Reviews Film / Batman Returns

Batman as a Gothic Tragedy

One might wonder why this film could be singled out as gothic- after all, Batman literally lives in Gotham City, right? Well, sort of. Batman has been portrayed as Film Noir, Pulp Fiction, and pure camp, but never has it been truly gothic, save for this film.

The reason I'd single this film out as Gothic is all from its heavy use of common Gothic motifs- the strangely supernatural aura the three leads have, despite no overt magic taking place, the rampant Animal Motifs, the incredible darkness of the world they live in- all of these make the story into more of a tragedy of two people (Batman and Catwoman) who cannot find their place in a dark, unwelcoming world, of a monster trying to wreak a terrible vengeance (Penguin), and of a monster that uses the facade of being a normal person to exploit these other characters, and the world around him (Max Shreck), a quasi-vampire played by Christopher Walken.

What makes all this work, in my opinion, is the contrast between these characters, and the brilliant story that is told with as few words as possible. Ultimately, Batman's character arc is shown as thus- feeling lost after slaying the monster who killed his parents, bereft of purpose, he tries to drive others away by becoming more like a monster himself with killing. What he finds are two people who disrupt his view of himself as a tortured man-beast by meeting a man who is more of an outcast than he could ever be ("You're just jealous that I'm a genuine freak, and you have to wear a mask!") and a woman who is so exploited by the world that his own personal tragedy seems like a minor inconvenience. Contrasting all these deep yet bizarre figures is a character who resembles nothing so much as a cartoon villain- a man that works to ruin all three of the other characters and never shows even a hint of remorse or even acknowledges his crimes, and who paints himself as more of a personification than a true person ("I am the light of this city, and I am its mean twisted soul.")

In the end, the tragedy of these figures is played out- the beast who sought vengeance has it all crash down around him, the tortured woman is left without answers, likely as lost a s our hero was a the start, and the true villain is destroyed with little fanfare, while our hero rides off into the night, as lost as he was when the story began.