Oppenheimer director, Christopher Nolan
is a popular figure not for just his direction but also for his exceptional writing skills. The director has written screenplays for multiple projects including fan favorite and Academy Award-winning movies like The Dunkirk (2017), The Dark Knight (2012), Interstellar (2014), Inception (2010), and many more.
But he has also done collaborations with other creative people from the industry for writing a screenplay. One of them is Jonathan Nolan, his brother who co-written the screenplay for a movie that was not only a blockbuster but is still considered one of the greatest movies of all time.
Do you remember the scene where Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart), and Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) were having dinner with their dates? Of, course you remember it! No one can ever forget the part when Harvey says,
“You Either Die A Hero, Or Live Long Enough To See Yourself Become The Villain.”
The Tenet director explains that it kills him as the best quote from the film wasn’t written by him. He also shared that at that point in time, he didn’t even understand what it meant which is quite hilarious if we think about it. He did put it in the final draft as the line is relatable to the audience. He states that it resonates with how we treat each other.
While talking about this line, Nolan explained in an interview with The Deadline that,
“I’m plagued by a line from The Dark Knight, and I’m plagued by it because I didn’t write it. My brother [Jonathan] wrote it. It kills me because it’s the line that most resonates. And at the time, I didn’t even understand it. He says, ‘You either die a hero or you live long enough to become the villain.’ I read it in his draft, and I was like, ‘All right, I’ll keep it in there, but I don’t really know what it means. Is that really a thing?’ And then, over the years since that film’s come out, it just seems truer and truer. In this story, it’s absolutely that. Build them up, tear them down. It’s the way we treat people.”
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This line didn’t actually end well for Harvey because he did become the bad guy in the end. ‘Two Face’. And the credit for it goes to the Joker (Heath Ledger). To this day, it is one of the best jokes he ever pulled off. However, killing ‘the Boy Wonder’(Robin) will always top the list for me.
Caeser and Harvey Dent
The scene is a very pivotal one as Harvey tells everyone at the table that Batman is not just a vigilante. It is the most well-written scene if you ask me because Harvey Dent explains why the city needs a man like Batman when Harvey explains this to Rachel (Maggie Gyllenhaal) he refers to the Roman Empire and how they used to let one man protect them when the enemies were at their gates. They would suspend democracy. Rachel counters this point by telling him that “the last man who was appointed, refused to give up his power was named, Caesar.”
What’s Next for Christopher Nolan?
After a successful year with Oppenheimer, the director is all set to end the year with a bang as the Oscars are coming. He is also nominated for best director which he certainly deserves. Oppenheimer is nominated for 13 Oscars but the director has already shared about his plans. Recently, he shared that he is interested in making a horror movie if the right idea comes to him. Well, let’s just hope that he uses CGI if he ever makes a horror movie instead of bringing in real ghosts because that will surely look realistic enough.