Why so serious?

'I believe whatever doesnt kill you simply makes you  . . . a stranger' - Joker

It was the July of 2008. I was residing in the circle of convenience while serving my notice period. In a radius of 500m, I had access to a multiplex, swimming pool, 2 close friends and the client office which lifted shutters at 10:30am leaving atleast 3 productive hours at our disposal. One rainy Monday we split the 3 hours apportioning 0.5 to swimming and 2.5 hours to 'The Dark Knight' at Fame Inorbit.

At 10.30am, as we stepped out of the multiplex and strolled towards the client office, I thoughtfully remarked 'This is one of the best movies I have ever seen'. Almost, a year down the line, after multiple reruns on my laptop, the movie still stands in my top few together with the likes of 'The Shawshank Redemption' and 'Gladiator'. In IMDb it is voted as the 6th best movie ever made http://www.imdb.com/chart/top?tt0468569

Plot

The plot is plain and simple. There is a natural system as promoted by our holy scriptures i.e. Work and do not worry about rewards. Parallely, there is a society made by humans, which is entirely reward driven. The movie deals with 4 broad roles played by people in this setup.

1. Creators like Batman. He is the leaders who defines civilization and is  instrumental in enforcing it at any cost, even that of the Truth. Accordingly, he assumes responsibility of all 5 murders committed by Harvey. 

   'Because sometimes Truth isnt good enough. Sometimes people deserve more. Sometimes people deserve to have their faith rewarded' - Batman

2. Performers like Harvey Dent. If Batman owns the universty, Harvey is the topper. He is civilized only as long as the society rewards him for his contributions. This of course is unsustainable as nothing made by humans is perfect.  When Joker kills the leading lady, Harvey turns into a maniac

   'You die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become a villain' - Harvey

3. Survivors like Detective Anna. She is the low performer whose life revolves around payment of bills. To pay one such bill, she betrays Harvey and Rachel (and thus her morals) to the Joker. 

   'They are only as good as the world allows them to be. I will show you. When the chips are down these civilized people will eat each other' - Joker

4. Destroyers like Joker. He considers the entire society, nothing more than a joke. Hence the tagline . . Why so serious?

   'Some men arent looking for anything logical . . . like money. They cant be bought, bullied, reasoned or negotiated with. Some men just want to watch the world burn' - Alfred

   
   

Acting

Heath Ledger, who died before the release of movie at the age of 28, has made the Joker immortal. Even an Oscar seems too mild a reward for his performance. The video clip below is one of the most popular ones and spread all over youtube. Credits to francisJ91 at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQHfoz9Be7U&feature=related 

Background Score

The composers, James Newton Howard and Hans Zimmer, have done a great job. The score gels extremely well with the characters . . especially the Joker. 

The audio clip below sounds whenever the joker steps in at his evil best. Before the release, the soundtrack was considered by critics as 'unlistenable'. They referred to it as "minutes of your life that you'll never get back". Well !! It went on to with the 51st Grammy Award for Best soundtrack album for a Motion Picture.  

Credits to ghayooragain at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q2KjpKESXD0 for the audio clip.

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