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Spring 2018

Applying Suspense to Archetypal Superheroes: Hitchcockian Ambiguity in : Dawn of

Ian Boucher Dickinson College

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Recommended Citation Boucher, Ian. "Applying Suspense to Archetypal Superheroes: Hitchcockian Ambiguity in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice." Mise-en-scène: The Journal of Film & Visual Narration 3, no. 1 (2018): 52-67. https://journals.sfu.ca/msq/index.php/msq/article/view/86/pdf

This article is brought to you for free and open access by Dickinson Scholar. It has been accepted for inclusion by an authorized administrator. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Applying Suspense to Archetypal Superheroes: Hitchcockian Ambiguity in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice

BY IAN BOUCHER | North Carolina Wesleyan College

ABSTRACT

In recent years, the genre has grown to account for a signi cant amount of studio pro ts. However, superhero lms are largely presented as action lms, and critics simultaneously tire of and hope for the genre’s simplicity. Nevertheless, superheroes are not merely disposable , but an important part of how society understands justice.  eir cinematic association with simplicity propagates a detrimental focus on capture or that obscures the complexities of justice and reduces society’s ability to overcome crime.  is is reinforced by the predetermination of heroes and villains by their iconic identities, which are built over the course of their respective histories. While Logan (2017) was lauded for its in uence, (2017) for its Superman (1978) in uence, and  or: (2017) for its of other in uences, the in uences of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016) have largely been ignored. Despite its action-oriented title, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice warrants analysis as a particularly ambitious development within the evolving superhero genre. It applies a remarkable amount of the Hitchcockian thrills present in Hollywood’s foundations to a story pitting two protagonists against one another, unfolding within a villain’s conspiracy in order to create the rst live-action Hitchcockian superhero thriller featuring branded, culturally established characters. By displacing its protagonists from their inherently justi ed positions, it creates a critical moral ambiguity that directly deconstructs the assumptions at the heart of Western society’s two most archetypal superheroes.  e lm’s implications lie in ambiguous themes and techniques that experiment with commercial art to challenge a mass audience to critically engage with society’s assumptions. Re ecting on democracy in a polarized world of manipulated media and xenophobia, it is a nuanced exploration of the complex concept of justice, and is thus a lm worth critical consideration. In this essay, the themes and techniques of ’s (1954), To Catch a  ief (1955), Vertigo (1958), (1959), and  e Birds (1963) will be analyzed, as well as how they, along with a crucial element of  e Man Who Knew Too Much (1956), are utilized in the original theatrical cut of Batman v Superman.

INTRODUCTION

       ­, Alfred Tru aut). Whether birds descending upon schoolyards, Hitchcock has been credited as “one of cars careening down highways, or assailants bursting the founding fathers of the cinematic art… into showers, Hitchcock has been a central in uence on Khelp[ing] de ne its visual language”; he remains “a Hollywood thrills. gure of ever-renewed popular and academic interest, even as critics remain divided over the meaning of In recent years, these thrills have largely taken a his art” (Lewis 458, 464). His work utilized every backseat within the superhero genre, which currently dimension of cinema in broadly entertaining ways that accounts for a signi cant amount of studio pro ts (“2017 drove the industry forward, from visual exposition to Worldwide Grosses”). (2008) introduced Nick dolly zooms, with box o ce and critical successes that Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) in a post-credits scene modeled integrated studio assets (Allen; Daniel-Richard; Mock; after a cli -hanger, heralding a connected

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Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU); many studios have obscures the complexities of justice and reduces society’s since pursued Marvel’s successful formula of intercon- ability to overcome crime (Boucher).  is simplistic nected entertainment (D’Alessandro; Kroll; Siegel). Yet binary is reinforced by the predetermination of heroes superhero lms are largely presented as action lms, and and villains by the iconic identities they build over the critics simultaneously tire of and hope for the genre’s course of their respective histories—superheroes are simplicity. For instance, Logan (2017) may have been inherently good. For instance, Batman (1989) explores deemed “good enough that you might forget it’s a com- the troubled origins of the Dark Knight, but is clear that ic-book movie,” alluding to a cultural dismissal of is good and the is evil. Further, the lm genre’s potential (Dargis), but Wonder Woman (2017) praises Batman’s murder of when the Caped received praise as a “straightforward pleasure” (Orr “With Crusader is subsequently adopted by . Similarly, Wonder Woman”), its Hulk (2003) focuses on the trauma of Dr. Bruce Banner, but Banner’s moral role is not in , and for all earnest insouciance recall[ing] the ‘Superman’ the anxiety created by the titular character, the Hulk’s movies of the ’70s and ’80s more than the outbursts are depicted as justi ed and heroic. In Captain mock-Wagnerian spectacles of our own day, America:  e Winter Soldier (2014), the world is ambigu- and…gestur[ing] knowingly but reverently ous and guilty, but Steve Rogers is not. Wonder Woman back to the jaunty, truth-and-justice spirit of and Logan were acclaimed for their complex themes, but an even older Hollywood tradition. (Scott) Logan was celebrated for its intimacy and Wonder Woman for its innocence (; Brody; Chiang, “ e Stirring  or: Ragnarok (2017) may have had “more noisy Wonder Woman”; Dargis; Klimek; Morgenstern; Sims). scenes of CGI mass demolition…than its predeces- In essence, superhero lms have seldom stepped outside sors combined” (Chiang “ or: Ragnarok”), but it the bounds of inherently justi ed protagonists who was embraced as “entertaining but profoundly silly reinforce society’s practices, or at least allow for only so superheroism—which, again, may be what we ought much objectivity. Even amidst Batman’s questionable to have expected from the beginning, had the likes actions and personal con ict in  e Dark Knight (2008), of not come along to implau- he is both protagonist and superhero . sibly elevate our expectations” (Orr “ e Overdue Comedy”). Hollywood’s superhero renaissance re ects a While Unbreakable (2000) and Split (2016) demon- supremacy of simplicity. strate the potential of Hitchcockian-thriller ambiguity for the superhero genre, they explore original characters re ecting on superhero themes rather than culturally established characters, and are clear in their morality. Despite its action-oriented title, Batman v Similarly, (2009) is a direct adaptation of Superman: Dawn of Justice warrants analysis characters created to deconstruct superheroes. Logan as a particularly ambitious development was lauded for its Western in uence, Wonder Woman for its Superman (1978) in uence, and  or: Ragnarok within the evolving superhero genre. for its myriad of other in uences (Burr; Chiang, “ or: Ragnarok”; Dargis; Darling; Hartlaub; Klimek; O’Sullivan; Scott; Sims; Tobias). However, the in u- Superheroes, however, are not merely disposable ences of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016), entertainment, but an important part of how society Warner Bros.’ response to Marvel which in turn inspired understands justice.  eir cinematic association with : (2016) (Brzeski), have simplicity propagates a detrimental focus on capture largely been ignored. Despite its action-oriented title, or death as the ultimate outcome for villains, which Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice warrants analysis as

MISE-EN-SCÈNE 53 Applying Suspense to Archetypal Superheroes

a particularly ambitious development within the evolv- In Hitchcock’s movies, private guilt is experi- ing superhero genre. It applies a remarkable amount of enced by those who committed the illegal act Hitchcockian thrills to a story pitting two protagonists of which the is falsely accused, but also by against one another within a villain’s conspiracy to cre- the hero, albeit…for other reasons. (214) ate the rst live-action Hitchcockian superhero thriller featuring branded, culturally established characters. “Strikingly, private guilt applies in Hitchcock’s By displacing its protagonists from their inherently universe to almost everybody, even and especially those justi ed positions, it creates a critical moral ambiguity who are victims of circumstances” (213-214).  is that directly deconstructs the assumptions at the heart Hitchcockian ambiguity of the personal and the societal of Western society’s two most archetypal superheroes. is not merely thematic, but also cinematic, as it fuses  e lm’s implications lie in its ambiguous themes technique with character to explore societal tensions. and its techniques that experiment with commercial  is section will summarize by highlighting the follow- art; these themes and techniques challenge mass audi- ing: juxtaposition in  e B i r d s ; setting in Rear Window; ences to critically engage with society’s assumptions motif in North by Northwest; linear time in Vertigo; and about justice. Re ecting on democracy in a polarized information in To Catch a  ief. world of manipulated media and xenophobia, it is a more nuanced exploration of the complex concept of  e B i r d s contrasts characters within the frame as justice, and is thus a lm worth critical consideration. avian aggressors externalize the turbulent emotions In this essay, the themes and techniques of Alfred underlying a quaint, sunny American town. As Melanie Hitchcock’s Rear Window (1954), To Catch a  ief Daniels () meets the women who rival (1955), Vertigo (1958), North by Northwest (1959), and her a ections for Mitch Brenner (Rod Taylor), the  e B i r d s (1963) will be analyzed, as well as how they, scenes rise in intensity between long tensions, in which along with a crucial element of  e Man Who Knew the eye contends with multiple character perspectives Too Much (1956), are utilized in the original theatrical distributed throughout the frame, and quick attacks cut of Batman v Superman. of birds increasingly brought out of the woodwork by those tensions. When Melanie meets cautious matriarch Lydia Brenner (), Lydia gives Melanie a HITCHCOCKIAN JUSTICE glance from the foreground as Melanie stares at a por- trait of the late Brenner patriarch in the background and  rillers delve into the shadows beyond conven- realizes the family’s pain under the surface (Fig. 1).  is tional notions of justice, as Pablo Castrillo and Pablo juxtaposition creates an experience of cinematic con ict Echart demonstrate in their proposal of the genre’s ve for the eye. As the audience gets to know Mitch’s primary characteristics: crime victim as protagonist; ex-girlfriend Annie Hayworth (Suzanne Pleshette), the states of intense emotion; an “ambiguous” world; a frame positions Annie’s re ections in the foreground realistic world; and a disorientation in navigating the with Melanie in the background, and the scene is punc- extraordinary (112). According to Mathieu De em, tuated with a dead bird between them as the tensions Hitchcock’s thrillers create further ambiguity within manifest. At Cathy Brenner’s (Veronica Cartwright) the concepts of societal guilt and innocence: birthday party, Melanie reveals she was abandoned by her mother, and the camera pans to a hurt Annie Most often in Hitchcock’s lms, public guilt and disapproving Lydia before a child shouts, “Look, implies factual innocence, manifested by the Look!” as the emotions rain down with the rst mass image of the hero who is wrongly accused. By bird attack. As the con ict spreads to the community contrast, private guilt occurs when the charac- at the Tides restaurant, the frame lls with points of ters in a story recognize themselves as guilty. view, including a preaching drunk, an ornithologist, a

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Fig.1 | Juxtaposition of tensions brings avian aggressors out of the woodwork in The Birds.

waitress, a concerned mother, a sherman, and a glaring He is always at a distance, striving to piece together the hallway of the town’s women, who blame Melanie for puzzle by looking and listening at the right places and the attack. Annie sacri ces herself to replace the lifeless times.  is is re ected immediately upon the lm’s bird on her porch, Lydia releases her grief, and Melanie opening, in which character and technique are united confronts the darkness of a bedroom in the Brenner with panning exposition shots. To succeed, Je eries and house. As Melanie grasps Lydia’s wrist, the characters his friends must rise from their front row seats to place drive away, and all that remains are the tensions that themselves amidst the danger of their surroundings. surrounded them. As De em writes, although the hero  ey go in and out of the courtyard, gasping at what at Hitchcock’s conclusions “is cleared of all formal they see.  e monster, Lars  orwald (Raymond Burr), charges and accusations…this cleansing always comes sees Je eries and comes out of the cinematic action into at a price, after a long and intense period of su ering the real world of Je eries’ apartment. But Je eries’ com- and loss” (216). munity becomes the audience when and law enforcement run out with quick cuts as the nal truth While  e Birds explores juxtaposition, Rear Window rises and falls between Je eries and  orwald; no longer immerses its protagonist L.B. Je eries () will neighbours be suspicious, wondering which among in a setting that Je eries and the audience must cinemat- them could be a murderer of humans or dogs.  e lm ically engage with to overcome a murderer in the midst ends with the e ect of its art; Miss Lonelyhearts (Judith of a disjointed community. Any witty murder mystery Evelyn) says to Mr. Piano (Ross Bagdasarian), “I can’t featuring James Stewart, Grace Kelly, and  elma Ritter tell you what this music has meant to me.” would be a hit, but Rear Window, according to Hitchcock, is “a purely cinematic lm” (Tru aut Location 3546), In North by Northwest, motif accentuates Roger in which Je eries is a voyeur observing “a display of  ornhill’s (Cary Grant) disruption of the human weaknesses and people in pursuit of happiness” when Soviet villain Vandamm () mistakes through the windows surrounding his apartment (3680). him for a ctional agent, forcing  ornhill to run

MISE-EN-SCÈNE 55 Applying Suspense to Archetypal Superheroes

Fig.2 | The Cold War defacing the symmetry of Mount Rushmore in North by Northwest.

from both Vandamm and the authorities.  e lm the past, transforming into her late great-grandmother experiences its chaotic society with a repetition of stark who committed suicide, and when Scottie allows crisscrossing lines, from the opening titles, to Route 41, himself to fall in love with her, he plays into the to  ornhill scaling the beams of Vandamm’s house, to hands of the villain, Gavin Elster (Tom Helmore), to the subtle defacing of the steady symmetry of Mount a murder that truly begins to repeat itself. Rushmore (Fig. 2).  e visuals are underscored by “the Ultimately, both Scottie and Judy Barton (also Kim restlessly chromatic and fragmented nature” of the Novak, and the real Madeleine) continually revisit music, creating “an imbalance that is subconsciously felt the murder, traumatization, and death. Wood by the viewer” (referenced by Daniel-Richard 55 from writes that “before the lm proper has begun, we are Brown 29). While the audience never learns the full made aware that the vertigo of the title is to be more truth about this chaos—“FBI, CIA, ONI, we’re all in than a literal fear of heights” (110).  e lm builds the same alphabet soup,” one agent says— ornhill and its concept through the emotional disorientation of his ally, Eve Kendall (), inspire a break Scottie, Madeleine, and Judy, opening with a rooftop in the pattern. When the heroes are saved by the open revealed to be both a memory and a , not intervention of American authorities, Vandamm replies, specifying which the audience sees. Vertigo disrupts “[t]hat wasn’t very sporting, using real bullets.” “our classical conception of time—how we live it, its linearity (or nonlinearity), its ability to make co-present Vertigo takes yet another approach to exploring always the past, present, and future…[and] represents societal tensions, recreating the trauma of its detective one of the rst lms to portray -linear concepts by lifting the audience from its linear perception of of time and space to an audience” (Smith 79, 88). time. John “Scottie” Ferguson (James Stewart) is drawn As Sheri Biesen writes, “[i]n creating suspense… into a scheme that feeds his desire and costs him his [Hitchcock] sought to shake viewers beyond ordinary, sanity, transforming him into the person he is following. mundane existence" (2).  is separation from linear Madeleine Elster (Kim Novak) appears to be repeating reality encourages audiences to consider both the cause-

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and-e ect foundations of the lms they experience and directed ’s favourite lm, Excalibur (1981). the assumptions that support their understandings of  is lm was formative for Snyder in the visceral and crime, punishment, and individuals. surreal way it applied psychological turmoil to the heightened reality of the legendary hero King Arthur, Finally, To Catch a  ief cinematically puts the as in an early sequence that juxtaposes the violent death audience into the shoes of a reformed one step of Uther Pendragon’s political rival with the cursed behind the culprit mimicking his methods. Opening conception of Arthur (Abele n.p.). Another in uential with a cat walking across rooftops and human hands lm for Snyder was Blue Velvet (1986), a detective story stealing jewels, one might wonder whether the lm is that builds on the voyeurism of Rear Window and the about a shapeshifting feline, but the lm puts that to trauma of Vertigo. Snyder was astounded how it pushed rest with a article about the Cat, the criminal the genre forward with its unabashed depiction of the persona of Cary Grant’s former thief John Robie, and consequences of violence (Cruz et al.). both Robie and his cat look up when they hear investi- gators approaching. As it turns out, the rooftop cat is not Snyder has said that “[t]he DC characters really the real thief. Shortly after Robie meets H.H. Hughson represent…that rst idea, like what is a superhero?” (), an man, Robie is chased and (Uniting the World’s Finest), and when he directed escorted away by . After a fade to black, Robie Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, he attempted to is suddenly enjoying wine on his porch with Hughson, “recapture” the movies that inspired him with “cine- and the audience must wait to learn that Robie was matic markers” to explore a superhero story within a temporarily released. Another scene fades to the char- realistic, context (Doll Maker). Snyder acters discussing, “[h]ow much did he get away with has said that he views superheroes as part of society’s last ?” and musing that “[t]he gems were insured modern mythology ( and Men), and Batman v for 35,000…in dollars.” While it at rst appears that Superman is meant to “challeng[e]” its heroes as “icons” the characters have been robbed, they are actually dis- through the “public persecution of Superman…to cussing a Madame Leroux, who is never seen.  e lm’s bring the two of them at each other after these sort withholding of information cultivates the uncertainty of of psychological events” (HeyUGuys). Snyder its ambiguous investigation, and encourages an active audiences to not only get the ght of the title, but also role in piecing it together. “a lot more” (Tribute Movies). Batman v Superman ambitiously combines superhero action with a remark- able amount of Hitchcockian themes and techniques to create a critical moral ambiguity that actively Batman v Superman ambitiously combines challenges the assumptions underlying the heart of superhero action with a remarkable amount Western society’s two most archetypal superheroes. of Hitchcockian themes and techniques. Like Vertigo, its title advertises a simple climactic showdown, but while pitting the philosophies of its two lead icons against one another, it re ects on the foundations of democracy in a polarized world of HITCHCOCKIAN SUPERHEROES manipulated media and xenophobia.

Batman v Superman director Zack Snyder’s inspira- Like many thrillers, Batman v Superman is driven tions re ect Hitchcock’s pervasive in uence. Snyder is by a villain, (), who is interested in “bizarre movies” that challenge audiences unaware of superhero conventions as he deconstructs (Cruz et al.). John Boorman, referenced by Mike Hale audience expectations. Like Vertigo’s Gavin Elster,  e as being in uenced by Hitchcock in (1967), Birds’ Lydia Brenner, and countless other Hitchcockian

MISE-EN-SCÈNE 57 Applying Suspense to Archetypal Superheroes

gures, Luthor is focused on preserving the past, leaving assists as a mediator in piecing the thriller together. his father’s room “just the way it was.” His world is built The audience uncomfortably assumes, like the film’s upon the pain of his father, both oppressed by tyrants citizens, that Superman has learned nothing from his in East Germany and the oppressor of Lex. Lex’s view murder of Zod in Man of and has killed again, of Superman () as an oppressive foreign which puts the audience in an uncomfortable position power and a false, ine ectual manifests as a resent- until later insists to Lois that he did not, in ful xenophobia; Superman might represent the rst of fact, kill anyone. Nevertheless, his immediate reaction other “.” Luthor sets out to punish his own is, “I don’t care what they’re saying.” Clark supports past by exerting his will on present society through humanity, but is ambivalent about the complexities of politics and public opinion. A villain with a penchant his actions. As a member of the media, he attempts to for puns, he communicates this in euphemisms, as redirect the conversation by projecting his uncertain- when he substitutes “monsters” with “tyrants,” and ties onto Batman. “hate” with “security.” Neither hero’s justice is accountable to the society As in North by Northwest, Luthor capitalizes on a they ostensibly serve, and Lex Luthor uses these uncer- polarizing debate already at the forefront of his cul- tainties to transform both into the guilty victim-protag- ture. In the darkness, Batman () brands onists of a Hitchcock thriller; subsequently, their core villains, and in the light, Superman acts unilaterally idealism becomes questionable. Like Vertigo’s Elster, on an international stage. Police support Batman, Luthor gives them what they want. When Batman chases reveres Superman, and the media debates Lex Luthor’s motorcade, he is being led—the chase is the implications. As Luthor exploits and pollutes legit- not about Luthor’s crimes, but about obtaining Luthor’s imate discourse about these archetypes, he widens the to kill Superman. Lex simultaneously feeds between them as both they and the audience are Clark’s projections by anonymously sending him a confronted by their assumptions. An early sequence newspaper clipping about Batman’s crimes, as well revisits Superman’s destructive battle in Metropolis as photographs of a -branded criminal murdered with the () in prison.  is causes Superman to end Batman’s in Man of Steel (2013) from ’s point of motorcade chase while strengthening Batman’s view, destroying the foundations of Superman and resolve.  e typical layers of the superhero chase are replacing them with Bruce’s animosity. From this subverted, and viewers cannot merely go along for the devastation emerges the of Luthor, in the blockbuster ride. Lex exploits Bruce’s early statement to discovery of the iconic green glow of Kryptonite amid () that “[w]e’ve always the ruins. Soon afterward, although Superman smiles been criminals,” and drives Superman to reveal that when he rescues () from General the Last Son of is not supporting humanity Amajagh (Sammi Rotibi) in Africa (the altruistically, but “living [his] life the way [his] father himself is an ambiguous reflection on international saw it. Righting wrongs for a ,” and thus not truly politics), mercenaries set Luthor’s plan to incriminate connected to the world he protects. Like the avian Superman into motion by murdering Amajagh’s sol- aggressors in  e B i r d s that lack an explicit origin, diers, and the Man of Steel takes Amajagh through how Luther ostensibly knows Superman’s identity a wall. The aftermath is seen through the eyes of does not matter. Lex’s purpose is to be the expected society and the audience. As with , villain, externally manifesting the tensions of a society both society and the audience must feel one step of superheroes. behind and fill in the gaps—society reacts with media speculation, and the audience must speculate about In his revenge against his father, who did not media. Lois, who asks questions from the beginning, have access to reliable media, Luthor uses a bene t

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for the Library of Metropolis as the venue for Clark young Bruce’s memories in slow motion. The scene and Bruce to meet as their citizen selves. It is a central at first seems extraneous: why spend so much time scene that, like  e B i r d s , builds the tensions of the on another, and in this case, particularly emphatic, intricate personal emotions of a community toward retelling of this iconic sequence? Like the orchestra an expected battle. As Hitchcock would say, “‘[d]on’t that plays at the opening of Hitchcock’s own remake worry, they’re coming.  e birds are on their way!’” of The Man Who Knew Too Much, it is the founda- (Tru aut Location 4738). In this scene, six characters tion for what comes later, but this time, there are no converge: Bruce and Alfred, hoping to hack Luthor; explanatory titles. When Bruce falls into his iconic Clark, hoping to interview Bruce for his Batman cave, the lift him impossibly from the ground, exposé; Diana (), looking for a carrying him up into a fade to white light, which photograph; Luthor’s associate (Tao Bruce reveals not only as the foundational dream of Okamoto), delaying Bruce; and Luthor, watching Batman’s ideology, but also as “a beautiful lie” (Fig. his plan play out with feigned ignorance.  e song 4). The audience glimpses both a memory and a “Night and Day” signals the quintessential relationship dream: an evolution of the opening rooftop chase between Batman and Superman, and the frame follows of Vertigo, in which Bruce and the audience must Diana as she passes between them in the periphery, not immediately confront a central superhero myth that as a bird or  orwald monster, but as Wonder Woman, becomes both twisted and revealed over the course of the “dawn of justice” who will ultimately externalize the film. Reality becomes increasingly blurred with not tensions, but a superhero union (Fig. 3). For now, Bruce’s delusions. He is a superhero who, like Scottie, Clark and Bruce accuse one another’s superhero per- lets his pain transform him into a villain. When sonas: Clark is sanctimonious about vigilantes, and Bruce next dreams, it is again unclear whether it is Bruce disparages an “.” actually a dream or a memory alone. As he brings flowers to his mother’s tomb, the dream is contami- Luthor’s plot exploits the Hitchcockian turmoil nated by the echoes of Zod’s world-poisoning World of the protagonists. The film begins with yet another Engine, conjuring Bruce’s mother’s blood and a bat retelling of the murder of Bruce’s parents, Martha that, like the birds in Hitchcock’s titular film, bursts and (Lauren Cohan and Jeffrey from the grave to bite Bruce and turn him further Dean Morgan), which plays out in the present of toward hatred.

Fig.3 | Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Juxtaposition of tensions brings heroism out of the woodwork.

MISE-EN-SCÈNE 59 Applying Suspense to Archetypal Superheroes

In one of the lm’s most ambitious sequences, Bruce has a dream that serves a dual purpose of driving Batman has become the very thing that made forward both the lm and its larger universe. Suddenly nding himself in an apocalyptic environment remi- him Batman in the fi rst place—a person who niscent of the African desert at the centre of society’s let pain lead him toward murder. speculation about Superman, Batman looks for Kryptonite. However, he must now contend with  ying monsters of DC lore and the judgment of a warped, murderous Superman.  is dream is layered while Superman’s actions will always be more complex further when Bruce awakens to the warning of a mys- than they initially seem, Superman can nevertheless terious red visitor, the (), who shouts, contribute good through the love that binds him to “[y]ou’ve always been right about him!” Bruce’s fears of the world.  e “dream of a farmer from ” trans- Superman are validated, and the  ying monsters bear forms Superman from a thriller protagonist back into a strong resemblance to the demons in the painting of a superhero. Luthor’s father, which to Luthor represent Superman. But was talking about Superman? And when Like the dichotomy that Deflem identified in Bruce wakes up a second time, what does that make Hitchcock’s work, Luthor’s plot juxtaposes the per- the Flash?  is sequence goes beyond To Catch a  ief; sonal guilt of these heroes with the public guilt of the the audience must wait beyond a scene unfolding for media-saturated dimensions of contemporary society. a series of lms.  e dream directly integrates the Deflem writes that Hitchcockian “labeling of guilt… Marvel post-credits scene into the story, cinematically includes various public instruments and symbols of combining the current thriller with the future threads condemnation,” and identifies “[t]wo cinematic types of a larger blockbuster journey.  e lm’s nal dream, of Hitchcockian affliction” as “ and experienced by Clark, begins to bring the heroes back the chase” (215), such as Cary Grant’s on-the-run pro- to reality. After being convinced that Superman was tagonists in To Catch a Thief and North by Northwest. merely “the dream of a farmer from Kansas,” Clark Batman v Superman cinematically chases its protago- sees his late father Jonathan Kent ( Costner) at nists across media. When Alfred announces to Bruce the of a mountain. Jonathan reminds Clark that, how “[e]verything’s changed,” he contrasts a series of

Fig.4 | Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Scottie falls down, Bruce falls up.

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Superman clips on -Computer with Bruce’s sense of priority in the universe.” When the real-life private guilt of compromised uncertainty, fear, and Charlie Rose asks, “[m]ust there be a Superman?,” hate toward the otherworldly visitor to America’s Clark is listening.  e audience does not merely watch shores (Fig. 5). When Superman rescues a girl from a Superman—it must confront his world and the real burning building in Mexico, the film does not merely world, both with Superman and at a distance. depict the rescue. As Superman brings the girl to her family with his signature smile, solemn voices from Against a backdrop of protestors praising society begin to reflect around the act, and the music Superman as a god and demonizing him as an alien, transitions from alien, to hopeful, to conflicted. As Senator June Finch (), an institutional Zack Snyder has said, the film is concerned with what representation of truth, justice, and the American way, is happening around Superman in the context of the attempts to convince society to work together openly implications of his actions: as a democracy to come to a consensus on Superman’s actions in order to move beyond the “superhero”  e sort of third character in the movie is reality of individuals that the audience expects. media, and it’s the third character now in all Unfortunately, although the senator raises valid of our lives…And I think it’s an interesting questions about Superman, the plot is simultaneously way to see how Batman perceives Superman driven by a eluding scrutiny, and Finch’s ’cause he doesn’t know who Superman is, all speech is interrupted by a jarring imposition by Luthor he knows is the public of Superman. at her desk: (Gods and Men)  is is how a democracy works. We talk to each As in Rear Window, this sequence could have merely other. We act by the consent of the governed, depicted the action of Superman rescuing someone sir. I have sat here before to say that shadow in need. Instead, the solemn voices lead to a montage interventions will not be tolerated by this com- of media gures asking questions about “a paradigm mittee. Neither will lies. Because today is a day shift,” “moral constraints,” individuals enacting “state- for truth. Because only by speaking—only by level interventions,” humanity’s “horrible track record working together can we...can we—can we... of following people with great power,” and “our own can...we create a free and a...

Fig.5 | Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. The public guilt of Superman contrasted with the private guilt of Bruce Wayne.

MISE-EN-SCÈNE 61 Applying Suspense to Archetypal Superheroes

As in  e B i r d s , the community again converges, this time to witness Lex Luthor’s destruction of civil discourse when he detonates a bomb that kills everyone in the room, shocks the protesters, and intensi es media speculation about Superman. Superman is convinced of his futility as a hero, and blind anger distracts Bruce from his horror at the explosion on television in a boardroom when he opens a note scrawled on a clipping of Man of Steel’s devastation of Metropolis that reads, “[y]ou let your family die.” Superman says to Lois, “Superman was never real,” and “[m]y world doesn’t exist anymore.”

Batman becomes completely deaf to Superman’s pleas Fig.6 | Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice; The Man Who Knew Too for help at their next meeting, and they are unable to Much. Batman is the instrument of death. productively communicate in person.

 us, the rising emotions culminate in superhero the first place—a person who let pain lead him toward action, for as much as Batman v Superman is a Hitch- murder. He is not only Scottie in Vertigo, but is also cockian thriller, it is also a superhero lm. On one revealed as the man with the cymbals in the orchestra hand, Luthor kidnaps Clark’s mother Martha Kent of The Man Who Knew Too Much; the signal the vil- () to pressure Superman to kill Batman; lains need to complete their plot of assassination. In on the other, Superman, although unsure of the Hitchcock’s words, “the man is unaware that he is the outcome, intends to alert Batman to Luthor’s plot. instrument of death. He doesn’t know it, but in fact,  e lm’s central contest is more straightforward, he’s the real killer” (Truffaut Location 3821) (Fig. 6). with marketable clips of CGI punches, but like the As in Rear Window, it is when the protagonists leave nal confrontation of Vertigo, it is made visceral their seats in the audience to work to understand and with rich, subdued lighting and colours, utilizing communicate directly with those around them that the personal, tangible darkness. It is resolved not with a tide begins to turn. It is Lois, the reporter, who uncov- punch, but with an intimate moment. At the end of ers Luthor’s conspiracy, tells Batman Martha’s identity, the ght, Batman has beaten Superman. He balances and saves Clark’s life and Bruce’s soul. These are not a Kryptonite spear overheard, the instrument Lex had simply thriller protagonists who watch their lovers fall, been sharpening for him, snarling, “[y]ou were never but heroes who must work with the society they serve. a god. You were never even a man.” But Superman From their lowest points, they return stronger, over- appeals, “[y]ou’re letting him—kill Martha…Find him. coming their pain and redirecting their energy toward Save Martha.” making society better.

Bruce then “wakes up.” His dreams rewind from As in  e B i r d s , Batman and Superman must contend his mother’s grave to her death, bringing him back to with the ultimate fallout of their pain: the monster the present. He repeats the Wayne murder in his mind, Doomsday, a personi cation of the hatred spawned now with new meaning, as both Batman and the by the lm’s building delusions. Doomsday’s attack audience realize that although Superman is referring takes Superman to a Metropolis memorial, where the to his own mother, history is repeating itself. Batman creature sneers at Superman’s representation and beats has become the very thing that made him Batman in the Man of Steel with the names of those he failed.  e

62 Vol.03, No.01 | WinterSpring 2018 Ian Boucher

Fig.7 | Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Doomsday defacing the symmetry of Superman.

Fig.8 | Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. A unity externalized.

stakes of Doomsday lie not in desensitized destruction, Luthor’s les on metahumans—“Where have you but in emotion, and societal symmetry is sullied not been?” it reads—and seeing Doomsday’s destruction, as a thriller on Mount Rushmore, but with superhero is so affected by the prospect of the mayhem (Fig. 7). Doomsday overtakes Luthor, the existence of others like her that she becomes the media, the military, and the government, which reacts fruit of the unity between Batman and Superman. with systematic disposal by nuclear weapons while The frame unites three disparate heroes working knowing that its citizen, Superman, would be a casu- together, beyond the characters of The Birds, to alty. But violence only makes Doomsday stronger, and face their externalized adversity. Wonder Woman re ects back from a red glow within. represents the film’s blockbuster goal, but also moderation; a larger purpose that unity in heroic  en, Wonder Woman, a hero who “walked away differences can achieve. As executive producer Geoff from mankind. From a century of horrors,” joins Johns has remarked, “she’s a bit of both Batman and the fray. After receiving an e-mail from Bruce about Superman” (Uniting the World’s Finest). Only when

MISE-EN-SCÈNE 63 Applying Suspense to Archetypal Superheroes

Building on the ambiguous themes and tech- niques that Alfred Hitchcock left to Hollywood, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice creates the fi rst live-action Hitchcockian superhero thriller.

Doomsday is held in place by Wonder Woman’s and Batman’s Kryptonite can Superman’s

hope finally overcome Doomsday’s hatred (Fig. 8). At Fig.9 | Vertigo; Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. the end of Superman’s crucible, he sacrifices himself to A frame is never fully explored, whether in its questions on morality or its humanity’s embrace (Chitwood). intentions to build a blockbuster universe.

As a result, the audience gets the validation of a combined with the questions of a Vertigo revisiting the painting of Madeleine’s great- Hitchcockian thriller, in which “the final phase of the grandmother from another angle when Scottie realizes ritual performance must end in some tragedy, which that Madeleine and Judy are the same person, Batman in other respects represents liberation” (Deflem 225). v Superman demonstrates the multiple layers of a frame, Although Luthor succeeds in killing Superman—in whether in its questions on morality or its intentions his words, “[d]ing dong, the god is dead”—the Man to build a blockbuster universe (Fig. 9). of Steel is not a fraud, but a beacon. Kal- receives both a private and public funeral united by “Amazing Society’s transformation is reflected in a Grace,” the song of redemption, as society is able to that echoes the visual bookends of Rear Window. The more clearly reflect on the ideals of hope and selfless- film begins with the coffins of Bruce Wayne’s parents, ness that Superman represents. As a superhero film, and Bruce’s narration: “[t]here were perfect things. Batman v Superman links the hope of the individual Diamond absolutes.” At Clark’s funeral, Lois extends to the hope of society. Diana tells Bruce, “[m]an made her diamond engagement ring to the foreground a world where standing together is impossible.” Bruce and releases onto Clark’s coffin. The nature responds, “[m]en are still good. We fight. We kill. of Bruce’s inspiration changes. History has repeated We betray one another. But we can rebuild. We can itself, yet the soil rises back to the surface. The do better. We will. We have to,” as the camera pans film leaves it up to the survivors to determine what across a frame filled with the faces of America, hold- happens next—from Batman, who no longer brands ing candles to the words, “If you seek his monument villains but is still a , to the reeling citizens look around you.” of Metropolis, to the audience who watches. As with Hitchcock, although society and its “tormented” While Bruce realizes that the Flash was not heroes have been cleansed, there has been “a transfer- talking about Superman in his dream, Luthor’s paint- ence of guilt from one to another, and a universality ing is reintroduced, this time with its demons turned of various degrees and kinds of guilt among many, toward the sky, and juxtaposed with a tease of a future possibly even all who are involved in a movie (and its threat: “[o]ut in the dark, among the stars.” Like viewing)” (Deflem 203-204, 216).

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CONCLUSION

Building on the themes and techniques that Alfred brings more layers to how commercial art and mass audi- Hitchcock contributed to Hollywood, Batman v Superman: ences analyze their archetypes and engage with the Dawn of Justice creates the rst live-action Hitchcockian complexity of justice. Further study might pursue this superhero thriller featuring branded, culturally established lm’s place within Western society’s cycles of questioning characters. Re ecting as a thriller on democracy in a polar- and a rmation.  ized world of manipulated media and xenophobia, it

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