Hans Zimmer is one of the most successful and brilliant composers of recent years. He has worked on dozens of block buster movies to create some of the most iconic scores of all time. One of his best works, in my opinion, is the score he created for Christopher Nolan's "The Dark Knight." His theme for the character of the dark knight, titled "The Dark Knight," condenses Batman's character arch and story into a 16 minute masterpiece of music.
The music builds slowly in the beginning. It is not until 1:20 that we get introduced to Batman. The music here is empowering and heroic like the character of Batman that we have all come to know and love. However, there is a thematic shift around 3:45 that presents a darker tone. This is where we are introduced to the dark knight. From 4:30 to about 10:00, we are in the second act of this piece. The music shifts from an empowering and hopeful tone to one full of confliction, loss and confusion throughout this time. Constantly, Zimmer is lifting our hopes then crushing them. He uses screeching strings to convey horror and suspense, and robust horns to convey power. This is exactly what Bruce Wayne experiences throughout the film and it is perfectly represented through this music. Between 10:00 - 12:40, the tension grows to an all time high and the motif of impending doom is present. This is where we have entered the third act. At 15:00, our hopes are accounted for and the empowering music drowns out the confliction for good. The dark knight has won his battle for Gotham.
It is amazing how themes of music are able to tell a story with or without the presence of a screen. Zimmer has mastered the art of storytelling through music. Even unaccompanied by the film, I could listen to this piece and see the story play out in my head. While this is not the most recognizable theme of the film, it stands for everything Nolan portrays Batman to be in his rendition of this iconic story. It is because of music like this that this film has been called one of the best of all time.
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