“Nagging missus” defence to go

Justice minister, Maria Eagle has announced changes to laws around murder. One of these reforms means that men can’t argue provocation as a defence when accused of killing their wives. About bloody time!

The sexist double standards and misogyny inherent within the criminal justice system has allowed men to get away with murder and women like Kiranjit Ahluwalia, Sara Thornton and Emma Humphreys were sentenced to life having experienced ongoing systematic violence.

I was involved in the campaigns to release these women, part of that was to highlight the sexist double standards prevalent in the treatment of women over domestic violence. Organisations like Southall Black Sisters led these campaigns, as Cath Elliott says in her article, along with Women’s Aid.

Domestic violence generally, and not just where there is a death, still destroys womens’ lives on a vast scale. In a time of punative rhetoric about law and order and out of control teenagers a form of violence that dwarfs gangsterism gets hardly anyone hot under the collar: indeed it is probably a safe bet that most of the hang’em and flog’em brigade will come over all sympathic to the rights of the indivdual man in the dock when it comes to talking about these proposals.

The Dark Knight: whatta Joker…..

Well, after much anticipation and suspense, Heath’s Ledger’s Joker was less Jack Nicholson’s more Clockwork Orange.  It is kinda tragic and sad that not long after the film was completed Ledger died. But the celluloid screen holds an indelible memory of his very impressive last role. Ledger now belongs to that group, actors dying young whether fast and furious a la James Dean style or not, others include River Phoenix and Brandon Lee.

Gotham City is awash with crime organised by the various mob syndicates. Batman, our anti-hero, isn’t doing is usual clean up of the baddies and seems to be taking a break. Along comes good true hero, Harvey Dent, the young idealistic DA, who wants to bring mobsters to book and shrugs off the threats on his own life. Then along comes a spate of bank robberies committed by men wearing joker masks. Step forward, The Joker, all smeared make-up, menace and gallows murderous humour, who really wants to be the leader of the bad guys but later undermines the mobsters as he believes Gotham deserves a “better class of criminal”. It’s not about the money for the Joker, it’s about causing chaos. He also wants to take on Batman who he believes is as much as a ”freak” as he is. Two sides of the same coin.

The plot now revolves around indiscriminate murder, mayhem and hideous jokery committed by the clown (“I believe that what doesn’t kill you makes you stranger.”).  Along with Batman/Bruce Wayne’s unfinished business between his former love, Rachel, who now is with Harvey. The frisson still exists between them but Rachel knows that any relationship with Bruce will be crowded cos of his commitment to Batman.

Nolan creates a noirish, brooding and dark film. The script becomes plodding, 1-dimensional and dense in many places. I would say it is overlong. But I was also longing for the Joker every time he wasn’t on screen. The frenetic, dynamic, nihilistic and anarchic Joker whose energy kinda speeds up the proceedings. There’s no back story, all we know is that this scruffy, grungy, and twitchy individual with his exaggerated mannerisms had a Larkinesque f*cked up violent childhood.  More edge and foreboding brought to the story. Circumstances and experiences from the past seemed to shape the Joker.

The length of the film reflects a comic book style with the moral conundrums and ambiguities. Can someone incorruptible become corruptible? Is there a difference between the Joker and Batman? The Joker describes himself to Harvey Dent as nothing more than a dog chasing cars and when he catches up with one he doesn’t know what to do. He doesn’t have plans (it’s Gotham City’s establishment that have the plans) or strategy just unrelenting chaos, anarchy and twisted humour.

It was Heath Ledger’s Joker that made The Dark Knight with his twisted interpretation of the world and text book psychopathy that embodies a lack of concern for human life (sounds like a pro-war former prime minister!) whilst Christian Bale’s Batman (why the deep deep voice when he is Batman? Off putting and unnecessary) is worthy who has trusty reliable people around him like Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman) and Alfred the butler (Michael Caine) unlike the lonesome Joker (with his anonymous gang) who takes on high techno arsenal of Batman. Homages and nods to James Bond are apparent such as  Lucius Fox acting like “Q” when explaining the latest gadgets and gismos to Bruce. Or when the Joker attacks Batman Rosa Klebb style with a knife that juts out of his shoe.

I liked the film and do admire the work of Nolan especially his previous excellent Memento. We don’t get to see as much as Maggie Gyllenhaal’s Rachel as a character created in her own right as a opposed to a love interest between two men!

Aaron Eckhart is much much better later on in the film (though he has never really surpassed his exemplary acting in the film, In the Company of Men). And Gary Oldman as the moral dutiful cop, Lt Gordon.

But it’s Heath Ledger’s crafted scary clown with his wonderful cackle that makes this second instalment. What a note to end on.

Oh, and btw: there were CCTV cameras in the Odeon I went to….the surveillance society.

For a taster of the film …see below trailer.