JOKER: A Review.

Todd Phillips, 2019

Contains major spoilers!

11 Academy Award nominations, 2 Wins, 11 Bafta nominations, 3 wins, 2 satellite awards, and many more accolades and incredible critical response, Joker will have an everlasting effect on cinema going forward.

This is an artistic masterpiece of a film, from score and soundtrack, to cinematography. Joker may be a period piece, but it certainly can be perceived to be relatable to everyone's modern day struggles, and even in today's society still.

In an incredible lead performance, Joaquin Phoenix portrays mentally ill Arthur Fleck who, unbeknownst to him, symbolically plays the dynamite in a period of time where societal and economical issues at the forefront of a lot of peoples mind would threaten to cause riots. Add a crazed, unhappy, depressed maniac who is unable to get the required help he needs and he will easily become the figurehead to this uprising. This is a film meant to be viewed with an open mind and it's clear that this Joker is an end result of a culture that is way too comfortable with its lack of empathy.

I think it is probably wise to view this as a stand alone psychological thriller/drama that touches on many issues people are still experiencing today, rather than a superhero/villain origin film.

Arthur Fleck is a failed comedian, who still lives with his mother Penny in Gotham. A quick sidetone, you almost forget that it is set in Gotham as the topics discussed in the film, and familiar New York/New Jersey settings encourage the film to hit home and create real emotion with the viewers, rather than be portrayed as a superhero franchise blockbuster movie. Fleck is often beaten up on the streets whilst working as a sign spinner for a store on a busy high street, emanating of crime, pollution and over population.

His world is slowly crumbling thanks to many small nuances, and clever character building early on in the film. Because of his mental state, one that he recognises himself, he seeks help from social services, needing medication. Its difficult not to feel sorry for him, seeing him downtrodden and struggling. Director, Todd Phillips would need to be careful not to romanticise the Joker, but Phoenix's performance treads the line very carefully, and successfully. one moment you could feel really sorry for him, but then you see an evil lurking within his eyes, and the way he carries himself, along with the music creating dissonance between the character and your feelings toward him. The constant use of Frank Sinatra's 'Thats Life' is a genius choice for a theme used throughout. "You're riding high in April, shot down in May". A simple but clever way to convey a sense of Flecks mental state. As the joker, he is riding high, and walks, talks, dances differently than when he is Fleck, wearing dark, wet, scruffy clothes, feeling 'shot down'.

Riding high...

Shot down...

He suffers from a medical disorder that causes him to laugh maniacally in awkward and inappropriate times. This laugh was reportedly researched by Phoenix, who watched videos for hours and hours of people suffering from pathological laughter. Add this to the fact he also lost 24kg for the role, and read and studied books on political assassinations in an attempt to get inside the mind of killers and understand their motivations. All of this research and character development by the actor made him a dead cert, and obvious recipient of the Oscar for Best Actor.

Arthur gets fired from his job, after a gun that a colleague gave him to protect himself on the street, falls out of his pocket whilst he is entertaining children at a hospital. Randall, the fellow clown who gave him the gun, lied to management and states that Arthur bought the gun himself, thus leading to his sacking. Arthur goes home and meets his neighbour, Sophie and invites her to his up coming stand up gig in a nightclub.

In the first act of violence from Arthur, still in his clown make up, gets beaten up by 3 Wayne Enterprises employees on the Subway. Using the gun Randall gave to him, he shoots 2 of them in self defence, and then chases the injured third employee on to the platform, and ruthlessly executes him. The murders are condemned by the owner of Wayne Enterprises Thomas Wayne, who is also a billionaire running for mayor, calling people who are envious of those more fortunate than them 'clowns'. This sparked riots on the part of Gotham's disenfranchised and less fortunate. Demonstrators donned clown masks in support of Arthur. Funding cuts then ensued and Arthur was left without support or medication by his city's social services, leading Arthur in to a breakdown. He knocks on his neighbour Sophie's door, and passionately kisses her. This sparks a romantic bond, and she goes to his stand up gig. The gig of course goes gown very poorly, with Arthur laughing uncontrollably, and the jokes misfiring. A video reaches Murray Franklin, a talk show host that is hugely popular in Gotham, played by Robert De Nero. Arthur often watches Murray and idolises him, so when Murray wants Arthur on his show, he graciously accepts. Arthur doesn't realise that Murray is mocking him.

This next part of the film is one of the film's most obvious punts towards the origin of the Joker and Batman. He gets a hold of a letter that his mother Penny has written to Thomas Wayne, claiming that Thomas Wayne is Arthurs father; this just adds fuel to the already burning pit of rage, and lunacy, and he berates his mother for not telling the truth. Arthur goes to the house of Thomas Wayne and encounters his son Bruce (who of course goes on to become Batman). He is encountered and startled off by the Wayne Manor butler Alfred.

Two Gotham City detectives turn up at Arthur's flat in an attempt to determine his role in the train murders, but officers cant find cause to arrest him, and leave. Directly after this, Penny is hospitalised due to a stroke. Even more confused and deranged, Arthur goes on a hunt for the truth and confronts Thomas Wayne backstage at an event and introduces himself. Arthur states that Penny Fleck is his mother. Wayne recognises him as the man who came to his house the day before, and rejects the notion that he is his father, revealing to Arthur that he was adopted whilst his mother worked for him. Arthur becomes unstable and upset at this idea, almost childlike. He reacts angrily but also desperate for a hug and some warmth. He then starts laughing uncontrollably, and Wayne punches him, threatening to kill him if he ever touches his son again. This scene is a turning point in the film, and for Arthur, who continues to look hard done by, thanks to people better off than him. Arthur visits Arkham State Hospital and steals his mothers case file, which reveals that Penny adopted Arthur as a baby and allowed her abusive boyfriend to harm them both. However, Penny says that Thomas used his influence to fabricate the adoption to hide their affair. A distraught Arthur returns home and enters Sophie's apartment unannounced. Frightened, Sophie tells him to leave and their previous encounters are revealed to be Arthur's delusions.

This a poignant moment of the story, and when the notion of a budding relationship is taken away, and is stripped back and revealed as imagination, this makes the audience feel less of a human connection to him, and makes you wonder what his crazed state of mind will lead to next. This feeling of impending doom and evilness from Arthur is definitely taken advantage of with the next scene. The following day, Arthur goes to visit his mother in hospital. I think this scene won him the Oscar. A moving dialogue includes an iconic line "I used to think my life was a tragedy, now I realise, it's a comedy" all whilst grabbing a pillow from behind his mother and smothering her to death. There goes the emotion we feel for Arthur, out goes the connection. He was now a murderer of his own, sick, hospitalised mother. The darkest most disturbing scene of the movie, with no score or song over the top, just the struggle as his mother is giving everything she has to get some air into her lungs, and the look of emptiness of Arthurs face.

His use of disturbing dancing, was a never been seen before, non verbal way of transitioning from Arthur into the Joker. He uses this in several examples in the film, and each dance/transition representing a different mindset, and happening after each major turn in his life, until he fully submerges and accepts himself as THE Joker.

After murdering his mother, two former workmates of Arthur visit him in his apartment in an attempt at cheering him up after hearing about his mother passing. In another twisted performance in this scene, its shown that Arthur really has lost it, and brutally murders Randall, almost unprovoked. He stabs him several times with scissors and smashes his head against his wall. The amount of blood in this scene, combined with the sound of his head bashing off the wall, and the other friends screams and grunts of disbelief, along with no score makes this scene incredibly uncomfortable to watch. He lets Gary go after he calmly reveals he's going to be on the Murray Franklin Show later that night. He kisses Gary on the head and says that he was the only one who was ever nice to him. Again, out goes the feeling of sympathy towards Arthur, he has just killed an innocent man, brutally.

Gotham City protests are starting that night, in answer to Thomas Wayne's run for mayor and his comments on the less fortunate and poor, and there are protestors everywhere with clown masks on. They flood the Subway and streets. Gotham City detectives are following Arthur but when one detective shoots a protestor, riots ensue, leading Arthur to escape and reach the studios. He meets Murray and requests that he is introduced as 'Joker' as that's what Murray referred to him as before. Murray agrees. With 'PUT ON A HAPPY FACE' Witten in red lipstick on the mirror, Arthur leans back in his dressing room chair and points his gun toward his neck.

Arthur walks out to applause, but starts telling morbid jokes, confesses to the train murders, and rants about how society abandons the downtrodden and mentally ill. When Murray criticizes him, Arthur begins acting more erratically. To everyone's shock, including mine when I first watched it, Arthur shoots him and is arrested as riots break out across Gotham. One rioter corners the Wayne family in an alley and murders Thomas and his wife, sparing Bruce. Rioters in an ambulance crash into the police car carrying Arthur, freeing him; he dances to the cheers of the crowd.

The final scene sees him once again maniacally laughing to himself, this time in an asylum. The psychiatrist asks him what's so funny, to which Arthur replies "You wouldn't get it". That's Life then starts playing, Arthur begins softly speaking the words to the song, smokes his cigarette, walks off leaving bloody footprints in the hall, and dancing and running at the end of it.

Make no mistake about it, this film is a complete masterpiece, with an incredible score, perfect song choices, it's beautifully shot, with a gorgeous colour pallet that makes each scene different to the next. When choosing the pictures to go into this article I really struggled, as each shot is as impressive, and as photogenic as any. I believe everyone needs to watch this film to gauge their own opinion, as I have heard contrasting opinions to my own. A lot of people believe that they are romanticising the Joker, and have criticised it, believing it will lead to copycats, much like the tragedy in the 2012 Aurora Colorado shooting, where a shooter, dressed as the joker took the lives of 12 cinema goers, intending to watch The Dark Knight Rises. This issue is a big concern in the world of cinema, and can lead to a sociological debate on whether people are affected by movies, video games, etc, and can also lead to the discussion of Nature v Nurture.We all have differing opinions on them, and that is very healthy, but can lead to films being unfairly critiqued due to a horrific real life crime. My belief is that it is just a film, that is how I intend to view things, and yes, it can touch on incredibly real themes, and touch on important political and societal issues, but it brings awareness to it. A lot of people may have forgot who The Joker is, he is an evil, psychopathic, mass murdering, disturbed character, and themes like this have been examined in films for decades. There is a reason why films that depict maniacs, and killers, whether fictional like The Joker or Scarface, or true crime like the Zodiac Killer or Ted Bundy, and it's because people are fascinated by something that a 'normal' mind can't comprehend.

The Nature v Nurture debate is a common sociological debate, in which people from the Nature side of thinking believe that killers who replicate what they have seen in film/tv etc were born with evil inside of them. People who believe the Nurture side of thinking, believe that people are shaped by what they see on the cinema, and if they weren't evil before, will be evil after watching a certain film. A common example is of video games. A lot of people think that video games such as Grand Theft Auto make you more violent, or watching a violent film such as Joker can create evil thoughts, and in the most extreme cases, can become copycats. Its a very healthy debate to have, and as a film lover, and violent game player, I don't believe in the nurture side of things. I have played Grand Theft Auto from a young age, been responsibly exposed to violent films, and I have never committed an act of violence in my life. This type of film will forever be criticised in this way, and that's just the way it always will be, it is just up to you how you perceive or interpret it.

It is a hard hitting piece of cinema that may have just changed the landscape a little bit, and the fact that people are discussing the film walking out of the cinema, or sitting at home, or on the internet, means the film makers have done their job so right. That is what it is about, opening dialogues with people, whether the point of discussion is about the ending of Finding Dory, or Joker, they're both films, and are made to get people talking.

I loved Joker and it is one of my favourite films of all time. I have often imagined making a film, and in my imagination, it contained many of the common movie making techniques that Joker had. Contrapuntal music, twisted storylines, clever colour palleting, beautiful cinematography, and an incredible lead role. Phoenix deserved this role, and whether you want to compare it to Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight or not, we should be very appreciative of his portrayal and I cant wait to see what future films he will be partaking in, hopefully in the near future.

For a director whose previous work includes The Hangover trilogy, Project X and Road Trip, Todd Phillips seems an odd choice to take on Joker. Prior to this, Phillips has never received an Academy Award nomination. He now has 11, from this film alone. This put him on the map, and now I cant wait to see what he does next that's for sure. One thing is certain, you will never listen to That's Life by Frank Sinatra without thinking of Arthur Fleck ever again.