Why so serious indeed

I am certainly glad that I went last night to the Times Talk "Reinventing Batman" which was a live interview with Christian Bale and Christopher Nolan. However, unlike many comic book geeks I'm sure, I found that talking about Batman is like dancing about architecture - while I'm sure the film is going to be a hoot, talking about it as if it were a deep work of high art kind of takes the piss out of the whole thing. Nolan obviously takes his work seriously, as well he should, but it makes for surprisingly dull conversation in the end. His philosophical approach to the Batman genre probably thrilled the comic book lovers in the audience but the film-lover in me found it a little too serious for a popcorn film.

So thank god Christian Bale was there. I had heard of course that he takes his work very seriously but thankfully not too seriously. When asked whether he was afraid he wouldn't be taken seriously after doing a franchise film, he pointed out that he already has the least serious job on the planet. When asked whether it was hard to act against Heath Ledger's over the top portrayal of the joker, he stated that as his character was wearing a rubber bat suit in all their scenes, the "larger than life" portrayal fit right in. He took a call from his three year old daughter while a clip from the film screened. He refused to comment on how much of his own stunts he had done because he didn't want to ruin the magic. Someone in the audience asked Christopher Nolan about the on-line viral marketing campaign and Christian Bale confessed he had never even heard about it but, intrigued, asked Nolan how he could Google it (another audience member gave him the answer to that one). In discussing how he likes to explore different genres of film, he said that all genres "other than romantic comedies" intrigued him and he would be willing to take on any of those. Why no romantic comedies? The genre is an "oxymoron" according to Bale.

P.S. Nolan and Bale were interviewed by Times critic Caryn James who bears an eerie resemblance to Amy Fisher.