Warner Bros. has released for free on their YouTube channel the documentary ‘Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, and The Dark Knight Rises’, 76 minutes of absolutely fascinating behind-the-scenes footage from the movies and clips with actor Heath Ledger, who died in 2008, shortly after becoming one of Hollywood’s most popular names for his portrayal as the Joker in one of the trilogy’s films.
The documentary reveals some auditions for the role of Bruce Wayne, including Christian Bale’s performance, who was tasked with playing the Dark Knight, and of course, it’s possible to follow much of the development of Ledger’s legendary performance, who already in his audition showed his level of involvement with the character by asking to do his own makeup as the Joker.
The film’s director, Christopher Nolan, reveals in the documentary that he and Ledger were in sync on how the character should be seen by the public, in his words: “absolutely agreed on the overall picture of who this guy would be” as they discussed the role of the Joker, and he claims that ‘Heath was ready to do that’, which was evident and even led the actor to receive a posthumous Oscar for his brilliant and yet unsettling portrayal of the villain.