Tim Burton couldn't understand Jack Nicholson on 1989's Batman

Tim Burton couldn't understand Jack Nicholson on Batman.

The 64-year-old director helmed the 1989 superhero flick that featured Nicholson as the Joker and recalled how he found it impossible to grasp the actor's "abstract" speaking patterns.

Tim told Empire magazine: "Jack has a very abstract way of speaking. So he would say things to me and I'd go, 'Yeah, I get it,' and then I'd go to someone, 'What the f*** was he just talking about?'"

Burton did claim that he was able to understand Jack on a primal level and they used "caveman-style communication".

The Edward Scissorhands director said: "So there was this weird communication: non-linear, non-connective... But it was very clear to me. I felt like we had a good sort of caveman-style communication."

Batman was Tim's biggest movie at the time and he felt "supported" by Nicholson "in a very deep" manner.

The filmmaker explained: "I was young and dealing with a big studio, and he just quietly gave me the confidence to do what I needed to do. And him being a voice of support had a lot of resonance with the studio. It got me through the whole thing. It gave me strength."

Meanwhile, Tim refuses to watch his own films and compares seeing clips of his work to attending a funeral.

Speaking last year, he said: "I don't really watch my movies. It was strange seeing the clips. I got quite emotional."

Burton sees each of his movies as representing a period of time in his life and finds it strange seeing them again.

He said: "It feels like each film you do is part of your life and is very deep and meaningful so it's like watching your life flashing before your eyes – that's why I likened it to a funeral in a way, in a beautiful way, it captures moments of your life."

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