The Interrogation Scene
Despite it not having the action of the rest of the movie, the interrogation scene between Batman and Joker remains the peak of excellence in the film. It captured why these two nemeses are doomed to do this dance of death forever, and how they need each other to survive. It channeled The Killing Joke‘s influence but brought its own version as the Joker forced the Caped Crusader into a twisted game of eeny, meeny, miny, moe.
Nolan confessed to The Los Angeles Times’ Hero Complex that it’s his favorite – and most vital – scene, too, saying:
“The scene that is so important and so central to me is the interrogation scene between Batman and the Joker in the film. When we were writing the script, that was always one of the central set pieces that we wanted to crack.
“We wanted it to be the point at which Batman is truly tested by the Joker and you see that the Joker is truly capable of getting under everybody’s skin. I’m realizing this now about that scene — I haven’t thought this through before — the synthesis of all the different elements that I’m most interested in within filmmaking all come in that scene.”