The Kidd here...
We've all been frustrated by the lack of information stemming from Christopher Nolan's films before we ever step foot inside a theatre.
"What is THE PRESTIGE?"
"What's going on with this dream movie?"
We want to know what we want to know, when we want to know it, and that is usually now. We've all been guilty of seeking out spoilers. Hell, part of the foundation of AICN was built upon getting you information before anyone knew it and certainly before anyone involved in the production wanted you to know. However, Christopher Nolan has been able to avoid our watchful eyes for the most part.
Have there been plenty of set pics from THE DARK KNIGHT RISES making the rounds? Absolutely. We've seen Bane and Batman fighting, The Bat take flight, Selina Kyle/Catwoman straddling the Bat-Pod, but do any of us think that, even with as much as we've managed to glimpse, Nolan doesn't have plenty more tricks up his sleeve, waiting for our discovery in July?
As much as it pisses some of us off that we don't know the brunt of TDKR way in advance (I myself am torn between knowing nothing, knowing enough and knowing everything), there's a method behind Nolan's madness. Of course he won't come right out and tell you... that'd ruin some of that mysterious mystique he's still able to carry. But that won't stop composer Hans Zimmer from explaining Nolan's reasons for such tight secrecy.
In a piece by the L.A. Times, where Zimmer elaborates on his new approach to scoring THE DARK KNIGHT RISES, he also gets into Nolan playing things so close to the vest.
“There’s always this thing [that people say], ‘Oh, Chris is so secretive.’ Well, I think that there are two elements to this. One is, I think, to be able to do really good work, you have to have the chance to fail in privacy. And if everybody’s watching you on the Internet, I think it stifles creativity. And I think ‘Dark Knight’ is the perfect example of this idea. Everybody knew we were making a Batman movie. But until it came out they didn’t know it was going to be that sort of a Batman movie.”
Zimmer added: “And isn’t that what we’re supposed to do? We’re supposed to go and surprise you. And part of the experience has to be a surprise. It feels a little bit like we’re working very hard at protecting part of what is great about movies — the surprise. Because it seems like the world doesn’t want you to do that anymore. They want to know everything, they want to know about the stars and [this and that] immediately. And it’s not important to us. To us, really, the thing is the writing and the script and the ideas and the journey, and making it into something really good.”
Go ahead and raise your hand if you're guilty as charged.
Has Nolan insulated himself from the fan criticism, skepticism and negativity that comes from us jumping to conclusions about things we're seeing out of context by simply not letting us see anything? We don't seem to be all bothered as it's all kept hidden from us, because his track record of films has earned our trust. Sure, we want to see what we can about THE DARK KNIGHT RISES, just as we wanted to see what we could about THE DARK KNIGHT... but do we really want to? Aren't we just plaing games with our own curiosity, knowing that watching the full experience will be far better than any small tastes we might be able to get our hands on along the way?
We all bitch and complain when a trailer shows us too much of a movie, when we feel like we're watching a condensed version of the film that eliminates any reason to pay our money at the box office to then see it in full. Zimmer is right. We do want to be surprised. We do want to let the movie come to us.
I realize we're not going to get that all the time. Studios have products they need to sell, and they're going to do whatever it takes to get as many mindless asses in the seats who'll see just about anything. But isn't it nice to have someone like Nolan or J.J. Abrams, who operates in a similar fashion, around, doing whatever they can to protect that experience for us of going to the movies to see it unfold for us, taking us back to what it was like before the internet, when information flowed like wine. (Go figure... spoilerish images from STAR TREK 2 start making their way out as I say that.)
Do you agree with Zimmer that less is more when it comes to finally seeing your films? Or do you to know everything you can NOW NOW NOW?!
-Billy Donnelly
"The Infamous Billy The Kidd"
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