Joker (2019) Film Review
Duration 2 hours 1 minute Genre: Crime, Thriller
Rating R (for strong bloody violence, disturbing behavior, language, and brief sexual images)
This is a gritty character study of Arthur Fleck, a.k.a. Joker, a man disregarded by society.
Based on the characters crafted in the DC Comics, Joker, directed by Todd Phillips, is indeed a unique & exclusive version of Gotham city’s clown-prince, Arthur Fleck! Intended to launch DC Black, a series of DC-based standalone films, the film’s screenplay stands & serves as an origin story for the Joker, is set in 1981 and follows Arthur Fleck, a failed stand-up comedian who turns to a life of crime and chaos in Gotham City.
The film has garnered positive reviews from critics & has initiated tremendous response & encomiums for Joaquin Phoenix's performance!
Premiered at the 76th Venice International Film Festival, in August this year, the film won the Golden Lion, the festival's highest honour!
In the past, we have seen the sketch of screen characters –deserving but never recognized or rewarded but only ridiculed & reprimanded –turning into criminals after having been disregarded & discarded by all those around, also by the society at large!
Joaquin Phoenix has come up with a standalone, breathtaking performance as a mentally ill, impoverished stand-up comedian who gets ostracized by the society, wearing 2 hats - the one he paints for his day job as a clown while in the other transforming into the criminal mastermind known as the Joker. Joaquin has clearly demarcated between the 2 faces of a single individual in a terrific manner! It is worth noting that Leonardo DiCaprio was initially considered for this role! It is worthy of mention that Joaquin never looked into the performances of the previous actors who depicted the character of Joker as he was keen to portray the character in a manner that the audience couldn’t identify with! It is learnt that he based his laugh on videos of people suffering from pathological laughter!
Sketching the storyline of the discerning flick that this is, Arthur Fleck earns a meagre income by being a part-time clown absolutely unhappy with his life that he lives with his sick mom (Frances Conroy) in a worn-out apartment!
It is a point of time at the city of Gotham where honest living makes survival a struggle causing him to break down mentally as a consequence of which he breaks into uncontrollable laughter, time & again!
Yet, he never ceases to dream big & always aspires to stand up tall as a stand-up comedian! Slowly but steadily he begins to lose his sanity reflecting the mindset of a man who is at his wit’s end! Deeply disturbed, he reaches his breaking point & his transformation into a criminal takes place!
Actor, Joaquin Phoenix
Joaquin has created his own new version of the character of Joker with his power-packed performance that reverberates across the walls of the entire auditorium where the film is being viewed!
His is a very immersive and intense performance that certainly warrants an Academy Award!
The fictional city of Gotham set in the eighties is a heaven for the affluent & the rich but not for those who struggle to survive, a situation that is relevant even in contemporary times!
Brett Cullen who portrays Thomas Wayne, a billionaire philanthropist running for mayor of Gotham, is quite adequate.
Robert De Niro asserts his class as the talk show host, Murray Franklin.
Hildur Guonadottir’s background score delivers the desired effect while the camera angles of Lawrence Sher presents the Joker’s expressive gestures as well as the alluring architecture of Gotham city from a new perspective!
Presented by Warner Bros. this is a movie that one cannot afford to miss-No jokes, very seriously said!
A character that tugs your heartstrings while the scenes & sequences of the film stay put in the mind even long after leaving the auditorium!
By
R.S.Prakash
Film Journalist, Critic & Historian.