Over this past weekend, I was in serious need of a Batman fix. Seeing as I had seen each film in the Nolan trilogy multiple times over the past few months and I don't own either of Joel Schumacher's abominations, I decided to revisit Tim Burton's BATMAN and BATMAN RETURNS (sorry, Adam West). Now, don't get me wrong, the first film is great and I still enjoyed it immensely. I had forgotten how much I like Michael Keaton as the Caped Crusader and Jack Nicholson's performance of the Joker is, although very different from Heath Ledger's, really fantastic. But I didn't really get anything new out of it. It wasn't until I watched BATMAN RETURNS that I discovered something I had never realized before.
Strewn about the entire 1992 work are countless references to German Expressionistic cinema from the silent era. Compared to BATMAN (1989), RETURNS is shot in very dark, muted tones, primarily in nothing nothing black, white and grey. Not just the colors of the film give off an Expressionist vibe, however. Besides the overall color saturation and stylized shots, Danny Elfman's score of classical music powered by strong organ parts throughout paired with Burton's overly built, twisted sets and out of date costumes are all referential to classic German silent films of the 1920s.
What originally set off this line of thinking, however, was Christopher Walken as Max Shreck. Now, I consider myself to be fairly knowledgeable about the Batman franchise and I had never heard of a character called Max Shreck, though the name seemed incredibly familiar. It seems interesting that Burton would make on of the main characters of the film (and arguably the film's main antagonist) someone who never appeared in the comics, right? Burton making this completely new character such a major player in the film must have a major point. Finally taking the time to look up the name, I realized why it seemed so familiar. The real Max Schreck (notice the subtle "c" at the beginning of his surname) was a German actor in the 1920s, most famous for playing the famous vampire Orlok in the German Expressionist classic NOSFERATU (1922). Maybe the reason Walken's character plays such a major role is because he plays a major part in Burton's loving tribute to one of his major influences. And while this would sufficient to make obvious connections, Burton takes it one step further.
You see, Christopher Walken's makeup and fantastic fright wig in the film were not chosen simply to make him seem more menacing and bizarre (though they totally work on that level too). No, he also bears a striking resemblance to the mad scientist Rotwang (please hold all snickering until the end of the post) in Fritz Lang's 1927 sci-fi Expressionist film, METROPOLIS (1927).
Above are picture Max Shrek's skyscraper headquarters for his multi-million dollar department store from RETURNS and the Tower of Babel from METROPOLIS. Though not completely identical shots, I believe the fact that Burton chose this particular way of depicting the skyscraper (and the fact that the two buildings have a very similar architectural structure) is extremely intentional. But Shreck isn't the only villain that gets the Expressionist treatment.
Danny DeVito's portrayal of the Penguin, while disgustingly amazing in its own right, also has its roots in another classic silent era German film, THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI.
Though not always as clear as pictured above, I think it is pretty obvious that the Penguin character is modeled after the character of Dr. Caligari. Not only are they both portrayed as completely reviling creatures, their senses of style (including glorious top hats and accentuating walking devices) and overall builds are identical. Still not convinced? Take a look at these shots:
For those of you who haven't seen THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI and/or BATMAN RETURNS (though shame on you if you haven't!), in both films, the characters of Penguin and Dr. Caligari are found out to not be who they are claiming. After this revelation, they are both chased by the townspeople over highly stylized bridges and eventually make their escape. Surely this cannot be mere coincidence. It seems clear that Burton went to great lengths to reenact some of the most iconic scenes and characters from a time period that he clearly loves and cherishes.
Now, I'm sure there are tons of other subtle references to various German Expressionist films in BATMAN RETURNS, but admittedly I am not expert. I would be remiss, however, if I didn't just mention my assumptions that Catwoman, notably her costume/makeup and her fall/death scene, has her own set of references. That being said, I think it's definitely an interesting narrative to explore, not only in BATMAN RETURNS, but any work in which Tim Burton was not restricted and allowed to make the film he wanted to make with all his influences intact (the character of Edward Scissorhands comes to mind as a reference to another CALIGARI character, Cesare). BATMAN RETURNS is strikingly different in style from BATMAN, and I think it has a lot to do with Warner Brothers' unwillingness to let Burton off the leash initially. I also believe it's clear that Tim Burton has extremely strong German Expressionist influences and I think that recognizing this allows for a new and interesting perspective from which to view and enjoy some of his earlier work.
