Bane's Pain

I see there’s been a lot of talk of audio tweaking on The Dark Knight Rises because audiences are finding it hard to hear what Bane is saying.  I also see that Christopher Nolan is apparently taking a hard line stance that he will not do an audio dub on Bane as he wants the audience to work on enjoying this film, he doesn’t want to spoon feed them plot points etc.  I have to agree with Christopher Nolan on this, it is a far more pleasurable cinematic experience when you have to work out for yourself what is going on, Nolan’s own Insomnia being a prime example of this, or David Fincher’s Zodiac.  

On seeing the trailer and other bits on the net I have to agree that Tom Hardy’s raspy vocal is quite hard to decipher and I am beginning to side with the majority vote on this.  I know I said in the above paragraph that I am on Nolan’s side but that was in terms of making the audience work a bit to enjoy his movies.  I think you have to draw a line when it gets to the point where the audience cannot understand what an actor is saying.  If you can’t make out what the lead baddie is saying then you really are shooting yourself in the foot hoping that he will take the audience on a mad ride in this film world you have created.  For instance, audiences in America were given a booklet to help translate the Dublin slang that was used in The Commitments.  Basically, sometimes you have to help audiences out, not help them along, but help them out.  I don’t want Hardy’s Bane speaking in pure and unbroken Queens English.  I want that heavy, gruff voice that so suits the character, but maybe make him a bit louder, or maybe make the action around him that little bit quieter.  It is plain to see that he is speaking through a mask so as an audience member you can’t expect to hear everything he says in perfect tones but the harder it is to hear and understand him then the more distracting it will become and the less inclined viewers will be at making an effort and straining to make out what he is saying.

If Bane is left as is, Nolan might be doing more damage to the film than he thinks.  Diehard fans will stick with it throughout no matter what but not everyone is a fan, not everyone will want to see this film but will probably be made go with a partner or a friend or someone.  It’s those people, the uninitiated, that need to love this film for I think Batman fans, especially Nolan’s Batman fans, are already going to love this film and have loved it since it was announced.   I know that I have!