So from then on he dipped his toes into a river of deeper roles, or at least less cute ones with movies like Four Feathers, Lords of Dogtown, The Order, and Brothers Grimm . But none of them tapped his full potential as a great actor and artist until, in some desperate attempt or clairvoyant choice he took the role of Enis in the adaptation of the short story Brokeback Mountain, a film downgraded by the label of "gay cowboy movie," when it was much more. It is obvious that this movie breaks boundaries by telling a tragic and beautiful tale of two forbidden lovers that surpasses anything that Shakespeare had ever come up with. Of course he was mildly incoherent. My friend and I had to watch the ending five times and then re-read the book to figure out what his last line was. But his acting surpassed everything I had seen in his past career. Heath was now set on a path and he had the challenge now to surpass his first great role.
And he actually succeeded. The first role that caught the public was his role in the original biopic of Bob Dylan titled I'm Not There . This movie got Cate Blanchett critical acclaim, and it seemed that Heath Ledger had been overlooked a bit, but he still took this new role as an artist in Hollywood and ran with it. Then there was the role that gave him the most publicity, maybe more than any other role has done for any other actor in twenty years -- The Joker. When I heard the first buzz about Heath being the Joker in the latest Batman installment, The Dark Knight, I, like many others, immediately thought of Jack Nicholson from the Tim Burton film. I questioned if this was the right choice. Could Heath Ledger actually pull this off? But as soon as the first trailer came out, I was assured he could. I'm sure I can say the same for the rest of the world, this was definitely going to be the best role of the summer and the year. Not to mention all the merchandise. Even now I'm wearing my Joker t-shirt. One design of about ten that are out there. While Batman and Two-face have what, two? Most of my friends didn't even know TwoFace was in the movie. The Joker has been dominating every Internet video site and he definitely doesn't disappoint in this smart, explosion-filled film. Somehow Heath made The Joker into something completely different from the original, which I believe to be a great update for this generation. He takes the words of Hannibal Lector, the actions of the Jigsaw killer, and mixes them with the mentality of the Joker from the cartoon we all know and love.
Now as for the debate over Nicholson or Ledger? Well I don't think there is a competition because these two men played two completely different characters. But as for the one that kept my attention for half of a year and then for another two and a half hours, well that has to go to Ledger.
So of course it is sad to say that his next movie, The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus , will be his last. Heath Ledger died at the young age of twenty eight, of an overdose. An accident that was speculated to be connected with his role as the Joker, even Nicholson was taped warning Heath about the role. But the question of whether he died for his art will go unanswered. No, all we can do now is celebrate his greatness in the film and try our best not to let this latest depressing event affect how beautiful this performances as an actor was and will always be.
Companion viewing: V for Vendetta, Memento, The Prestige, Trailer for Watchmen
-- Candace Kavanagh just graduated from Mount Miguel High School. She spends her life absorbing celluloid images. She loves every type of film from so-called "chick flicks" such as My Fair Lady and Legally Blonde, to mind bending thrillers like Mulholland Drive and Hard Candy -- with every zombie movie, action flick, musical, and comedy in between.
