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"He is a lonely and forgotten man who is desperate to prove that he is alive." This is the slogan of Martin Scorsese Taxi driverbut it could also serve as a rallying cry for Todd PhillipsS Joker, a violent nihilistic horror film posing as a character drama and a cartoon movie. Conscious that it is almost impossible to get a piece of character backed by a greenlit studio, Phillips decided to use the Joker as an introductory drug, thus giving him the chance to remake more or less Taxi driver for a whole new generation of movie buffs – those who grew up on a regular diet of superhero movies. Joaquin PhoenixArthur Fleck is this forgotten and lonely man – a mentally unstable loser who just wants to be accepted. He says that he wants to be a stand-up comedian, but what's he really wants is the attention. And he is ready to kill to get it.
JokerThe script, courtesy of Phillips and Scott Silver, is often painfully simplistic – the type of script where characters literally spell out their motives in a brutal and unabashed way. However, everything else presented here transcends this material and gives rise to a curious experience: a film that lacks interesting history, but displays a masterful mastery of craftsmanship. Phillips 'direction is accurate and precise, overloading the tribute film with dramas of characters from the' 70s and broad shots of the filthy and dirty world in which Arthur lives. Lawrence SherThe beautiful cinematography – full of long dark nights and artificial lights – is like a world where the sun does not rise. All this is accentuated by Hildur Guðnadóttir"This disturbing and mesmerizing score is full of long drawn notes and scary soundscapes.
It's the 1980s and Gotham City is a living hell. A garbage strike resulted in thousands of tons of garbage on the streets, giving way to a new breed of giant super rats. The city is a powder keg ready to explode, as the rich enrich themselves and the poor struggle for their survival. Arthur Fleck of Phoenix, a standing comedian who earns his living as a partisan clown, lives among the oppressed. He seems to love his job as a clown while he walks and dances from one event to another. But the cold, harsh world of Gotham City does not need that joy, and Arthur finds himself avoided and abused at every turn.
His discoveries comfort him both by his belief that he will one day be a famous cartoon, and his love of Murray Franklin's show, a Tonight's showhumorous late night show hosted by Murray Franklin (Robert de niro, playing some sort of reverse version of the character that he played in Scorsese The king of comedy). But Arthur's "jokes" are not very good. In fact, they are nonexistent. He is also clearly suffering from mental illness – a social worker has imposed seven different prescriptions on him, but none of them seems to work.
The only real human contact that Arthur has had is with his sick mother Penny (Frances Conroy), who wants to write a steady stream of letters to his former employer, the wealthy Thomas Wayne (Brett Cullen). The Trumpian Wayne plans to run for mayor, promising to clean Gotham in the process. Penny thinks Wayne will use his fortune to help him, but Arthur has doubts.
Thomas Wayne can not help Arthur. In fact, nobody can. And as the character is more and more abused, he finally decides to take it in person, murdering three cruel stockbrokers in the subway. Arthur's act denigrates Gotham a movement full of "eating the rich," citizens wearing clown masks and organizing violent demonstrations. Arthur has created a whole movement – but he does not seem to care at all. As he says himself, he is not political – and he does not believe in anything. Except himself.
A smarter script would take these ideas and turn them into something deeper. Phillips presents a multitude of possibilities, dealing with social issues and class struggles. But like Arthur, Phillips does not seem to care about that. It's just a background noise – an excuse to turn Arthur into a full-fledged psychopath; A smoking chain clown, inclined to dance in life. A great movie is hiding in the frames of Joker – but unfortunately, we will have to settle for a good one.
What elevates all this is Phoenix, which haunts, haunts and scares. Gaunt at the point of emaciation, the actor brings great physical quality to the performance, and Phillips often accentuates the horrible appearance of the character by letting Phoenix stretch and twist with his shirt, his ribs protruding under his skin, his shoulder blades protruding broken pieces of glass. Manic, frightening and imposing, Phoenix manages to make his Joker empathic, but never sympathetic. We think of Arthur – but we can never really as him. He is too hateful. too mean. He suffers from a health problem that causes him to make wild and painful laughter, and he is no more than proud to follow his attractive neighbor, played by Zazie Beetz in a tragically subscribed role. And as Arthur becomes more and more unruly and violent, any semblance of empathy for the character will erase him. He became what he was always supposed to be: a supervillain. As Joker At its peak, Arthur's violent tendencies explode, giving rise to several horrific and graphic moments that would end up at home in a slasher movie.
The cinematographic landscape is cluttered with comic strips – an artistic shift that has created a growing need for adult-oriented cinema. Joker wants to be the answer to these movie-goers' prayers – a film that is the best of both worlds: a comic book property that also a dark and adult drama. But the film is so bleak and intellectually so implacable that the end result looks like a warning "Pay attention to what you want". Like Arthur Fleck, Joker do not believe in anything. It's both fascinating and terrifying. This is the really subversive cartoon movie we were waiting for. Now that it is here, we could start to regret the monster we imagined.
/ Movie Rating: 8 out of 10
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