by Brendan Cole
Should Heath Ledger win a posthumous Oscar for his performance as the Joker in the new Batman film 'The Dark Knight'?
This may be the first time you have encountered that particular question, but it is unlikely to be the last, because Ledger’s 'Joker' is generating an unusual type of Oscar heat, and lots of it.
It's the type of question - tantalising but ultimately impossible to answer - that anyone who sees the film will be expected to have an opinion on.
There are some key facts to be taken into consideration.
First, it must be noted that it would have been unusual for such a role to be considered for major acting awards under normal circumstances. That is because, on the face of it, 'The Dark Knight' is the wrong sort of film, and it is being released at the wrong time of the year. So, Ledger's untimely death in January of this year is obviously a key factor in the Oscar talk. However, it should also be noted that 'The Dark Knight' itself isn't really a Summer Blockbuster in the classic 'mindless entertainment' vein.
On a more general note, whatever else happens, this film may also help the Academy to look outside the 'usual suspects' at Oscar time; big, entertaining films deserve more of a look in than they generally get.
As an aside, it must also be said that Ledger took the screen with plenty at stake. This role is arguably his first effort at a real shape shifting 'tour de force'. That the film attempts to marry serious blockbuster money making with a serious artistic statement must have added to the pressure. It is, or at least it wants to be, a thought provoking and serious piece. Ledger took a risk in taking on the role. The question now is, 'did he succeed'?
'The Dark Knight' - depends on Joker role
To put it in context, much of the drama of 'The Dark Knight' essentially depends on his unpredictability. For the film to succeed, the Joker needed to be a magnetic screen presence, and to convincingly get across the character's warped morality. In that sense, Ledger delivers by putting in what I would call a big-but-subtle, technically excellent performance in what is undeniably a very demanding role.
There are possibly one or two caveats. Ledger succeeds despite some weak writing, and there are certain issues with the structure of the story and the length of the film. But even so, Ledger is in my opinion, one of the best screen villains we have seen in recent years. To me, the performance invites comparison with Jack Nicholson's psychopathic author in ‘The Shining’ - the gold standard for this type of character - and Ledger is by no means outshone.
Watch Ledger in 'The Dark Knight' in Windows or Quicktime.
So, on the question of whether the performance itself is good enough, the answer is a qualified 'yes'.
But could, or should it win the Oscar?
On the face of it, why not? The Academy is often seen to reward transformative roles and on that level, this is a masterpiece. It is hard to believe Ledger's Joker is played by the same actor who delivered such a quietly powerful performance as the monosyllabic loner Ennis Del Mar in 'Brokeback Mountain'.
As an aside, I believe that Ledger should have won his Oscar for that role; instead it went to Phillip Seymour Hoffman for his turn as Truman Capote, which still seems to me a much safer, more stereotypical gay role than that of Ledger's. Looking ahead, it is worth noting that the Academy is often seen as collectively quite sentimental, and is not above putting to rights the perceived mistakes of the past by dishing out gongs to make up for historical wrongs.
In any case, Ledger's performance as Ennis Del Mar, described by Daniel Day-Lewis as 'unique' and 'perfect', probably remains the best of his career, but his Joker is still a great performance, and it is without doubt in the 'Oscar Worthy' class.
In fact, the greatest tribute I can pay it is to say that the quality of it is such that during 'The Dark Knight' there is not a single second during the film in which I thought about 'Heath Ledger, the actor'.
As such, if the Academy feels it can judge his performance fairly against those of Ledger's peers, there is no reason why his Joker shouldn't be considered alongside them.
