Batman: Ashes to Ashes

Ashes to Ashes is a French fan film shot in 13 days, and made on a budget of 10,000 Euros. The film heavily borrows elements from Frank Miller’s various works – especially his vision of Sin City.

The Batman of this film is all rage and fury. Provoked by the murder of his most faithful aide, he goes on a murderous rampage across the city.  But the central figure slot in this story is not occupied by the Dark Knight, but by an assorted rogues gallery of  violent criminals, mad men and dangerous, sexy women.

Ashes to Ashes is, visually, a gorgeous piece of filmmaking. Atmospheric and dark, the filmmakers have managed to create an incredible vision of Gotham city on a relatively tiny budget. But its main drawback is its weak and incoherent storyline. There are also scenes filled with gratuitous violence -  intended to provoke and shock – but which ultimately collapse under the weight of their own absurdity.

The 15 minute film is subtitled in English for international audiences. The subtitles themselves are unintentionally hilarious, partly because of the effects of directly transliterating the dialogues from French into English. Just sample this:  “Guilt is like a terrible diarrhea.”

You can watch the complete film after the jump.

Edit: Video is Nsfw.