Made In Hollywood

At the Chicago Classic Theater, the screening of Batman: Begins was nearing its end. Facing his own principles and Henry Ducard's desire to destroy Gotham City, Bruce Wayne chose neither to kill nor to save, letting the leader of the League of Shadows fall with the monorail.

The final villain of the film was Batman's mentor, Henry Ducard. Batman's combat skills were all taught by him, but at the time, Ducard had no idea how unwavering Bruce Wayne's beliefs and unshakable conscience were. This could be seen from Bruce's firm refusal to behead the farmer.

After defeating Henry Ducard and protecting Gotham City, Bruce Wayne finally found the meaning of his existence. He was no longer someone who lived only for revenge, but had become the protector of the city.

At the film's end, Batman converses with Commissioner Gordon on the rooftop. People had begun to see hope again, and signs of Gotham's revival had appeared. But crime had not been eradicated. Justice and evil would continue their battle.

A playing card instantly ignited Norman Shiller and Brad Miller's anticipation for the next installment Who is the Joker? Why does he dress as a clown? What has he done? How will his confrontation with Batman unfold?

As Batman unfurled his cape and soared through the night sky of Gotham, thunderous applause erupted in the theater. David Ellison and Megan Ellison had no difficulty sensing that Batman: Begins, as the opening chapter of a new trilogy, had clearly gained the approval of the ordinary audience.

To defeat an enemy, you must first understand them. David Ellison had done plenty of homework on Duke and Batman beforehand, and having studied at the USC School of Cinematic Arts himself, he could now reach a conclusion easily compared to the previous four Batman films, Duke Rosenberg's Batman:Begins had a unique style. And it was outstanding!

Even though he now viewed the director as an enemy, he would not deny this.

That was just as well only by defeating a strong opponent could he prove his own abilities.

Like Duke, David Ellison was never one to fear competition and challenges.

He sat there, using the knowledge he had gained at USC Film School to recall the entire film, analyzing its strengths and weaknesses to extract some lessons that might benefit him.

As the first film in Duke Rosenberg's Batman trilogy, Batman: Begins aptly showcased the relationships and traits of its main characters. It also planted the seeds for the fate of each character later on. One of its most prominent features was that, compared to his four "predecessors," the Batman in Duke's hands stepped down from the pedestal and became a flesh-and-blood human being.

Next to him, Megan Ellison's eyes also shimmered with thoughtful light, completely lacking her previous arrogance. As someone who had once made it in the complex world of Hollywood even with help from the Ellison family her personal abilities couldn't have been lacking.

She, too, had been a student at USC Film School, and her taste in film leaned more toward the artistic. Naturally, her perspective differed from David Ellison's.

Although she had previously had conflicts with Duke and Scarlett Johansson, in her heart, Megan Ellison believed this film far surpassed the previous four Batman movies.

Director Duke Rosenberg's continued success in Hollywood was definitely no coincidence. He had infused his own opinions and insights into Batman:Begins, making this trilogy full of philosophical and profound social meaning.

Unconsciously, she began to dissect the film like a student completing an assignment from a mentor, breaking down important parts of the film into several segments for analysis.

First segment: A large number of bats fill the screen, vaguely forming the image of one giant bat.

Megan Ellison believed this symbolized Batman. Most viewers like her, without being prompted, were clearly startled by this scene. That was the "fear" the movie wanted to convey. The formation of the large bat image represented "usable fear," which served as a foreshadowing for the film's subsequent message.

Second segment: Bruce and Rachel play hide-and-seek. Bruce, holding a spear, falls into a well, and a swarm of bats attacks. Bruce awakens—this was his earliest encounter with bats and the moment they became his inner fear.

Third segment: Bruce is imprisoned after a fight. Henry Ducard appears and talks to him.

This is the first confrontation between the protagonist and antagonist. Ducard says the League of Shadows exists to fight crime. Bruce argues they are vigilantes. The Ninja Master explains that only those who lose the struggle are called vigilantes and are usually imprisoned. Only those who surpass their limits and devote themselves to ideals become legends.

Fourth segment: Henry Ducard's series of training sessions for Bruce.

He taught Bruce to accept the reality of anger and revealed the two most critical reasons that drove Bruce Wayne to become Batman—becoming fear itself and becoming unseen fear.

Fifth segment: Bruce completes the training, but clashes with the League of Shadows over killing the farmer. He learns of their plan to destroy Gotham and destroys the League, saving Henry Ducard.

Here, the issue of killing the farmer sparks Bruce's direct conflict with the League of Shadows. The League kills the farmer and wants to destroy Gotham to eliminate evil and rebuild justice. But Bruce believes Gotham can still be saved and must not be destroyed. This directly leads to Batman's future conflict with the League—the former believes in not killing and in handing criminals to the law, while the latter believes all evil must be annihilated…

Sixth segment: The final battle is imminent. Before Bruce's mansion is burned, Ducard and Bruce have a conversation.

This is the prelude to the film's climax. Megan Ellison believed the central conflict was fully expressed here.

For centuries, the League of Shadows has played the role of destruction and rebirth. Henri Ducard said they once tried to destroy Gotham City but were stopped by kind-hearted people like Bruce's father. Ironically, the suffering masses they helped ended up killing those who had helped them.

This time, the League of Shadows has returned to destroy Gotham City again.

From this, it can be seen that the League of Shadows does not determine whether a city is beyond saving based on its actual condition, but rather uses their own standards to judge.

In other words, the League of Shadows sees itself as God, possessing the ultimate authority to decide a city's life or death, and all of its standards are self-imposed! At this point, it's clear that Bruce saving Gotham through Batman is actually the greatest excavation of social value. The League of Shadows ignores the objective existence of society for the sake of its own existence, while Batman is its greatest protector in return.

As for the entire Batman: Begins film, because of Duke Rosenberg's consistent production style, Megan Ellison could easily tell that the film's commerciality far outweighs its content and ideological depth.

However, the large amount of dialogue in the film has already laid the groundwork for the following two sequels. Overall, this is a story about how Batman was born.

"The birth of Batman outweighs the exploration of the entire city and society."

After Megan Ellison briefly analyzed the film, she couldn't help but whisper, "This is essentially a story about a man who overcomes and becomes fear, and uses it to fight crime."

Turning her head slightly, David Ellison looked at his sister. Amid a wave of enthusiastic applause, he quietly stood up. "Let's go. No need to stay here any longer."

"Mm." Megan Ellison nodded gently and followed him toward the theater exit.

The two of them were well aware that compared to The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Batman: Begins was indeed somewhat weaker and a bit lacking in entertainment value. But the film was exciting enough that even people like them who had prejudices against Duke Rosenberg could vaguely feel that the film's market response wouldn't be bad.

"How do you feel?"

In the theater, Scarlett Johansson had already stood up along with everyone else. She was clapping vigorously and leaned close to Irene Lauder's ear to ask, "Wasn't it amazing?"

"Very good,"Irene Lauder also applauded. "It's just a bit too realistic."

"I think that kind of style is great. I've had enough of those omnipotent superheroes." Scarlett Johansson said curiously, "I didn't expect a director known for making non-realistic films to make a realistic film that's so good."

In Scarlett Johansson's mind, Duke's best and most successful works were always those non-realistic sci-fi and fantasy films.

"Dear,"Irene Lauder reminded, "Did you forget Saving Private Ryan?"

"Oh, right!" Scarlett nodded and naturally said, "Those who always criticize Duke should really watch this. His realistic films are just as wonderful!"

"He's always been the best."

Irene Lauder said this last sentence. She had known Duke for ten years. The man was so formidable it could only be described as unbelievable, and he had always maintained enough forward momentum to make those chasing behind him inevitably feel powerless.

Applause continued. Duke and Charles Roven had already gathered the crew and walked onto the small stage in front of the screen for a curtain call. After bowing twice, the applause gradually died down, and the audience began to leave.

After all, this was only the beginning of the whole series. It couldn't possibly cause a sensational impact right from the start—that would be unrealistic.

With that, the film screening ended. Duke led the main crew into a temporary press room on the other side.

...

Hi For access to additional chapters of

Director in Hollywood (40 chpaters)

Made In Hollywood (60 Chapters)

Pokemon:Bounty Hunter(30 Chapters)

Douluo Dalu: Reincarnated as Yan(40 Chapters)

Hollywood:From Razzie to Legend(40 Chapters)

Join pateron.com/Translaterappu