(6/03/09)
This is an entry that improves on repeated viewings. The first few times you may appreciate the story and the great animation, but eventually you start getting wrapped up in its eeriness. There is a dreamlike quality about it that elevates this episode from hard-hitting drama to fear and suspense. If you look under the surface, beneath what the censors allowed, there is a world full of grotesqueness just waiting to be discovered.
I always felt drawn into the story by the slow paced opening scene, but watching again offers an idea of how eerily subdued the whole thing really is. The leaves rustling in the wind and the rundown drive-in theater turn the area from an ordinary suburb into something dark and desolate. Then there are the point-of-view shots. There is something strange about watching the action from the perspective of not only the story’s antagonist, but one whom at this point we only know to be invisible and, as we are soon to find out, somewhat perverse. As this unseen man makes his way into the little girl’s room, we immediately start drawing conclusions. We know him to be a man despite the girl’s childish ideas that he is an imaginary friend, and despite his lavishing her with trinkets, we suspect him to be something monstrous, preying on an innocent girl. And all the while the music enhances the entire experience.
If there is anything that makes Batman: the Animated Series a work of art comparable to great film, it is its music and the way that music corresponds to the visual action. I got chills listening to the heaviness of the score while witnessing the actions of a man with disturbing daughter fixation. Listen to how unabashedly joyous the score is as little Kimmy goes off to school, only for it to enter into that slow brooding Two-Face-like quality as we see Lloyd Ventris, staring at her without her knowledge.
Even though we know that Batman is going to save Kimmy and that no cartoon like this would ever allow something truly horrible to happen to her, I still find myself anticipating something awful because of the maturity of the tone. Aside from the rich cinematic score, there is the drab suburban wasteland, and implications about how the Ventris family broke apart. Note that in the brief segment of the episode before the couple argues, Kimmy’s mother is working in a small grocery store. Without her husband she is forced to work in a poor job to support her daughter. Few cartoons would portray such a realistic family struggle.
And then there is Ventris himself. Warned that Kimmy knows to avoid her father, he reveals himself to her anyway. We are to conclude that he truly does seek her love, no matter what underlying psychological issues drive him to his obsession. He robs jewelry stores, but not for any personal financial gain, and when Batman warns him of the suit’s toxicity he boldly claims he does not care. He is a despicable human being who stalks an innocent girl but he is not an egomaniac.
The climax is spectacular razzle-dazzle action fare, skirting from set piece to set piece with directorial fluidity. The major points of action don't depend on anything that compromises the thematic darkness of the episode; the environments shift from deserted gas station dreamscape to Gotham's rundown city streets, finally arriving on a standard rooftop in the same rundown sector. Typically we think of water towers as background fixtures with no relevance to the immediate action, but Batman's bit of environmental interaction is what wins the day.
See No Evil hones in on a single family and details the fear and terror that abound at the onset of twisted paternal desire. It is an engaging tale that helps define the series’ greatness.
No comments:
Post a Comment