Christopher Nolan's Gotham Cities | Video Essay

Welcome to my second video essay, in which I try to justify (to myself, more than anything) why I think Christopher Noland decided not to shoot The Dark Knight Rises in Chicago like he had with the previous two Dark Knight films.
00:00 - Introduction
01:03 - Part 1: The Three Gothams
04:17 - Part 2: Batman and His City
08:22 - Part 3: The City as Character
10:09 - Part 4: A Bruce Wayne Story
13:54 - Part 5: The Living City
17:45 - Conclusion
My blog and website: rickbaer.me/
Follow me on Twitter: / rick_baer
And Instagram: / rick_baer
SOURCES:
"Batman Unmasked: Analyzing a Cultural Icon" by Will Brooker: www.google.com/books/edition/...
"Batman and Psychology: A Dark and Stormy Knight" by Travis Langley: www.google.com/books/edition/...
"Batman and Philosophy: The Dark Knight of the Soul" edited by Mark D. White and Robert Arp: www.google.com/books/edition/...
"Gothcago: How The Dark Knight built upon an American metropolis" (Polygon): www.polygon.com/2018/7/17/175...
"The Evolution of Batman's Gotham City" by The Nerdwriter: • The Evolution of Batma...
"The Playlist Interview: Christopher Nolan Talks The 'Dark Knight' Trilogy..." (IndieWire): www.indiewire.com/2012/12/the...
KCRW's "The Treatment" - Batman Begins (2005): www.kcrw.com/culture/shows/th...
KCRW's "The Treatment" - The Dark Knight (2008): www.kcrw.com/culture/shows/th...
KCRW's "The Treatment" - The Dark Knight Rises (2012): www.kcrw.com/culture/shows/th...
"Christopher Nolan Interview - The Dark Knight" (Collider): collider.com/christopher-nola...
"Christopher Nolan: Villains Defined The Dark Knight Trilogy More Than Batman" (Variety): variety.com/2018/film/news/ch...
#ChristopherNolan #Batman #GothamCity #TheDarkKnight #BatmanBegins #TheDarkKnightRises #Gotham #VIdeoEssay #Chicago #NewYork #NewYorkCity #TheEssayLibrary

[@NorthandClark]

Loved this Rick. My favorite quote on DC cities is, "Metropolis is NY in the daytime, Gotham is NY at night."

[@GalaxyStudi0s]

As someone who’s not from Chicago, I can confirm that I too noticed a great difference in Gotham City, especially throughout TDK and TDKR. I want to thank you for finally being someone who has mentioned this as it has always been something somewhat annoying in the back of my mind when I watch this incredible trilogy.

[@FilmFlux]

What a titan of an essay. Crosses all Batman, a collection of films that use Chicago, and passes through City of God and dips a toe in Lawrence of Arabia. Just, bravo.

[@flightofthebumblebee9529]

There is a part in TDKRises where we see what is CLEARLY lower Manhattan complete with Battery Park and an unfinished One World Trade Center.

[@StudMacher96]

Batman Begins city was definitely the best and most gritty out of the 3. I could actually almost taste the moisture of the dark alley gutters

[@MrDude826]

Sao Paulo is like Gotham: A gigantic skyscraper sprawl that continues out of the picture frame with massive inequality , it's the center of everything but at the same time it's a crime ridden city on the verge of collapse and anarchy.

[@Kauannn7]

im brazillian n i totally agree with u, things here are complicated

[@LariNiem]

Tim Burton's gotham city is the best & most comic accurate. Nolan's Gotham city looks like chigago.

[@mariocisneros911]

Comic book ridiculous. No place has humongous statues which the taxpayers would've paid for. Well not in a democracy

[@Hunter_UT]

For me Batman Begins looks like Gotham. Dirty, alleys, docks, Monorail, Nerrows and Wayne Manor. In TDK & TDKR it's city just empty, and from Batman Begins city here's only Low Wacker tunnel, and Bank Builing in Center (which was Wayne Tower in Batman Begins), well, and Parking Garage.

[@SUAVEcritic]

This is the first essay I've come across where the essayist changed his own mind. Brilliant!

[@alexandergermanis679]

It always struck me as purposeful on multiple levels that Nolan had Gordon read from "A Tale of Two Cities" at the end of DKR. Perhaps it was a little meta tongue in cheek.

[@DaniTani]

Wonderful work! I haven’t had a cinema experience that even comes close to seeing The Dark Knight in IMAX at Navy Pier in 2008 having no idea that the finale was going to take place there.

[@feykabah]

Also love that you said Batman is the Madonna of the DC Universe. That’s a picture I never thought before.

[@nerotulip4166]

Just got this in my recommended and damn im shook by the low view count. This deserves waaayyy more. Really good stuff

[@elevenseven-yq4vu]

This is a brilliant video essay, as it combines facts with methods and analysis to culminate in interpretation. I particularly love the transfer from and examplification of "City of God" to support your main theory. Excellently structured, argued and supplemented with video edits. Fantastic!

[@redrabbitjohnson]

Great video, one of the best articulations of what I think many people miss about TDKT. It’s a character study of Bruce Wayne first and foremost, so every narrative and aesthetic choice is rooted in that. The choice of villains, of theme, even the vehicles Batman uses. And the shifts in genre for each film are based in the stages of life Bruce is in, as you pointed out.

[@seviren]

This makes me think TDKR could've used a better team up than just Catwoman.

[@spacesuitnotneeded7716]

Gotham is three islands, maybe that's why the 3 versions of gotham feel so different.

[@feykabah]

I love this video so much. It feels like I made it myself since I also love world building and had the same exact issue with this trilogy.

[@Blue-jd8jf]

🕷New York is Spiderman's city....Batman looks out of place there. The best Gotham is Tim Burton's Gotham also Batman the Animated Series🦇

[@nickk7425]

💯

[@alexandervaldivia8232]

Persoanlly I think that you can use three different cities for scenes. Chicago, New York, and Detroit

[@MS-xi7zg]

I think you're confusing Detroit and Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh is where most of TDKR was filmed.

[@quiksilver2814]

Great video essay! Really enjoyable to watch, and made me think about these films in a new way, which is always fun :)

[@Afterthoughts]

Great video dude! I couldn't put a finger on why TDKR felt so strange to me after the first two. Can't believe I didn't even think it could be the setting.

[@MarylandDude9005]

Whoa, I never thought about this before. This video was very good essay.

[@jonathanalvarez3663]

BRILLIANT!! Thank you so much for making this video. It answered so many questions I have about the switch from Chicago to NYC and Pittsburgh. Through your analysis you added so much value to my viewing of these films. Now they make a little more sense and bring some much-needed cohesion to the trilogy and its wildly different tones. I really enjoyed the Gotham history lesson, as well as the recommendation for City of God-I’ll be checking that out. You really did your research, and it shows. Way to go!

[@UWotM-hy6sb]

This was a great video!

[@JoshuaWinterr]

A really great video. Thank you! :)

[@garlandstrife]

Amazing video!

[@rickzilla.]

loved the video, also as a brazilian i really liked when you mentioned city of god. Excellent work!!

[@tahatanvir6107]

Such a good video 👍😊👊

[@servercabinet]

I hated Christopher Nolans Gotham City. It seemed too realistic. At times it felt like a man in costume running around the sidewalks of New York.

[@jonathanalvarez3663]

4:16 Yes!! We love a bit of history 😄

[@frailvoid5844]

Nice essay

[@tonobarona]

Bravo!

[@caseykunz7800]

👍... fantastic

[@MrDude826]

10/10 you were spot on. Wish your channel had more views. A question, Which do you prefer? Chicago or New York. Just asking because I'm a country boy looking to move to the big city and am undecided because I love both.

[@rachelxkendra]

I was born and raised in Chicago, so it will always be my home. I went to college in NY, and while I will always love the time I spent there I ultimately realized it wasn’t for me. The pace always kept me on edge, and I found it difficult to be happy. But your mileage will undoubtedly vary.

[@jonasgsoto6526]

Hey man awesome video! Never seen a video tackle gotham like this before always thought it would be fun if someone did. Im planning on doing a video essay myself, j wrote the script, but im having trouble capturing footage from a movie for the video. May i ask, how do you capture footage from films for use in your videos?

[@jvcarreira]

Hey, Rick, first of all, congratulations, great video! I'm currently working on an essay for my channel (in Portuguese) about how the changes in Gotham tell part of the story arc in the Dark Knight trilogy. During the research for writing the script, I've stumbled into your video, which is really good, again, congratulations. I was wondering if it would be okay for me to possibly quote you in my video (of course, naming you while doing it) I'm still writing, so I don't know exactly if and what I would use, but wanted to ask nonetheless. Even if the answer is no, I'll still be sharing your video in my sources and additional material. Keep up the good work!

[@jvcarreira]

@@rachelxkendra Thanks, I'll definetely take a look at them! And I'll definetely credit and link back :) I'll send it to you, but I'll send the translated script as well (by Google translate and I'll make minor changes, would take too much time otherwise haha)

[@nickk7425]

I didn't really care for Nolan's version of Gotham city, i thought it looked way to much like an ordinary American city. I prefer Tim Burton's version of Gotham city and i also liked the Gotham city from the Arkham video game series...

[@daniartistt]

Nolan's Gotham city is not Gotham city that's just New York

[@nathancruz9172]

I’m impressed with Chicago and New York filming the dark knight trilogy.

[@histguy101]

I think some assumptions are being made here. The 3rd film is Manhattan in many wide shots of the whole city, but its mostly Pittsburgh on location. Its manhattan because they needed Gotham to be an Island cut off. They filmed in Pittsburgh instead of Chicago i would assume for reasons of budget and scheduling more than anything. Filming in Chicago and NYC can be difficult and expensive, so you go to substitute cities like Toronto or Pittsburgh. My favorite Chicago movie is Payback starting Mel Gibson. They do add some location shots of other cities, and never name the city, but it's all Chicago. And they make the era a mix of the 70s, 80s, and 90s so you can't tell when its supposed to take place, like all the cars are late 70s to early 80s models, except for some sports cars in a flashback and a limo. The clothing likewise, and the types of crimes and underworld activity, but there are all sorts of 90s artifacts sprinkled in as well.

[@Sachin_C10]

BB (the best look) & TDKR (the spectacle more than made up for it) & worked for me TDK is my least favourite visuals in any batman movie, surprisingly being the best movie (for villain & story). Tim Burton 89 batman was the one that resonated the most as Gotham. The greatest Gotham though was the pulp like 1940s stories in the Batman TAS (1992-95).

[@maxteeth]

not enough videos recognize the similarities between batman and madonna

[@rachelxkendra]

That’s what I’m sayin’!

[@shaggydoo-2821]

Gotham is like 1990s New York

[@jamretro1336]

It was worse in the 70s and 80s.

[@billysinge8977]

Like 1970’s/modern San Francisco.

[@nomimalone7520]

You do a grezt Anthony Bourdain impression.

[@oppenheimer6321]

Burton and Reeves versions of Gotham are the best imo

[@juiceboots7482]

Very interesting essay. Didn't realize TDKR wasn't film in the same places as BB and TDK. Great work! 👍 I gave you a sub! I make similar videos on my channel, if you give me a sub to help my channel grow that would be much appreciated, but no worries if not. Keep up the great work, friend!

[@user-ku3pd7pw3h]

Chicago was real gotham city

[@mariocisneros911]

New York is for Superman as #1 , in my world . He came 1st and is in the #1 U.S. city. Batman than fits in Chicago. #2 in #2 CITY , WHICH NO MATTER IS CHICAGO, not Los Angeles. L.A. and every other city doesn't have as large a skyline as N.Y. and Chicago

[@MobiusTrigger7]

No... Nolans gotham is easily the most disliked gothams