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Also Known As: - |
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| Year of first release: 2019 | |
| Director: Todd Philips (The Hangover 1-3, Due Date) | |
| Actors: Joaquin Phoenix (Signs), Robert De Niro (Taxi Driver), Frances Conroy, Brett Cullen | |
| Country: USA, CDN | |
| Genre: Thriller | |
| Conditions of visioning: 07.10.2019, Schauburg, OV Sneak Preview, English version | |
| Synopsis: In Gotham City, mentally troubled comedian Arthur Fleck (Phoenix) is disregarded and mistreated by society. He then embarks on a downward spiral of revolution and bloody crime. This path brings him face-to-face with his alter-ego: the Joker. | |
| Review: The storyline is a mirror of the Bruce Wayne story. "You made me!" We see here how Thomas Wayne (Cullen), Bruce's father, made Joker. And actually not only Thomas Wayne but what he represents. The rich people don't looking at the poor people in the streets, especially when these are getting problems or getting hurt or getting beaten. This is what happens to Arthur Fleck (Phoenix). Being beaten by bad kids first then by Wall Street white collars. Setting Joker as symbol for the class conflict, in parallel to a very personal drift of a mental illness, gives to the character a dimension that I did not remember from the Batman movies nor the Batman comic strips. The scenes of chaos on the streets generated by the Clowns look very similar to what the main TV channels present from the contesting movements such as Occupy, Gilets jaunes, anti-G8 demonstrations. Chaos, destruction. Like these TV channels, this movement and its claims are not really presented. To set a parallel with the mental illness of Joker rises questions on the message of the movie. The acting of Joaquin Phoenix is great! The story helps a lot in giving depth to the character. And he is blowing the screen. The physical transformation that he has followed to embody the mental illness of Joker is impressive. Robert De Niro may have been quite an inspiration for that. The other characters are secondary or very secondary. Even the huge Robert De Niro! The camera follows only Joaquin Phoenix and his transformation from the good boy taking care of his mother and bullied as an adult into the Joker conscientious of his mental illness and accepting it as a fact not to be treated by any drug. The mindset for the camera is to portrait Arthur and his transformation. This enhances the great acting of Phoenix. The movie lets some points open that will be used for sure for upcoming sequels of the Joker. |
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Rating: 7 /10
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More than entertainment, an Art.
Thursday, July 30, 2020
Joker (2019)
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I have seen the movie on 24.07.2020 in VOD on a 10" tablet screen.
ReplyDeleteI am so fed up and disappointed with movies/series inspired by DC that it took me a while to find the motivation to watch this one, even though I knew it was different. Still, for me the Joker was perfectly played by Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight and I didn't need another attempt. I am ignoring on purpose Jared Leto in Suicide Squad and the animated one in Batman Ninja doesn't count.
The performance by Joaquin Phoenix is indeed remarkable, but I sometimes felt that his direction was: "go in front of the camera and act crazy". It is surprising I had this feeling because his character is otherwise very well written, with a lot of depth. But watching him over-acting sometimes took me out of the movie and is the main criticism I can make of it.
Instead of a super-hero / villain movie, I find Joker to be more of an intimist drama surrounding a character created in comic books, while it didn't have to (the movie stands alone without the DC background). Using this character is almost done only to guarantee an audience among the current super-hero craving crowd. Another way to see is a totally new take on the genre, dark and gritty of course because it is DC. It seems new but still reminded me a few times of one of the few comics I ever read, the highly recommended The Killing Joke, also fully focused on the Joker.
I love that Gotham City in this movie looks like New York in the 70's-80's. The look and atmosphere are great, and the music! I am putting an extra rating point to the movie for playing Gary Glitter's Rock and Roll Part Two song.
Interesting the parallel you make between the Joker followers and the current contesting movements. When I saw those scenes, I thought more about the same kind of gang he inspires in another comics I read: Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns (I think it's the one).
For more hidden details in the movie I recommend this breakdown and that complement by Youtube channel NewRockstars.
You mentioned the nice role for Robert de Niro, and in fact the videos above confirmed the two main cinematographic influences for Joker which were Taxi Driver and The King of Comedy, both by Martin Scorsese and with Robert de Niro. The plots of those two movies bear striking resembance to the one of Joker.
Finally, your analysis is one of two possible, as explained in that other video.
In the end, I found Joker to be a complex movie. An excellent actor and a pretty good Origins story which leaves the door open to DC taking a new direction in their confused Cinematic Universe (the Joker-verse?). What about the new Batman movie with Robert Pattinson then? They are not supposed to be related.
My rating would also be 7/10.