Liked it
Gotham City
Gotham City is a fictional space that has been represented in comics and films for over 70 years.
Image by spud murphy via Flickr
The Batman comic began in 1939 and was much grittier and urban than any other comic of its time. Batman is set in Gotham City. This is a fictional city, but it has been represented in comics and films for over 70 years, so it forms a powerful image of dystopia. The word Gotham means a huge, oppressive city. Issues from the 1940s showing a strong film noir influence. They depict the city at night, with the iconography of the full moon, silhouetted buildings and expressionistic use of shadows like film noir. But it’s also very gothic. The city is populated by gangsters and grotesque, violent psychopaths.
By the 1970s Batman had become more sophisticated. The artwork was expressionistic. The writing in this era was influenced by Edgar Allan Poe, the American horror writer. You start to see slightly overwrought language, very arcane and gothic. Batman writer Dennis O’Neil said that ‘Batman’s Gotham City is Manhattan below Fourteenth Street at eleven minutes past midnight on the coldest night in November.’
In 1989 Tim Burton directed Batman the Movie. Burton has a strong visual sensibility and a unique vision. The production design for Batman won an Oscar. The cinematic Gotham was designed by Anton Furst, who was born in London and studied at the Royal College of Art. The production design was very eclectic – it refers to many architectural styles and movements of the 20th century. Tim Burton said he wanted Gotham to look like hell had erupted through the streets and kept on going. Much of the city has a heavy-duty industrial aesthetic influenced by Italian Futurism and the technological cityscapes of Antonio Sant’ Elia.
La Citta Nuova - Antonio Sant’ Elia
Image via Wikipedia
Fascist architecture was another component. The oversized bombastic statues are typical of Fascist architecture. Another influence was the American architect Frank Furness, who produced Gothic architecture in the 19th century. This is very muscular, with crushing masses of stone.
The film ends with a climax reminiscent of The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Here the traditional Gothic cathedral has been exaggerated to form a weird skyscraper. It was inspired by the fantastical work of the Spanish architect Antonio Gaudi, particularly his cathedral of the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona.
So the production design synthesizes all of these elements to form a fantastical city.
Image via Wikipedia
Image via Wikipedia
