The Dark Knight: Heath Ledger

TDK Wallpaper II, originally uploaded by Morning Magician.

The Dark Knight wallpaper features Heath Ledger.

On January 22, 2008, after completing the filming of “The Dark Knight”, Heath Ledger died of a lethal combination of prescription drugs, before the release of the film. On February 22, 2009, most probably Heath Ledger will be honored posthumously for his superb performance with an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor, after the just announced BAFTA award, and the Golden Globe.

The Dark Knight, the Batman film, begins with the Joker (Heath Ledger) robbing a mob-owned bank, and double crossing his accomplices so he can have all the money. The Joker, a psychopathic, mass-murdering, schizophrenic clown with zero empathy, seems to want only anarchy and chaos, existential disaster to prove his paradigm of life: all goodness is corruptible and men are innately evil, contemptible beings. The Joker’s real mission is to prove that man is capable of only ‘ultra-violent’ evil. And once man chooses, he commits acts of evil violence. Humiliation, exposure and dominance motivate the Joker.

The Dark Knight has been nominated for over 150 awards for several aspects; most notably the performance of Ledger, more than any other film of 2008 and the film has won 82. Heath Ledger's interpretation of the Joker is also ranked number three on Empire's 2008 list of the "100 Greatest Movie Characters of All Time".
The Dark Knight became only the second film to earn more than $500 million at the United States box office. It is also the fourth highest grossing film worldwide with box office gross revenue of 1 billion.

But The Dark Knight, produced at a cost of $185 million, became the real underdog at the Golden Globes, BAFTA and Oscar nominations (7 nominations) to “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (production cost $150 million, 13 Oscar nominations) and “Slumdog Millionaire” (production cost only $15 million, 10 Oscar nominations).