A Filmmaker's Guide to: Christian Bale

In this chapter of ‘the filmmaker’s guide’ we’re actually going to be learning about literature and film together. I understand that many of you are sitting in university during difficult times and finding it increasingly hard to study and I understand that many of you who are not at university or not planning on it are possibly stuck of what to do, need a break or even need to catch up on learning film before you get to the next level. This guide will be brief but will also contain: new vocabulary, concepts and theories, films to watch and we will be exploring something taboo until now in the ‘filmmaker’s guide’ - academia (abyss opens). Each article will explore a different concept of film, philosophy, literature or bibliography/filmography etc. in order to give you something new to learn each time we see each other. You can use some of the words amongst family and friends to sound clever or you can get back to me (email in bio) and tell me how you’re doing. So, strap in and prepare for the filmmaker’s guide to film studies because it is going to be one wild ride.

Christian Bale

Who is he?

An actor from a very early age, Christian Bale was the child star of the Spielberg classic "Empire of the Sun" (1987) and went on to become one of the world's most versatile actors. Born in Wales, raised in England - Christian Bale's diversity of roles often masks his cockney accent and though he grew up playing incredibly masculine characters, he understands the female experience as his step-mother is feminist activist Gloria Steinem.

What did he do?

Christian Bale pretty much changed the way we look at a role in the modern day. He does not just play the character, he becomes the character. Known for gaining and losing weight, changing his appearance drastically for months at a time before returning to his regular size, Christian Bale has often raised concerns about his health, especially when portraying his character in "The Machinist" only for him to play Bruce Wayne in Nolan's "Batman Begins" in pretty much the same space of a year.

Ever since his career first began, Christian Bale has been building up the sheer amount of characters he can portray. Let's take a look at some of his greatest works.

Greatest Works

American Psycho (2000)

I think most people know Christian Bale because he was Patrick Bateman, better known as the American Psycho. An axe-weilding charmer, he portrays a seemingly normal man who works on the stocks in Wall Street. Only to find out he has an 'interesting' double life, we get to see what happens when we turn a normal white collar business man into a monster.

The Machinist (2004)

A great psychodrama in which Christian Bale portrays this strange and paranoid man who is searching for someone else, apparently to find out some sort of truth about an event that occurred in the past. However, the more paranoid he gets, the worse it is. He shuts someone's hand in the machine and almost cuts it off and when he finally realises everything - it is very nearly too late.

The Dark Knight Trilogy (2005-2012)

Many people believe that Christian Bale portrayed the best Batman by far and I would like to include myself as one of those people. I think that the difference between Bruce Wayne and Batman in Christian Bale's trilogy looked far more believable than any other. It made a lot of sense and his Batman was freaking awesome, we have to agree.

Other great works starring Christian Bale:

• Little Women (1994)
• A Midsummer Night's Dream (1999)
• Equilibrium (2002)
• The Prestige (2006)
• I'm Not There (2007)

Conclusion

To be honest there are so many more in which he has portrayed people such as Melvin Purvis, Michael Burry, Dick Cheney and even Ken Miles. There are just so many great roles that you may as well watch his entire filmography.