THE DARK KNIGHT RISES eclipses almost everything else on the big screen horizon. I predict it will get Academy nominations for Best Picture as well as Best Director. I was stunned and sadden that shortly after my Friday movie update on Michael Knight’s KNWZ 94.3 morning news show during which I raved about this spectacular film, the breaking news of the horrendous killings in Colorado hit the news. The sacred safety of our secular churches – that’s what theaters are in our age – has been violated in an obscene way. Don’t blame the movies, and don’t blame guns. The true cause is much deeper. It’s just another sign of the times. In fact, it’s what Christopher Nolan’s film is all about.
Visually rich and intellectually challenging, this film confirms Nolan as the supreme master of contemporary cinema. His take on the almost 75-year-old comic creation of artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger places the brooding billionaire in a fallen world that we immediately recognize. The story takes place eight years after the fade out of THE DARK KNIGHT (even though it’s only been four years since that film’s release).
In order to save DA Harvey Dent’s reputation, Batman/Wayne nobly accepts blame for his death. Wayne’s now a bearded, crippled a recluse wandering the corridors of his mansion, still served by the compassionate and concerned Alfred (Michael Caine), who gives tremendous emotional resonance to the story because we share his worry for what Bruce has become — and now wants to do.
This is a world of masked posers: Catwoman, Batman and Bane all have identity issues, dangerous compulsions and dark disorders. There’s more than a reflection of our world on the brink of economic and environmental chaos and madness. The problem here is that although Bruce is forced out of his self-imposed exile, he’s a shadow of his former self, and obviously no match for the powerful and terrifying Bane (not to be confused with Romney’s former employer Baine).
Nolan’s last installment in his brilliant trilogy does justice to the source material, yet he gives it his own apocalyptic spin and brings it full circle. This morally urgent Wagnerian film thrills, frightens and finally awes. It’s a noir fable writ large like an Old Testament tale. Grim, shocking and viscerally exciting, this gargantuan finale dips deep into the zeitgeist we share
where nothing is sacred and no one is safe. Finally, Bruce Wayne must come to terms with the alter ego he has fashioned for himself and Gotham in the name of justice. But really, even though it’s never stated, Batman’s whole obsession is not so much about being unable to get revenge for the murder of his parents, but not being able, or knowing how, to forgive. This relevant and supremely accomplished piece of cinematic art torques the mind and visceral punches the senses. And when it’s over, you want to stay in your seat and see it again.
On the other end of the movies spectrum, there’s a great documentary now available for the home theater.
JIRO DREAMS OF SUSHI
Is Jiro Ono the world’s greatest sushi chef? When this film was shot, Jiro was 85 years old and still going strong, running his world famous, compact, 10-seat sushi bar unfashionably located in a Tokyo subway station. The prestigious Michelin Guide gave it an astonishing 3 stars, the first for a restaurant of its kind.
Jiro’s global reputation is so secure, no doubt more so now with David Gelb’s transcendent film, that eager customers make reservations months in advance. The minimal cost for his multi-course dinner — served in three movements like an orchestral piece — is a minimum of 30,000 yen. That’s around $400. And it’s all sushi — no appetizers or drinks. But by all accounts, that’s a very small price to pay to taste what almost everyone says is a miraculous meal.
Jiro adjusts his exquisite servings to fit the diner. If you’re a man or woman, large or small, the servings are customized for your size and sex. Yes, women eat less. If you’re right or left-handed, Jiro, or one of his assistants, places the sushi for the most natural gesture whether eating by hand or chopsticks.
Another thing. Jiro likes his diners to all finish about the same time. He not only prepares, but also masterfully conducts the whole culinary experience.
This marvelous film is exquisitely photographed and beautifully scored. It is unquestionably a work of near hypnotic art that transports you to another world. The exquisite film reflects the same care Jiro prepares his sushi. He bases his daily menu on what is the very best seafood and rice available. If it’s not the best, he doesn’t buy it for his restaurant. All Jiro’s suppliers are the supreme experts in their single-specialty fields as well.
For Jiro, it’s not about the money or the fame, but the honor of finding the ritual that best allows others to experience gustatory perfection and — dare I say it? — grace.
Watching Jiro at work, applying his decades of super specialized culinary knowledge, is like watching Bach compose or Rembrandt paint.
Don’t miss this extraordinary film that is, in truth, a Zen experience of being in the fully in the moment and discovering that one small unexpected corner of the universe where, for a mindful moment, life is perfect. Yes, even if it’s in a 10-seat diner in a subway station.
Listen for my Friday movie updates on Michael Knight’s KNWZ 94.3 morning show. RobinESimmons@aol.com
