The Masks of Christian Bale

Five years ago Christian Bale was a rising-star with a reputation as a character actor. He starred in several mind-bending "cult classics" (American Psycho, Equilibrium) that established him as a highly intense and entertaining performer.

Reaching the ceiling of "cult" status, Bale finally broke through to the main-stream in The Prestige, playing next to Hugh Jackman in the (mind-bending) film about dueling magicians.

Since then the career of Christian Bale has skyrocketed, in a way. Yet, his roles have veered sharply in a new direction, away from the iconoclastic characters that established him as a powerful performer. Perhaps, inadvertently, Christian Bale has become a different kind of actor in the last five years.

Looking back to the interesting and dark films that put him on the map, we can gain some perspective on his more recent projects in the Batman and Terminator series.

Before we do, here is a brief list of the better known Christian Bale films of the last few years: Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, 3:10 to Yuma, Terminator Salvation Public Enemies.

American Psycho(2000)

American Psycho is the quintessential mind-bender film. The plot takes twists and turns and leads to a suspenseful climax - a climax that explodes into a question about how much of the narrative we can trust.

The audience is brought to a new kind of suspense as the protagonist's narration becomes unreliable. Patrick Bateman, played by Christian Bale with candid charm and raw intensity in a balanced, expert performance, turns out to be a different kind of psycho than he initially lets on.

This is a violent movie that will jolt you, surprise you, alarm and titillate you. What makes this movie so great has a lot to do with Christian Bale's highly entertaining and engaging performance.

Equilibrium (2002)

In a dystopian future a police-state limits the emotional freedom of a city's citizens. Cop and proverbial cog in the machine, Christian Bale's character Cleric John Preston finds himself breaking the rules he is assigned to enforce.

The trope here is, of course, a science-fiction staple. In a future where people are raised not to think, the most dangerous mind is the rogue official. For a while he will be a double agent, trying to hide his growing unease with the nature of the repressive system he represents. Soon the rogue becomes an out-and-out rebel, seeking to topple the regime whose will he has carried out for so many years. Failing to achieve the annihilation of the state, he will opt for escape at all costs and he will bring a friend or lover with him.

In this case, the love interest happens to be a puppy. It is the dog that triggers Bale's emotions and propels him along the course of rebellion.

A cult-hit, this science-fiction thriller finds Christian Bale taking up an action role in a film with a dark vision of the future, characterized by a very dark set and dark clothes, playing a man who wakes up to the fact that what he once thought of as reality is a lie.

Though this is not really a good movie, it solidified Bale's identity as an actor who chose parts according to the interest it held for him - parts that we often marked by intensity and psychological depth.

The Machinist (2004)

A high-water mark for the actor, The Machinist posed Christian Bale with numerous challenges which he met with gusto and, frankly, some kind of genius. It is difficult to connect the actor who played the emaciated, sleep-deprived Trevor Reznik in The Machinist with actor who plays the loser-cowboy-gunman in 3:10 to Yuma.

One role is incredibly psychologically interesting in a film that explores the ranges of coherence as it also explores the fuzzy edges of sanity. The other is almost a toss-off in a "star-driven" "vehicle" that does not live up to its hype, does not deliver any interesting action or drama, and offers no opportunities for any depth of character.

In The Machinist, Christian Bale presented a character that was different from anything he had played previous and from anything he has played subsequently.

Considering Bale as a character actor, The Machinist was perhaps Christian Bale's greatest achievement.

These three films stand out as the best examples of Bale's career as a cult-film, character actor.

Through them he earned a devoted audience and wide acclaim, which he parlayed into a star turn as Batman.

Another installment is set for release in 2012, the third film of the Christopher Nolan Batman trilogy, and IMDb lists Terminator 5 as one of Bale's next roles.

The star-power of Christian Bale is beyond question at this point - it always is for a Batman marquee name - but what will become of his reputation as an intense character actor remains to be seen.

Sources
www.imdb.com