The Dark Knight

The Dark Knight Literary Elements

Director

Christopher Nolan

Leading Actors/Actresses

Christian Bale, Heath Ledger

Supporting Actors/Actresses

Michael Caine, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Gary Oldman, and Aaron Eckhart

Genre

Superhero, Action, Thriller

Language

English

Awards

Academy Awards - Nominated for: Cinematography, Editing, Art Direction, Makeup, Sound Mixing, and Visual Effects; Won for: Best Supporting Actor (Heath Ledger) and Best Sound Editing

Date of Release

July 18th, 2008

Producer

Emma Thomas, Charles Roven, and Christopher Nolan

Setting and Context

Gotham City, present day, after the events of Batman Begins

Narrator and Point of View

No narrator or POV

Tone and Mood

Dark, thrilling, brooding, philosophical.

Protagonist and Antagonist

Batman vs. The Joker

Major Conflict

Batman is trying to clean up Gotham while also fighting with the supervillain and agent of chaos, the Joker. He is also conflicted about whether to give up the identity of Batman and pursue a normal life.

Climax

Batman catching the Joker and then Batman killing Two-Face.

Foreshadowing

Joker foreshadows many of the evil things he will do with odd asides. Harvey Dent's corruption is foreshadowed by his observation that heroes either die young or live to see themselves turn into villains.

Understatement

At the start of the film, the power and influence of the Joker is constantly understated.

Innovations in Filming or Lighting or Camera Techniques

Allusions

Allusions to philosophy and to the comic books on which the film is based.

Paradox

The Joker is insane and chaotic, but also always two steps ahead, and thus, extremely methodical.

Parallelism

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