Several years after the maligned live-action debut of Bane inBatmanand Robin, director Christopher Nolan and actor Tom Hardy reimagined the villain forThe Dark Knight Rises. Just over eight years later, Nolan shares his take on why Hardy’s portray of Bane should more appreciated in the future.
Traditionally depicted in the comics as a luchador mask-wearing adversary whose enhanced physical strength is fueled by the drug called venom, Bane rose the prominence as one of the Caped Crusader’s most powerful and calculating foes after successfullybreaking the Dark Knight’s backin DC Comics’Knightfall. InThe Dark Knight Rises, Nolan redesigned and repurposed Bane’s mask to supply an analgesic gas to relieve the pain of an injury sustained several years before the events of the film. While Hardy’s performance was generally well-received, even many supporters of the film found it difficult to understand him due to the muffled dialogue caused by the mask.
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During an interview on The Happy Sad Confused podcast, Nolan expressed his support for Hardy’s take on Bane and suggested audiences will reassess his performance for the better. “There’s no safety net for any of these guys and Tom, I mean… What he did with that character has yet to be fully appreciated. It’s an extraordinary performance, and truly amazing,” Nolan said.
The filmmaker also provided insight into the conversations he had with Hardy regarding how to convey emotion whilethe actor’s face was concealed. “The voice, the relationship between just seeing the eyes and the brow. We had all these discussions about the mask and what it would reveal and what it wouldn’t reveal, and one of the things I remember him saying to me, he sort of put his finger up to his temple and his eyebrow and said, ‘Can you give me this to play with? Let people see this.’ Sure enough, you see there in the film, this kind of Brando-esque brow, expressing all kinds of just monstrous things. It’s really quite a performance,” Nolan said.
Months beforeThe Dark Knight Risesdebuted in theaters, Warner Bros. attached the opening sequence of the film to IMAX screenings ofMission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol. Audiences began complaining about having difficulty understanding Hardy’s Bane, prompting Nolan to adjust the character’s voice for the full theatrical release. Nonetheless, while the adjusted voice was comparatively easier to comprehend, there were still some who were unable to make sense of what Bane was saying.
Over the years, issues regarding sound would continue to plague Nolan’s films. Most recently, the filmmaker wascriticized for including inaudible dialoguein his science fiction action-thrillerTenet.
Nolan is hardly afraid to dish out his own criticism, particularly when it comes to how studios have been handling distribution amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The filmmaker is currently one of theharshest critics of Warner Bros.' decisionto release 17 films from its 2021 slate in theaters and on HBO Max on the same day.
