A fan-made edit of Tim Burtons' original 1989 Batman film takes the gothic director back to his silent-era roots. The edit, made by user Benjamin Crew and posted to Vimeo, shows Michael Keaton's Batman in its entirety but redesigned as a silent film.

It’s a fitting re-edit of the film, considering Burton draws so much influence from the silent era, especially the dark and gothic look of a film movement known as German Expressionism. German expressionism is a term broadly used to describe a style of German silent horror films made in the early 20th century that came to its peak in the 1920s. These films used exaggerated physical acting, gothic imagery, and deep shadows. Often tackling themes of insanity and death, they can be seen as representing the German population's reaction to the horrors of World War I.

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One of the more notable examples of a German Expressionist film is Fritz Lang’s 1927 science fiction horror film Metropolis, which has a clear influence on Burton's work and other films such as George Lucas' Star Wars and Blade Runner. Other notable German Expressionist films include the infamous vampire film Nosferatu and the carnival-themed horror film The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. Burton's German expressionist influence can be seen in nearly all of his filmography, especially in Edward Scissorhands and Beetlejuice.

While Burton relied heavily on the stylistic silent era for his design of the fictional Gotham City, recent live-action versions of Batman's hometown have gone for a more realistic approach. Christopher Nolans renowned Dark Knight trilogy famously created a more ‘real’ and ‘grounded’ Batman movie universe, using the industrial landscape of Chicago to portray the city instead of exaggerated sets. In Zack Snyder’s Batman v Superman, Gotham is imagined as a poor and rundown city. The Oscar-winning film Joker also portrayed the city in this light, but during an unspecified time period around the late ’70s or early ’80s. Furthermore, the Fox TV show Gotham was shot primarily in New York City, once again going for a more true to life approach.

However, it looks like the Caped Crusader may return to his gothic roots in the upcoming Matt Reeves-directed film titled The Batman, which stars Robert Pattinson as the billionaire turned vigilante. Reeves shot the film primarily in London, England, and Glasgow, Scotland, taking advantage of the old and gothic architecture of these cities for his version of Gotham.

A sequel is already confirmed for the film and a spin-off series about the Gotham police department is being produced for HBO Max. On top of all that, Batman actor Michael Keaton is rumored to be reprising the role in some kind of future live-action DC project, possibly The Flash movie.

The Batman is now set to be released in the US on March 4th, 2022.

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Source: Benjamin Crew | Vimeo