10 best movies with Heath Ledger

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

There are people who are too young and talented to die. This was also the Australian actor Heath Ledger, who has not been with us for 12 years.

Few know that Ledger dreamed of becoming a director and even shot music videos for independent bands. But still, first of all, he was an actor - and an unusually talented one.

Heath Ledger has always chosen complex, ambiguous roles. And the more difficult the acting task was to perform, the more willingly he took on it. The pinnacle of his work was the role of the Joker, which was posthumously awarded an Oscar.

On January 22, 2008, Heath Ledger was found dead in his New York apartment. According to the official version, the death of the actor was due to intoxication caused by an unsuccessful combination of medications. He was only 28 years old.

1.10 reasons for my hate

• USA, 1999.
• Comedy, melodrama.
• Duration: 97 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 3.

It's hard to think of two more different girls than the Stratford sisters. The eldest Katarina is an unsociable evil person, and the younger Bianca only dreams of a date with a handsome man.

The father sets the youngest condition: she can date guys only if Katarina has a boyfriend. One of Bianca's fans bribes school bully Patrick to win the heart of her thorn sister.

Josh Hartnett and Ashton Kutcher claimed the role of the bully Patrick Verona, but in the end it still went to the Australian Heath Ledger. The free film adaptation of the play by William Shakespeare "The Taming of the Shrew" was the first film with his participation, filmed in the United States.

2. Patriot

• USA, 2000.
• War drama.
• Duration: 164 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 2.

The film is set in 1776, during the American Revolutionary War. South Carolina veteran Benjamin Martin decides to stay out of the war to protect his family. But everything changes when the brutal British Colonel William Tavington kills one of his sons. Driven by a sense of just anger, Benjamin rises at the head of the militia to wage war against the British.

The film, directed by Roland Emmerich, was kind of a breakout film for Ledger. The fact is that for a long time the actor was offered only the roles of heartthrob boys. Ledger didn't want to do teenage comedies. He had almost lost hope of getting a serious role and was about to return home to Australia.

But in the end, the young actor's expectations were rewarded. Emmerich's successful drama has won numerous awards. And Heath Ledger, thanks to the embodiment of the image of Gabriel Martin, gained worldwide fame.

Jake Gyllenhaal was also nominated for the role of Gabriel. A few years later, the actors met again - on the set of Brokeback Mountain - and became good friends.

3. The story of the knight

• USA, 2001.
• Comedy, melodrama.
• Duration: 132 minutes.
• IMDb: 6, 9.

Squire William Thatcher dreams of participating in knightly tournaments, but his low birth does not allow him. After the sudden death of his master, he changes into his armor and wins one tournament after another with the support of loyal friends. All goes well until William makes a dangerous enemy for himself.

Director Brian Helgelend's unconventional approach manifests itself in the deliberate use of anachronisms. In the film, you can find references to modern brands, and the soundtrack consists of rock hits. There are similar techniques, for example, in Sofia Coppola's painting "Marie Antoinette" (2006).

According to the director, he deliberately did not use a historically accurate soundtrack, which would not have caused the proper response from a modern audience. After all, people of that time perceived their music with the same emotionality with which we now listen to David Bowie or AC / DC.

Heath Ledger owes much of his appearance in Emmerich's Patriot to the role of William Thatcher, as Brian Helgeland liked his performance in this film.

4. Brokeback Mountain

• USA, 2005.
• Melodrama.
• Duration: 134 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 7.

The events of the film take place in Wyoming in the sixties. Two young men, Ennis Del Mar (Heath Ledger) and Jack Twist (Jake Gyllenhaal), are hired to herd sheep on Brokeback Mountain.

One night, they engage in a sexual relationship, which later develops into an affectionate romance. For many years, Ennis and Jack are forced to keep their relationship a secret. And they can enjoy their feelings only during rare joint trips to the mountains.

Brokeback Mountain's script made a big impression on Heath Ledger. The actor called him one of the best he had a chance to meet.

Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt and Matt Damon refused to participate in this film. But Ledger was never afraid to look ambiguous. The role of the enamored cowboy Ennis Del Mara earned the actor Oscar, Golden Globe and BAFTA nominations.

5. Casanova

• USA, 2005.
• Melodrama, comedy, adventure.
• Duration: 107 minutes.
• IMDb: 6, 5.

The film directed by Lasse Hallström offers his own perspective on the life of the legendary adventurer and seducer Giacomo Casanova, whose name has become a household name.

Although Casanova was a real person, all the other characters in the picture are fictional. In addition, some elements of the plot are borrowed from the play "The Merchant of Venice" by William Shakespeare. For example, the episode in which the character of Sienna Miller disguises himself as a man to participate in a council meeting.

6. Kings of Dogtown

• Germany, USA, 2005.
• Drama.
• Duration: 107 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 1.

Based on a true story, the film tells about the origins of skateboarding. The events take place in the early 1970s in Southern California. Surf shop owner Skip (Heath Ledger), with the help of local boys, creates a skateboarding team called the Z-Boys. Thanks to them, this hobby will one day become a world-class sport.

There is also an interesting cameo in the film: the real Skip Engblom appears here, who, by the way, really wanted to be played by Heath Ledger. The actor, as always, worked carefully on the role. He even wore Engblom's old clothes to better fit into the character.

And director Catherine Hardwicke was later entrusted with making the first film from the "Twilight" franchise, which turned out to be the best in the series.

7. Candy

• Australia, 2006.
• Drama.
• Duration: 103 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 3.

The drama, directed by Neil Armfield, follows the relationship of a young couple who are passionate about each other and drugs. All their attempts to tie up and put their lives in order end in failure.

The role of drug addict Dan was originally written with Heath Ledger in mind. Another internationally famous Australian actor, Geoffrey Rush, also appears in the film.

The film received wide recognition at home in Australia and at world film festivals.

8. I'm not there

• USA, 2007.
• Biographical film.
• Duration: 135 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 0.

The biographical drama about the life of the famous singer Bob Dylan by independent filmmaker Todd Haynes is a kind of meditation in which six characters embody different periods of the musician's life and work.

Heath Ledger played one of the six incarnations of the singer. Originally, he was supposed to be played by Colin Farrell, who dropped out of the project due to health problems. Ironically, after Ledger's death, it was Farrell (along with Johnny Depp and Jude Law) who replaced him in The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus.

9. The Dark Knight

• USA, UK, 2008.
• Action, thriller, neo-noir, superhero film.
• Duration: 152 minutes.
• IMDb: 9, 0.

The second film of the trilogy by Christopher Nolan tells how a genius terrorist and psychopath, nicknamed Joker (Heath Ledger), appears in Gotham. He enters into a confrontation with Batman (Christian Bale), which eventually becomes deeply personal and forces the hero in a black cloak to rethink everything he believes in.

The image of the Joker, embodied by Heath Ledger, has become truly iconic. This is directly related to the fact that the actor devoted more time and effort than ever to working on this character. For this, Ledger retired to a motel room for six weeks. The actor was inspired by Sex Pistols bassist Sid Vicious and Alex de Large, the protagonist of Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange.

Rumor has it that prolonged solitude and deep immersion in the Joker's psychology influenced the state of Heath Ledger. But this version is denied by the actor's family. According to them, Ledger, on the contrary, was happy and said that for the first and only time in his entire career he was completely satisfied with his game.

For the role of Joker, Heath won an Oscar (and this was the first time in the history of the ceremony when someone was awarded this prestigious award for the role of a comic book character). But the actor did not live to see his deafening success.

The award for Heath Ledger went out to receive his family: father, mother and sister.

10. The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus

• UK, France, Canada, 2009.
• Fantasy, magic realism.
• Duration: 122 minutes.
• IMDb: 6, 8.

Terry Gilliam's fantastic tale offers the viewer the story of Dr. Parnassus and his extraordinary traveling show "Imaginarium", where the fantasies of any person turn into reality.

Long ago, the protagonist won immortality by making a bet with the devil - Mr. Nick. Many centuries later, Dr. Parnas meets his only love. The devil agrees to exchange the doctor's immortality for youth, but on one condition - upon reaching the age of 16, the first-born of the hero will become the property of Mr. Nick.

Heath Ledger was never destined to play the role of Tony Shepard. After his death, the creators found themselves in a creative dead end for several months. But in the end, they found a way out and rewrote the script: according to a new plan, the main character changes his appearance several times, passing through a magic mirror. Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell and Jude Law, who replaced the actor, donated their royalties to his daughter Matilda Rose Ledger.

"The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus" became a kind of epitaph for Heath Ledger. When he disappears from the film, it is impossible not to think that the actor is also disappearing from our world, in which the audience will never see his new works.

Still, Heath Ledger left an impressive artistic legacy - as if he knew that his life would end too early. And his Joker, along with other wonderful roles, will forever remain in the hearts of the audience.