America achieves both fame and fortune

Chapter 373 Bat Beats Up the Joker

That afternoon, the crew began filming action scenes.

Batman is going to torture the Joker.

This is a one-sided violent beating scene that Bale, dressed in the Batsuit, has been looking forward to for a long time.

Martin sat upright in a chair, as calm as a clown standing in front of McDonald's.

Bell walked over step by step, his bat helmet covering his face, revealing only his chin.

No one could see the face beneath the mask; it was filled with long-awaited anticipation.

Bazooka, corpus cavernosum, Heath Ledger—these words flashed through Bale's mind, sliding down his nerves to his fist.

The black gloves concealed the bulging veins on his fists.

Bale's face was downcast. Today's idea wasn't new; he had been inspired by Leonardo DiCaprio, Martin Davis's best friend, when the crew arrived in Atlanta.

During the filming of "Gangs of New York," Daniel Day-Lewis acted like a complete jerk both on and off screen. Leonardo DiCaprio accidentally broke Lewis's nose during an action scene.

Whether it was an accident or not, Bale didn't know and had no interest in finding out. He only knew that it was normal for accidents to happen during action scenes.

Even the insurance company couldn't say anything.

Even in New York gangster action scenes, accidents can happen if they aren't intense, let alone in this action movie.

Martin looked at Bell, his face calm, yet he was ready.

The two were already enemies.

When Heath Ledger nearly crashed into him and Aniston while driving under the influence of drugs, and Bell and Blanchett pressured them to "make a mountain out of a molehill," the two sides were already on opposite sides.

Martin could roughly guess that Bell was waiting.

As the script supervisor clapped the clapperboard, filming began.

Bell strode toward Martin, the muscles on his chin twitching rapidly beneath the mask, the bat helmet covering four-fifths of his face unable to conceal the burning rage within him.

At this moment, Bale's acting was phenomenal, no less impressive than Edward Norton's masked performance in "Kingdom of Heaven".

Or rather, this is not a performance.

For this role, Bale did four months of fitness training and more than a month of action training, resulting in strong muscles and agile movements.

The black fist slammed down towards Martin's face like lightning.

In a normal action shot, the punch is just a bluff, and Martin only needs to tilt his head back to complete the action.

But Martin had been targeting Bale since filming began, not just because of his creation of Heath Ledger, but because he had sensed Bale's intentions.

This is Atlanta, and the hundreds of extras and crew members on the set come from Jerome and Robert's Marietta agency, so nothing escapes his notice.

Martin maintains a rigorous training regimen year-round, with the sword of Damocles of the Russian mafia always hanging over his head. He and Bruce engage in real combat during training sessions.

As Bell moved his arm, Martin suddenly dodged to the side.

The black fist didn't hold back and struck him from above the shoulder.

Martin heard the whistling wind.

Bell grabbed Martin's collar with his other hand to prevent him from dodging again.

Martin swiftly ducked and headbutted Bell in the hand.

Bell raised his foot and kicked, and Martin used the force of both legs to fly out, his back hitting the wall with shock-absorbing pads.

He grinned, his face contorted with madness, and shouted, "Come on, come on again! You piece of trash, you really are soft and can't get hard."

Behind the director's monitor, Nolan heard cinematographer Pfister's voice through his headphones: "Director?"

"Continue," Nolan said without stopping.

Because the action scene was presented so well.

Batman's anger temporarily overwhelmed his usual rationality, leading him to resort to the most direct and violent means to interrogate the Joker.

Bale and Martin's movements were all powerful, realistic, and natural.

Nolan was well aware of many of the circumstances surrounding the film crew, but as a commercial director, these were precisely the things he wanted.

He was still in control of the film set and wasn't in a hurry at all.

With a thud, Martin flew out again on his own.

Bell's punch, though seemingly thrown, completely missed its mark.

"You bastard, tell me!" Bell roared, his anger flaring. "Why did you do this? Why?"

Martin did not answer, but instead let out a wild, manic laugh.

Bell couldn't control himself and picked up the chair next to him.

Right at the edge of the set, Bruce's body was tense, poised to pounce, like a leopard about to hunt.

Martin was still laughing maniacally.

"Stop!" Nolan's voice rang out. "That's a good take!"

Bell picked up the chair but didn't put it down. As if the movement was too continuous to stop, the chair flew out of his hands and crashed down on Martin.

Martin rolled over on the spot and easily dodged to the side.

Seemingly lost in the performance, he pointed a finger at Bell, a blood-red mouth splitting open on his pale face as he laughed maniacally: "You piece of trash, you're soft, soft!"

He laughed so hard he rolled on the ground, as if he had gone mad.

Others assumed Martin hadn't completely shed his acting persona, but Bell knew what he meant.

Standing five or six meters away, Bell looked down at him, his eyes twitching wildly and the muscles in his chin twitching repeatedly.

Batman was so provoked by the Joker that he was on the verge of exploding.

Martin is waiting; as a professional and dedicated actor, he will not comment on what Bale did during filming for the time being.

But filming stopped, and then Bale stepped in again...

Not far away, Elena and Hall, who had come to visit the film set after noon, remained silent.

Hall was carrying a glass bottle of Coca-Cola.

At Northville Private High School, Hall was the school's starting pitcher on the baseball team.

If he wanted, he could throw the Coke in his hand at Martin or hit someone on the head from a distance of less than twenty meters.

Bell took a deep breath, slowly loosened his clenched fists, and gradually relaxed his tense body. He turned and walked out of the film set.

As he passed by the director's monitor, Bale casually remarked, "Sorry, I didn't control my movements well."

Nolan cautioned, "Control your emotions and don't get too caught up in the role."

It was as if, in his eyes, these were all extensions of the emotions being performed.

Martin got up from the ground, and the makeup artist came in to touch up his makeup.

Nolan beckoned, and the screenwriter immediately jogged over.

"Records, latest behind-the-scenes footage." Nolan suddenly felt exhausted. He had to film, manage the conflict between the two lead actors, and create material for post-production publicity and marketing. Being a director was too difficult.

His screenwriting talent is equally outstanding: "Martin Davis is a very dedicated and hardworking workaholic. For the sake of the film's shooting effect, in the scene where Batman interrogates the Joker, he let Bale go all out and do whatever he wanted to him without any scruples, presenting an extremely realistic fight scene."

The screenwriter marveled at the director's ever-present bursts of inspiration while quickly taking notes.

Because Martin Davis was the core of the publicity and marketing, Nolan added, "It's truly admirable that Martin Davis endured physical pain while performing."

The screenwriter is a member of Jonathan Nolan's team, and he meticulously recorded the "real behind-the-scenes" moments of the filming process.

After finishing work in the afternoon, Martin met up with Elena and Hall, and they left the studio together.

In the car, Elena asked, "Are all action scenes this dangerous?"

Martin said with a smile, "The director is a realism fanatic, striving for a truly authentic effect."

Hall muttered, "That man has ill intentions."

Martin pointed to Bruce, who was driving: "With Bruce around, nothing will happen."

The four of them went to a nearby restaurant for dinner.

On set, Bale didn't leave immediately. Just like these past few days, he removed his makeup and returned to one of the sound stages, where, with the help of two stunt team members, he continued his physical and action training.

Hibi could only stand aside and watch her husband pour out his sweat and energy.

Since joining the team, Bale has been maintaining his physical condition.

Afterwards, one of the stunt performers said, "Chris, you're so dedicated."

Bell just smiled and went to take a shower and change his clothes.

We met up with Xibi, got on the bus, and returned to the hotel.

"You're pushing yourself too hard," Hibi said.

Bell replied, "I must give it my all."

Today's events made him realize that he had to be faster and more ruthless to have any chance of turning that bastard Martin into the next Daniel Day-Lewis.

Hibby added, "We have to be careful when filming action scenes, so we don't get injured like we did at Pinewood Studios."

"No, it won't," Bell replied.

Regarding the Pinewood Studios incident, the "The Prestige" crew certainly wouldn't publicly state that Bale was injured because he was frightened while he was having sex with Blanchett.

The official explanation, of course, is that the accident occurred while filming in the pine forest, when the crew was startled by a fireworks explosion.

There are very few people who truly know the inside story of this matter.

It was then overshadowed by Emma Watson's "diaper incident" and went silent.

Back at the hotel, after dinner, Hibi and Bell took a walk in the hotel garden before returning to their suite together.

After taking a shower, Hitchcock changed into a Victoria's Secret Angel outfit that she had brought with her, and walked into the master bedroom of the suite with a model's gait.

When Bell saw her outfit, he was shocked and secretly groaned.

Hibi swayed like a model as she walked closer and closer.

Bell felt a tearing pain again, a tearing sensation like a nightmare that he couldn't shake off.

"Darling..." Hibi came all the way from Los Angeles, her enthusiasm overflowing.

Bale could only reluctantly refuse, lying down sideways and pulling the blanket over himself: "Today we filmed all action scenes, I'm too tired, let's go to sleep early."

Hibi's face instantly filled with grievance, but she didn't give up and pounced on Bell, pinning him down.

Bell said helplessly, "Honey, can you give me some time? I'm under so much pressure right now..."

Hibi rolled over and lay down in the empty space, two lines of tears streaming down her face uncontrollably.

Staring blankly at the ceiling, after an unknown amount of time, the flames on Hibi's body not only did not dissipate, but burned even more fiercely.

She snapped out of her daze and was about to look at Belle when she heard loud snoring.

Bell seems to be asleep.

Hibi glanced at Bell's slightly trembling eyelashes, pretended not to notice, and left the bedroom alone.

The door slammed shut.

Hibby was about to go to another bedroom when she saw the gift she had received, and suddenly had some ideas.

That clown's design was very unique.

Hibi went to the side of the bed, opened the gift box, grasped the clown's legs, and took out the statue.

(End of this chapter)