of a seven-month shoot. He and I both liked the idea of just diving in, as did Christian.”

Heath Ledger Dark Knight
Image Source: Imgur

“The scene starts between Gary Oldman and Heath with the lights out, and [director of photography] Wally Pfister literally just lit the scene with the desk lamp, the table lamp, and nothing else.”

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dark knight
Image Source: Imgur

“And then when the lights come on, Batman is revealed, and the rest of the scene plays out with a massive overexposure.”

Dark Knight Bale & Ledger
Image Source: Imgur

“Wally overexposed like five stops, I want to say, and then printed it down to bring some of the color back in. But it’s this incredibly intense overhead light which let us move in any direction. We had a handheld camera and shot however we wanted, be very spontaneous.”

Dark knight set
Image Source: Imgur

“It was a great set built into a location. It had all of the advantages of feeling that we were in a real place.”

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nathan crowley
Image Source: Imgur

“Nathan Crowley, the production designer, built these great mirrors and this long, tiled room that I really loved the look of; it had the feeling almost of an abattoir or something.”

interrogation scene dark knight
Image Source: Imgur

“That all fed into the brutality of the scene. We wanted to be very edgy, very brutal.”

batman
Image Source: Imgur

“We wanted it to be the point at which Batman is truly tested by the Joker and you see that the Joker is truly capable of getting under everybody’s skin.”

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batman joker
Image Source: Imgur

“I’m realizing this now about that scene — I haven’t thought this through before — the synthesis of all the different elements that I’m most interested in within filmmaking all come in that scene.”

Ledger Bale
Image Source: Imgur

“We had rehearsed the scene a tiny bit. We had just ripped through it a couple of times in pre-production just to get some slight feel of how it was going to work.”

batman rehearsal
Image Source: Imgur

“Neither of them wanted to go too far with it in rehearsal. They had to rehearse some of the fight choreography, but even with that, we tried to keep it loose and improvisational. They wanted to save it all.”

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batman intense scene
Image Source: Imgur

“We were all pretty excited to get on with a big chunk of dialogue and this big intense scene between these two iconic characters.”

joker
Image Source: Imgur

“It was quite bizarre to see Batman across the table across from the Joker.”

joker - Heath Ledger
Image Source: Imgur

“You know, I could actually talk about this scene for hours.”

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joker laughs
Image Source: Imgur

“There are tight close-ups with just a little drift to the camera.”

Dark knight heath ledger
Image Source: Imgur

“We start in a very controlled way, but even within that frame, the way Heath is bobbing in and out…”

joker1
Image Source: Imgur

“…and he’s actually bobbing in and out of the focal plane because, you know, it’s very hard to follow someone whose leaning toward camera the whole time.”

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Heath Ledger
Image Source: Imgur

“It actually really adds something. We’re continually trying to catch him with the focus. You really see his movement back and forth.”

batman heath
Image Source: Imgur

“That way, even in a tight frame, you have this sense of strangeness.”

confrontation
Image Source: Imgur

“On the other hand, you have Batman sitting there just very, very controlled, restrained as you say.”

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fight
Image Source: Imgur

“Then there’s a point where it spills over into real physicality and he drags the Joker across the table. We go handheld at that point and shot the rest of the scene with handheld to be very spontaneous in its movement.”

fight ends
Image Source: Imgur

“They had rehearsed the stunts and the fight stuff very specifically, but we really let the actors work within that. I had never seen anybody sell a punch the way Heath was able to with Christian. I got the violence I wanted. What I felt was really important creatively for the scene was that we show Batman going too far. We show him effectively torturing someone for information because it’s become personal.”

rage
Image Source: Imgur

“Rage is very much a central part of the story in ‘The Dark Knight,’ and that interrogation scene is the fulcrum on which the whole movie turns. I think Batman finds out — and Bruce Wayne finds out — a lot about himself in that scene. I was just delighted to get to see Christian show that rage. And it’s wonderfully balanced with Gary’s control as well.”

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joker flat
Image Source: Imgur

“Even though everyone remembers the scene as being the Joker and Batman, Gordon played a very important part to setting it up and allowing this interrogation to happen.”

sideline
Image Source: Imgur

“And then as he is watching from the sideline, he sees the exact point where this is going too far. He knows Batman well enough to observe this, to recognize it. He tries to get in, but Batman has locked the door.”

pounding J
Image Source: Imgur

“And what we get to lead to, by the end of the scene, when he’s just pounding on the Joker, I think Heath managed to find the exact essence of the threat of the Joker and who he is.”

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fallen
Image Source: Imgur

“He’s being pounded in the face and he’s laughing and loving it. There’s nothing you can do. As he tells Batman, “You have nothing to do with all of your strength.”

impotence
Image Source: Imgur

“There’s this sort of impotence of the strong and the armored and the very muscular Batman; he’s very powerful, but there’s no useful way for this power to be exercised in this scene. He has to confront that.”

christian
Image Source: Imgur

“Originally, at the end of that scene, once the Joker reveals his information, Christian dropped him and then, almost as an afterthought, he kicked him in the head as he walked out of the room. We wound up removing that bit. It seemed a little too petulant for Batman in a way.”

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futility
Image Source: Imgur

And really, more than that, what it was is that I liked how Christian played it: When he drops the Joker, he has realized the futility of what he’s done. You see it in his eyes. How do you fight someone who thrives on conflict? It’s a very loose end to be left with.”

Here is a bonus picture of the Joker from The Dark Knight.

The Joker falls
Image Source: Imgur
[source: herocomplex.latimes.com]

Also Read:
15 Less Known Facts About Heath Ledger’s Life And His Iconic Role as ‘The Joker’ in “The Dark Knight”

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Picture 32 pictures from ‘The Dark Knight’ featuring the unforgettable interrogation scene of “the Joker”
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