Christopher Nolan explains why he's "plagued" by the most famous line in The Dark Knight
Feb. 27, 2024The film’s most famous line of dialogue haunts Nolan
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Christopher Nolan is particularly haunted by one line of dialogue fromThe Dark Knight– and it’s probably the film’s most famous quote.
“I’m plagued by a line from The Dark Knight, and I’m plagued by it because I didn’t write it,” Nolan toldDeadline. “My brother [Jonathan] wrote it. It kills me, because it’s the line that most resonates. And at the time, I didn’t even understand it. He says, ‘You either die a hero or you live long enough to become the villain.’ I read it in his draft, and I was like, ‘All right, I’ll keep it in there, but I don’t really know what it means. Is that really a thing?’ And then, over the years since that film’s come out, it just seems truer and truer. In this story, it’s absolutely that. Build them up, tear them down. It’s the way we treat people.”
The line is delivered by Harvey Dent, the Gotham District Attorney who becomes the villainous Two-Face. It makes a lot of sense, then, for that character in particular to be the one to saythosewords.
The director’s latest film,Oppenheimer, is up for multiple Oscars at this year’s ceremony, including Best Director for Christopher Nolan, Best Picture, and Best Actor for Cillian Murphy.
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I’m a Senior Entertainment Writer here at GamesRadar+, covering all things film and TV for the site’s Total Film and SFX sections. I previously worked on the Disney magazines team at Immediate Media, and also wrote on the CBeebies, MEGA!, and Star Wars Galaxy titles after graduating with a BA in English.
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