Mise-en-scène em Gotham: Batman Begins de Christopher Nolan

Abstract

This research proposes to investigate the construction of the urban environment of Gotham in Christopher Nolan’s Batman Begins (2005). Batman Begins presents a origin narrative for the character created in 1939 by Bob Kane and Bill Finger. Portrayed by several artists, writers and filmmakers, Batman is a character of diffuse authorship, whose adaptation processes constitute dialogs between diverse expressive codes. Through these relations, room is given to aesthetic constructs and meaning assignments that coexist and enrich each other, rather than substituting each other. Therefore, I seek, in this dissertation, to observe elements of the narrative and aesthetic constitution of Gotham in Batman Begins, taking into consideration possible intertextualities. I start from the premise that the city is an articulating element in the narrative, as is acts on the constitution of the figure of Batman, a paradoxical hero. Theoretically and methodologically based on Linda Hutcheon and Julie Sanders (adaptation theory), and David Bordwell (film theory), among others, I look to investigate the resources employed in the construction of Gotham, especially the film’s mise-en-scène, as well as to the referece/adaptation materials used for the film production, in the comics and, possibly, in other films dedicated to the character. The city, as I argue, can be thought of something more than a backdrop for dramatic action.