Knowing Gotham | Under Lens

Why Gotham? Why was Gotham City named so? Gotham was inspired by the darker alleys of New York City however Writer Bill Finger wanted to keep the template generic so that people from any Metro can identify with his imagination. Having a fictional name for the city was logical. Amongst many names like Civic City and Coast City, Gotham attracted his attention. It was a subtle reference to New York as it was a sort of nickname for the metropolitan.

How Does Gotham Look Like? Gotham is glorified in night. It rains in Gotham and it rains hard. Its chilly. It reflects the mood of the city. Common man are terrified and cons are at loose. Corruption is rampant. There is no hope even in existence of a vigilant like Batman. The divide between rich and poor is great not comforting by any means. Buildings of Gotham are inspired by Gothic Revival architecture that rose to prominence in mid-1700s. It has a strong Catholic  overture.

Crime World In Gotham: Crime is the only thing that made Gotham so famous. Batman comes close second. There are families – Italian families Falcone, Galante, Maroni, Sabatino and others like Dimitrov and Odessa, Black Mask and their successor Great White. There are Gangs like Ghost Dragons, Golden Dragons, Penguin, Sprang Brigade etc. Also there is Arkham Asylum and casual visitors like Joker. Gordon has a dirty job to do.

On Screen Gothams: On Screen we have seen New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Pittsburgh, Newark, Tokyo, Hong Kong etc. doubling as Gotham City.

Under lens: Genesis from paper to screen-4

This time for genesis we figured out we would turn to the ‘glam-paper’ i.e. Graphic Novel for our paper to screen series.

Well for the uninitiated a Graphic Novel is kind of comic book, but with complex storylines (often with non-comic book themes), are more like novels and hence the name.

Here is our list of best Graphic Novel-to-movie adaptations:
Graphic Novel- “Batman: Year One”, “The Long Halloween” Movie- “Batman Begins”
In 1997, “Batman & Robin” saw the demise of Batman movie franchise. The series was in need of a savior, and savior it got, in the form of director Christopher Nolan. Nolan decided to base the story on the above mentioned Graphic novels, first of which was by Frank Miller. The movie set the origin, philosophy and motivation of Batman. With strong Bruce Wayne/Batman characterization in place, the movie was a fitting franchise start.
Graphic Novel- “300” Movie- “300”
This 2006 movie is memorable for its stellar visual styling and six pack cast. Each frame seems like a beautiful painting. Here’s the catch, if you come across the graphic novel you’ll be surprised to notice how the screenplay is a frame by frame copy of the novel by Frank Miller in most parts. It tells the story of how 300 men guarded a bottleneck to Greece from oncoming Persian army, so that rest of Greece is gets the news of attack. Who can forget the roar “THIS IS SPARTA”.
Graphic Novel- “Persepolis” Movie- “Persepolis”
The movie shows Iran after the Islamic revolution through the eyes of a little girl who is forced to follow rules of Islam whereas she has a soft corner for many things Western. The Graphic Novel is autobiographical, following childhood of Marjane Satrapi, is rendered in simple black and white but it delivers sharp social anatomy of Post-revolution Iran.
Graphic Novel- “V for Vendetta” Movie- “V for Vendatta”
A Wachowiski brothers movie, was based on a ten issue graphic novel by Alan Moore. Set in future Britain, taken over by a fascist party. Then ‘V’ an anarchist in Guy Fawkes mask starts to bring down the government. Sharp, political, ‘V...’ is both an interesting read and watch.
Graphic Novel- “The Crow” Movie- “The Crow”
“The Crow” is regarded to be the most underrated Comic/GN based movie. Crow tells the story of a dead rock guitarist avenging murder and rape of his girlfriend. In 1994 Crow was way ahead of its time and to top it, it had a superb rock score. Lead actor Brandon Lee lost his life shooting for the climatic scene. Beg borrow or steal, go watch it.

P.S. Doesn’t Crow images eerily remind you of some recent hit character, whose Actor too lost his life after the Iconic role. We’ll do an article exclusively on the same later on.

For The Reel;Written By: Ali ‘Rosebud’ Naqvi