For what it’s worth, having seen the movie a few times now, I have changed my mind somewhat - that is, I think that the way H.L. played this role was quite outstanding. So, I’m happy to take back that much too facile “Anyone could have played it” observation. I’m now quite sure not many actors would have come close.

Whether he deserved an Oscar for it is another thing. They’ve been given to much lesser actors, for less interesting roles, so I have no quarrel at all with H.L. getting his posthumously.

I still seriously doubt he would have been nominated, if he hadn’t died but that’s another point altogether.

Anyway, glad this old post - and all those comments - were of some use to you,
J.

I’d never actually watched the guy in anything before TDK, and i’d heard no end of people raving on about how amazing he was in not only TDK, but Brokeback Mountain and A Knight’s Tale… But I do agree, whenever someone dies in the Hollywood industry, it seems that there is always going to be a gigantic hype over how amazing that actor/actress was. I do wonder if he would have got all the attention if millions of women didn’t want his babies though. Perhaps that was a tad insensitive but the point remains.

Having watched TDK now, i really did think that he played the role so well. And yeah, I can’t agree that anyone could play it, just because I feel that is it such a complex role to play. Sure, anyone can play an insane lunatic, but the he played the role in such a sinister manner, what with the constant licking of the lips, that made me feel uneasy just watching it, so yeah, I do feel he deserved some recognition for a part well played. Just a shame about the overhype :(

Anywho, thanks again all for the comments and thanks Jantar for putting up an awesome thread in the first place, that’s my film coursework finished :D

The same goes for idiots who only ’speak’ in caps.

Anyone who will commit any of these three deadly sins in the future, will ’see’ his or her post removed with extreme prejudice,
J.

I’m still not absolutely convinced he should have got the Oscar for the role but I’m no longer sure he should not have. In other words, I agree now that the type of role as portrayed by K.H. here could make for a proper nomination.

Whether it was the best acting performance that year (or whether the actor would have received the Oscar if he hadn’t died) is another story entirely.
Thanks again for the extensive and well-argued comment,
J.

You say that Health Ledger’s Joker (in comparison to, say, Jack Nicholson’s) was an ‘easy to play’ character, one who was nothing more than a laughing, prancing cartoon character. And with that, I must completely disagree, as his role was played much further than that.

HL’s Joker was not a laughing, dancing character, much like JN’s was. He was, without a doubt, about as close as you can get to a real-world version of a comic book supervillain. He wasn’t face-painted - he was scared, lips cut into permanent smile - and, for all intents and purposes, he served as that ‘unstoppable force’. HL’s Joker was truly sociopathic, killing people and destroying a city just for kicks, intelligent beyond all belief, and, most importantly -

He had no origin story, and very little depth. He killed and destroyed for apparently no reason at all. We DON’T know where he came from, or why he did to Gotham what he did, or even how he managed to do all those things. He was a sort of sum of all fears - a collection of that bestial darkness lurking in the very back of humanity’s collective mind. In essence, everything so horrible and bloody and, well, completely evil, that we cannot - and will not - understand it. He is an enigma, something without beginning or end, and that is what makes him a undeniably disturbing character.

The fact that he had no origin story - no terrible item to place blame on for who he was - may have been the director’s intention all along, but to essentially play it from scratch, without any real source material (other than the cartoon-y comic books)? To convert a laughing, prancing, heavily-made up cartoon character into laughing, prancing, heavily-made up sociopath playing with an entire city as his toy?

Heath Ledger deserves an Oscar due to the acting talent he displayed in this way, as this sociopath - not because he died, not even because it was tragic, but rather because he brought an intensity and uniqueness to a film role that made the movie, in many ways, a superhero movie, an emotional baw-fest, a psychological thriller, and a philosophical debate all rolled into one. This role, this particular talent, was vital to both the success of the story and the film that would have, without Heath Ledger, have failed on all of these levels. And that is, in a rather large nutshell, why Heath Ledger deserves an Oscar.

Still, it’s like the death of Diana. First the mass hysteria and then - after a looooong while - some more moderate analysis.

That will happen to the Batman movie too, I’m sure. No way it will still be seen as a better (and/or more important) movie than the Godfather (or the other titles you mentioned) in, let’s say, five years’ time,
J.