The Batman (2022), A "brief" Auditory Analysis
Before I begin, let me preface this post by saying this is not by any means an all-inclusive auditory analysis of The Batman (2022) nor am I an expert on auditory analysis. Also, I'm well aware it's been 4 months since the movie came out, but I'm on my 5th watch-through and am still noticing new cinematic details. I figured I might as well share with the class & this seems to be the best place to do so!
The analysis starts under the cut.
Let's get the easy stuff out of the way. Bruce's theme ("The Batman") is supposed to call back to Darth Vader's "Imperial March" by John Williams, we know. And the Riddler's theme ("The Riddler") is a twisted version of Schubert's "Ave Maria," a classical piece played unedited 3 times during the movie. There's a pretty interesting article about the use of Classical music within The Batman found here.
But there's one major auditory aspect of The Batman that I would like to analyze, and it specifically involves the score. If you've listened to the OST or seen the movie more than once, you'll definitely recognize a very cohesive nature to the soundtrack. It doesn't get too repetitive, but each song leans into the other. Melodies are recurring and drive desired points home and, like any movie, remind us how to feel and what to focus on. For example, those high-note mostly isolated string sections usually tell us Selina is around (which... by the way... cat... string sections... is that an intentional cat & string pun? If not, I'll take credit for it). But there's one specific instance of this that changed my entire perspective on the movie.
Three songs & scenes you might not expect are totally connected. I will preface this again by saying I have not looked at music sheets yet because it's 1 am and I just want to share some late-night batman thoughts. BUT...
"Funeral and Far Between" , "For All Your Pennyworth" , and "All's Well That Ends Farewell" all feature the same melody, and this melody is theme of Gotham City. I have many many thoughts about this so let me unpack them one at a time.
Let me start with the 1st and 3rd songs.
I first noticed in my most recent watch-through that the song played before Mitchell's funeral ("Funeral and Far Between") has the same melody as the final score of the film ("All's Well That Ends Farewell"). I immediately, of course, texted my friend about this and came to several more conclusions in the course of messaging them (hence prompting a Tumblr post at nearly 2 am).
"Funeral and Far Between" is played as Bruce gets out of his car, walks up the stairs, and spots Carmone, Penguin, and an unnamed woman. The score reacts to this woman's veiled appearance with a strings section (the same as Selina's theme), which prompts us as the audience to believe WITH Bruce that this woman is Selina. (Ofc we know it's not, now). This will be important later.
"All's Well That Ends Farewell" plays AFTER "Something in the Way" by Nirvana (mmmm-mmmm) and the Arkham scene between Joker and Riddler. And while this scene is seemingly primarily focused on Selina and Bruce's relationship, it is really important to note this is also AFTER Bruce's ending monologue about hope. (It's also very important to me to note that I think 'Something in the Way' is Bruce Wayne's theme in this movie because we don't get one for Bruce specifically, only Batman [and yes I think there's a difference, ESPECIALLY in this early years movie] not that I have any insightful connection of the lyrics to Bruce but the way it is cinematically utilized (and, as I said before, recurring: playing after his first and during his final monologue) is just perfect to demonstrate Bruce's personal, under-the-mask growth throughout the film.) And only 1 of the 3 instances of this melody includes an auditory cue about Selina, so this melody isn't only about her, Bruce, OR their relationship. No, this melody is about Gotham.
When Bruce sees the woman before the funeral, the strings section tells us it may be Selina. But, in "All's Well..." we don't get that isolated string section to signify Selina even though this time she's actually present in the scene. No, in the end, it seems like we are about to get it-- but, visually, as she drives off on her motorcycle in the opposite direction, the music suspends and leaves us in mid-air, wondering: will we get the strings? will she turn around? The answer to both is no.
Yet, although we are missing this callback to Catwoman's theme and we are losing one of our leads, the orchestra overall feels fuller and more united than it has throughout the entire film. "Funeral..." starts with a solo piano and sounds hollow when compared to the start of "All's Well"
But Jango, you cry, how does that make this Gotham's theme? and what does the theme about Alfred in the hospital have to do with it?
Well, plot-wise, think about where these songs are situated: at the end of each arc.
After the fallout of the Riddler's first murder ("Funeral and Far Between")
After the fallout of the Riddler's attack on Wayne Tower ("For All Your Pennyworth")
After the fallout of the Riddler's final attack on Gotham. ("All's Well That Ends Farewell")
I hate to make these number points all about the Riddler, but that's just an easy way to designate interconnected plot points within the movie. This melody is demarcating the acts of the film but more importantly, it's telling us to look at the acts as the major developments of Gotham's story. Yes, the movie is called The Batman, but you can't have Batman without Gotham, and that's exactly what this score is telling us. Each line this song marks in the plot-sand is subtly reminding us, hey, look, Gotham is changing.
At Mitchell's funeral, we see the protestors of Mitchell and supporters of the Riddler outside beside the mourners: Gotham is divided. This is (from our perspectives jumping into this story) the start of Carmone's rise to power as Riddler endangers and kills even more people, the police feel unsure of Batman and of us each other, we are about to find out that there are rats (figuratively) and that not everyone is as much of the squeaky-clean-do-gooders we want to believe. Gotham feels betrayed.
During Bruce's hospital visit to Alfred, we learn about Thomas Wayne's true intentions with the Martha & Arkham scandals, not the twisted story that Carmone tried to feed to Bruce (and us!). We start to understand Gotham's history, because it's not even about Bruce at this point, it's about Gotham. And without Alfred, we would have had no one to properly tell it. It's also just, wow, the most heart-wrenching scene. At this point, Gotham is lost. Will we displace this villain? Batman couldn't save Alfred from the explosion, what's next? (The city, literally lol).
And finally, in the ending scene of the movie. Remember how I noted this was after Bruce's speech about hope? It's because this theme isn't about Bruce's personal journey of becoming Batman, although yes this scene is essential to Bruce's story and the fact but think about WHY that is. Why is Bruce choosing to stay integral to his story? Because, as I said earlier, we can't have Bruce without Gotham. And we can't have Gotham without Batman. and Batman CHOOSES Gotham, to become the beacon of hope he was meant to become. His monologue precedes this scene because he NEEDED to learn he was NOT vengeance first, he needed to lead Gotham out of her darkness and confusion and betrayal we have been establishing and exploring during the whole movie, before she could become what is she destined to become in the aftermath of the flood.
This recurring melody is Gotham's theme because it is full and peaceful and bittersweet and there are tinges of grief yet there is a sense of resiliency and triumph and Gotham promises herself to recover and hopefully (though, we know her and this won't last): do better.
