Screenplays of '12. Pg 12. "The Dark Knight Rises"
Saturday, December 22, 2012 at 10:10AM New daily! I'll be sharing page 12 of every screenplay I've received for 2012 Films. With commentary! Until you get bored. Which maybe you already are? I thought y'all would love the last entry on Zero Dark Thirty but there be crickets.
The following scene is our introduction to the sole bright spot in Chris Nolan's final Batman film. That'd be Anne Hathaway as Catwoman if you were momentarily confused. I'm not sure what I was thinking when I gave the film a positive if unenthused review. It did not age well within the summer, let alone the year. I'd easily name it Chris Nolan's worst film (though I have not seen Insomnia). But anyway... PAGE 12.
INT. SITTING ROOM. EAST WING, WAYNE MANOR - CONTINUOUS
The Maid looks at FRAMED PHOTOGRAPHS OF RACHEL, THOMAS, and MARTHA WAYNE. Some are half-burned. She notices an ARCHERY TARGET, ARROWS stuck in it. She reaches out - WHAM! AN ARROW STICKS IN THE TARGET - the Maid spins around, FLUSTERED. Wayne, at the other end of the long room lowers a COMPOSITE BOW. Picks up his cane.
MAID
I'm, I'm terribly sorry, Mr. Wayne.
It is Mr. Wayne, isn't it?
Wayne nods, gently. Limps toward her.
MAID (CONT'D)
Although you don't have the long
nails...
(nervous laugh)
Or facial scars...
She trails off, embarrassed. Coy. She seems very young.
WAYNE
Is that what they say about me?
MAID
It's just that... nobody sees you...
Wayne approaches, slowly. He nods at her PEARL NECKLACE...
Aren't you glad I didn't bore you with the first half of the page which is a scene with Marion Cotillard? Good Chris(t) but Nolan didn't do her any favors by casting her in that picture.
So let's all just focus on Awesome Annie (VIDEO AFTER THE JUMP)
Reader Comments (21)
I think one of the reasons the 'Zero Dark Thirty' post might have got less comments than you might have hoped is that a lot of people haven't seen it yet. I love the idea for this series but I'm trying to avoid as much as I can about ZDT until it's released in the UK.
That being said, it's a shame you think Dark Knight Rises hasn't aged well (even though you weren't that enthused to begin with). I've only seen it once but I thought it wasn't too bad, better than The Dark Knight (which was extremely overrated), but not as good as Batman Begins (which I thought should have got the kudos that Dark Knight did).
Oh well, the trilogy boxset is on my Christmas list so I'll be revisiting it soon enough to see what I think :)
Until I saw Hitchcock, DKR was easily the worst movie I'd seen this year. I think Joseph Gordon-Levitt is its other bright spot, and I was always really grateful when he or Hathaway were onscreen.
The thing about them, though, is that both of their characters are excisable. Which means that you could take the only two good things out of your already-way-too-long movie and not affect the plot one bit. That's a problem.
And it broke my heart a little to see Marion and Tom Hardy used so poorly.
Can we just forget TDKR even happened. The most self important movie ever made. There I partaked in its own brand of hyperbole.
@murtada I was just coming to comment the exact same thing. It's annoying that even after seeing the final cut of the stupid thing, the TDKR team still has the gall to submit it for Oscar consideration. Let alone for its screenplay!
Dear Santa,
Make Christopher Nolan disappear by any means necessary. His popularity made the internet more social unbearable. Hollywood is filled with imitation and the Nolan ripoff product will force us to endure entertainment with its nose in the air believing itself better than what it is entertainment.
P.S. Nathan Baby
Screenplay postings are clinical.
"Nothing says Christmas like slaves and whores"
That video is amazing.
Approximately 100 times better than The Dark Knight Rises.
And yeah, I haven't even read the Zero Dark Thirty post because I want to go in knowing as little about the specifics as humanly possible... to a film whore who devours movies blogs at this time of year like candy at Halloween.
Sigh, I still think The Dark Knight Rises is the best blockbuster of the summer and has aged a good deal better than say...Amazing Spider-man or Avengers. It's not Best Picture quality necessarily, but it's got a scope to it that is undeniable.
Insomnia is probably still Nolan's best movie, so no worries there.
In my humblest of opinions, the screenplay for "The Dark Knight Rises" is flat-out awful. As others have pointed out, as much as Hathaway tried (and mostly succeeded), her character was ultimately irrelevant to the plot. And that's to say nothing of Juno Temple, as I still have no idea why she was even in the movie. Nolan's screenplays have always had a tendency toward plot contrivances and minor holes due to his seemingly desperate desire to achieve complexity, but they've never been as plainly obvious and damaging as they are in TDKR. The revelation concerning Cotillard's character was one of the worst decisions imaginable, especially since nothing was done with it after the fact. It was also quite insulting to fans of the Batman comics, since it was presented with the intent of being shocking, when honestly, anyone with even a cursory knowledge of Batman outside the movies should have been able to see that coming from the very beginning of the movie, if not even BEFORE they saw the movie (as I did, from the moment Cotillard's was cast).
I thought I was done ranting about that movie 5 months ago, but this just reminded me of how bad it really was. I'd personally even watch "Spider-Man 3" again before this. At least that movie had some "so bad it's good" moments. TDKR was too self-important to find any humor in it.
"Marion Cotillard? Good Chris(t) but Nolan didn't do her any favors by casting her in that picture."
You are so right! Every moment was excruciating with her. Especially her death scene which looked like it was acted and directed as though it were a silent movie. Unfortunately for Cotillard, we could hear it, and, worse, watch that hammy collapse into the arms of the grim reaper. It still amazes me that Nolan did not re-shoot that scene. My first thought was perhaps Nolan was stressed for time. But the second time, I just thought: "WOW...he doesn't like her"! Otherwise, why let that embarrassingly bad moment be a part of the final cut. That decision really is a mind-blowing head scratch.
"Sigh, I still think The Dark Knight Rises is the best blockbuster of the summer and has aged a good deal"
Ya, sure. Five more months and it will surpass "La Dolce Vita". Look out Vertigo, you may soon be usurped (within weeks). It has scope alright; unfortunately it's a stethoscope, inserted anally, which is a problem for TDKR because you can hear it.
This comments thread once again proves that the only thing as obnoxious as the Christopher Nolan fanboys are the Nolan haters.
I do like the screenplay posts, though. Keep 'em coming.
I can forgive the self-importance, TDK was also self-important but good. I can't forgive Nolan for making me laugh every time Hardy "opened" his mouth. In my limited knowledge of accents, he sounded like Craig Ferguson parodying accents. And that's not what you want when you aim at epic.
@Roark You are wrong if you think I am a Nolan hater. Nothing could be further from the truth. I've been an enthusiastic supporter of his since "Following". In fact I think he may be a genius. TDKR seemed rushed and not well thought out, hence my disappointment. There are some really great moments in the film, but also much more disappointments. Iggy just reminded me of another irritant when he mentioned Hardy's ever-changing phonetics. The list goes on. I'm glad Nolan is done with the series. I expect more greatness from him in the future. He was tired with Batman, and it was evident with this last installment.
I really like The Dark Knight Rises & I'm such a Nolan Lover but the screenplay seems like something I would be embarrassed to present in my screenwriting class
Hmm.
I really thought TDKR was alright. Not awful, just alright. Hathaway's great Selina Kyle was a bright spot like you guys said. I didn't have much of a problem with Cotillard either (but i might be slightly biased because she's won me over with her last few performances) Her death scene was pretty terrible but she was decent before that. I liked her as a villainess but the writing really didn't help her out. She pretty much canceled Bane out and didn't get alot of screentime after the big reveal came.
TDKR might've been more bloated, but "awful"? Not so much.
Mike in Canada you said just what I wanted to say, I agree with you completely that Joseph Gordon-Levitt joined Anne Hathaway in brightening up the movie. I thought he was really fantastic, and have been disappointed that he hasn't gotten more recognition for the role.
I have to say that it was the turning point for my opinion of Anne Hathaway, I really didn't care for her before this movie but I thought she was really fantastic. I always appreciate when an actor can change my mind about them with a terrific performance (see also Keira Knightly in Pride and Prejudice). I agree the movie itself was a disappointment, and such a waste of Tom Hardy.
Since it's that time of year I just wanted to say thanks for your blog Nathaniel, I enjoy it so much, Happy Holidays!
Roark, I'm not a Nolan hater either. In fact, both "Batman Begins" and "The Dark Knight" made my top 10 lists in their respective years. I should be able to criticize one movie without getting lumped into a "hater" category. I never hope for filmmakers to fail, and I know that Nolan is capable of making a good movie. I just didn't think he succeeded on this particular occasion. No reason to dismiss people's opinions as biased one way or another based on one movie.
i wasn't talking about you, edwin.
Long time reader, first time commenter...
LOVE this series! (and your blog)
Yeah Cotillard's death scene in TDKR was n't great, but if you read the screeplay it says that she laughs to herself(!) stops breathing and closes her eyes (so it's not like her great death scene in Inception), but maybe it is supposed to be that way, in that seeking revenge has made her character pathetic and alone whereas Batman is not?
Guillaume Canet has actually spoken about Cotillard's death scene in TDKR in the December/January edition of French Premiere magazine, here's the quote:
'This whole story about the scene where Marion’s character dies in The Dark Knight Rises is absolutely not her fault. It’s Nolan’s, who should have used another take. She offered him a multitude of options, and this one is the one he chose… I find it super brave of an actor to offer as many different tracks to a director. After that, it’s his job to be vigilant when faced with his film at the editing stage.'