Michael Keaton interview
As a part of retrospective paintings with Michael Keaton in a movie theater Aero Theatre in Santa Monica, the actor gave an interview with LA Times, which shares the memories of his acting career. Below, read excerpts from an interview on the work of Keaton's films in Tim Burton's "Batman" and "Batman Returns."
In the last cold weeks in December 1988 on the set of the movie Tim Burton's "Batman" in London was full of work. Michael Keaton, however, handle the load easily, drawing inspiration from his gloomy mood, similar to that which belonged to his on-screen hero - a man in a mask of a bat.
"I was very lonely at that time and it helped me to cope with the image of Batman. I traveled to London through the night, so tired helped me fall asleep. I was closed and almost no one spoke. My little son was still tiny; with a woman, which I was then married, relations were hard. We were on the verge of falling apart, but tried to fix it. So, in London, I was very lonely, and all the shooting I've never been able to sleep properly. Whenever possible, I sat in the Concorde and flew to my son".
In the world, "Batman" was released in June 1989, gathering 411 million dollars. Psychological subtext of the picture, Jack Nicholson as the Joker, a new perspective on adaptation of comic books - all this has made a film sensation and opened new perspectives for the project participants, and for cinema in general. For Keaton this all was a complete surprise.
"It was incredibly difficult to cope with the crunch attention, and for Tim it was also difficult - he was always very humble man, more so in those days. We spent a lot of time in London, taking in the studio Pinewood. It's been a long hard night in the dank, dark and cold places, and we were not sure that it will burn out. There was no guarantee that everything we played and shot, it turned out as intended. First there was a similar picture. Was a big risk, considering both looked and played Jack, and my character was very ambiguous. In general, the pressure experienced everybody. It could be felt physically".
Jack Nicholson gave the world the image of the truly insane, homicidal psychopath in a purple suit.
"We stood with Jack next to each other - he in a purple outfit Joker, I - in the costume of a bat. I looked at him and said: "We're grown men with you, right?"
"Batman Returns" (1992) became the latest joint effort of Keaton and Burton in the franchise - then the project has developed without their participation.
"We were supposed to return for the shootings to home in Burbank, and I was happy. The cast was cool: Michelle Pfeiffer, Danny DeVito, and other actors. Sequel, when I saw it, produced no great impression on me, but maybe it happened due to the fact that the bar was raised too high after the original painting. I think I saw the film only once. I know the problem started at the moment when the discussion of the third part, some people uttered the phrase: "Why it should be so grim, why Batman is such depressing? Let's add more colors in the film." And then I realized this way is not mine".