i am vengeance
matt reeves has directed one of the most
self-destructive batmans we have seen
put to screen in recent memory
and he uses every element of this
brilliant movie to explore the batman's
psychology or as carl jung would put it
the shadow persona i did a lot of
reading about mass and the idea of
tapping into the shadow side and i think
he's not he would probably tell you he
was doing it to improve the city but the
degree to which it's personal um is
beyond i think even his understanding at
this point
swiss psychiatrist carl young stated the
shadow to be the unknown dark side of
the personality most often the shadow is
constructed in our youth from
undesirable behaviors we learn
that are unacceptable in our communities
therefore we repress these behaviors and
hide them deep within ourselves creating
the shadow matt reeves however focused
on creating a batman with a shadow
persona created not from behaviors which
are unacceptable to society but from the
trauma
of his parents murder therefore the
batman's shadow serves the purpose of
protecting bruce wayne from experiencing
the same pain in the future
again
however this shadow has been ignored for
so long it's manifested entirely as the
ferocious batman we see on the screen
[Music]
i'm vengeance this self-destructive
version of batman has built an emotional
wall around himself so he doesn't create
emotional connections with the victims
of these crimes
this short moment just after batman has
laid the beat down on some thugs is a
masterclass in directing with the shadow
in mind
the light around the victim is pale
yellow however when we cut back to the
batman he's in darkness the lower half
of the screen in hues of threatening
reds this juxtaposition subtly lets us
know how this victim must be perceiving
the batman in this moment but it also
lets us know just how different these
two characters worlds are the actors
blocking or movement in the scene is
also very telling the batman stands in
front of the victim his body is turned
away this creates a physical
disconnection elaborating further the
batman's shadow at work protecting him
from any emotional connections for such
a viciously ferocious scene prior to
this very static moment
the batman is dramatically still
and it seems like he has no intention of
approaching and helping this victim thus
endangering his emotional barrier not
satisfied with this we are treated to a
camera move to yet again reinforce this
idea
the camera pushes past the citizen's
shoulder as batman's focus changes to
the sky
by removing
the victim from the frame we insinuate
that the batman has literally lost
interest in the victim his attention has
completely shifted this makes us realize
the batman does not prioritize the
victim reeves is trying his best to
explore how the batman currently lacks
the empathy for the people of gotham due
to his shadow
now if we journey all the way to the end
of the film after batman has traversed
all of the film's challenges the final
scene perfectly parallels this first
scene with the batman this wide shot
showing batman picking up a victim after
the tragic events at the end of the film
shows a mastery of subliminal filmmaking
but also a keen awareness of the
batman's shadow
on the surface this is a very cinematic
shot the sun rising and batman carries a
victim through the crowd triumphantly
but it has so much more beneath it
compare this to our first scene
the people all around the batman are
also sat on the ground giving batman the
same sense of elevation as the first
shot however there are quite a few
differences here
you'll see the various people around
batman in this final scene
watch him not in fear or horror but in
awe additionally batman is seen in the
same shot as the crowd unlike the first
scene where he's seen on his own he's
finally connected to the people of
gotham combining the batman and the
crowd in the same shot has the
additional effect of giving both groups
the same glorious backdrop dawn imagery
has such strong psychological effects on
an audience as it represents hope growth
and potential which matt reeves is
saying batman now represents instead of
um vengeance with regards to lighting
compared to our first shot where the
batman was lit in silhouette and the
victim was lit by the station's lighting
now at the end of the film both groups
are lit by the glow of the sun from the
same direction again making us feel the
connection between the batman and the
citizens of gotham the second shot sees
the sun literally explode from the back
of the batman's head as a sort of visual
epiphany for batman he really has
changed from the batman we met at the
beginning
as he lays the victim on the stretcher
to be carried away by the national guard
the victim reaches out for him as he
lets them go on the stretcher this is
such a touching moment for the audience
and batman matt reeves could have easily
left the scene without this subtle
detail but it adds so much to the
meaning of batman's growth in the first
scene the victim felt unsafe in the
batman's presence
but now this victim feels safer with the
batman than with the national guard we
get even more masterful blocking in this
moment in the first scene the batman
stands over the victim and matt reese
could have had the batman hand the
victim over to the national guard and
stand in front of the victim again but
instead
he blocks the batman to kneel down and
carefully place the victim on the
stretcher himself this to me is so
powerful as it helps to highlight how
being mr um vengeance won't save gotham
he has had to recognize his shadow to
overcome his deep-seated fears of
emotionally connecting to others to be
able to truly save gotham
finally as he rests the victim's hand
back on the stretcher we have a
brilliant acting choice unlike the first
scene where the batman just leaves the
victim he instead chooses not to just
not leave but he keeps his hand
connected to the victim for reassurance
as the stretcher is lifted into the air
this may seem over the top but i feel it
perfectly represents how the batman has
changed to become empathically connected
to understand the emotional needs of the
victims of gotham rather than just being
i'm vengeance um vengeance
if you're interested to see how carl
jung's theories of the shadow have been
used in other films you can check out my
link above and down below for my episode
on the brilliant power of the dog