This Blogathon is running for the second year by Realweegiemidget which is bringing bloggers together to pay tribute to the incredible Michael Caine as he celebrates his 85th Birthday.
Announcement PostYou will not be surprised at all that I have decided to focus on his role as Alfred Pennyworth in Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight Trilogy.
He plays a very big role throughout all three films from Batman Begins, The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight rises. Acting as a father figure, mentor and friend to Bruce Wayne. He actually does get a lot of screen time and is given some fantastic lines as well. He seems a little bit more involved than Michael Gough from the previous Batman films, a slightly different take on the role.
Do we get a bigger moment than Alfred explaining that men like The Joker just cannot be bought and comparing him to a jewel thief who used to throw away everything he stole. Trying to still teach a now grown Bruce who is also Batman that he will not always be able to protect Gotham City.
He cares about Bruce more than anything and during Batman Begins even states that he actually wish he had never come back at all. The relationship between the pair really is a joy to watch on screen. That certainly gives plenty of credit to both Caine and Christian Bale who have actually starred in another film together also with Nolan in The Prestige (but that would be a whole other blog post).
I guess we could even go as far as saying that Alfred is given all of the incredible lines that really do manage to tug at your heartstrings. Maybe the fact that it is Michael Caine doing the character that it makes it even better? That could certainly be the case. Having three films to develop Alfred over really is something else, seeing how much he cares for and protects Bruce. Yes, when he gets rid of that letter something that he had to do to protect him even more from knowing the truth of what Rachel was going to do.
The truly defining moment of the trilogy and wondering if that final scene was actually real after Alfred had already told Bruce this same story. I think the fact that Michael Caine has so much charm still even as what has often just been referred to as the butler, he took it to a different level and made everyone take notice of just how big a character Alfred is in Bruce Wayne. With that though how much overall impact he has on Batman as well, completely and utterly part of it all to keep Bruce as safe as possible. Not forgetting the mixture of humour as well, something he does so well!
Happy Birthday Sir Michael Caine!
