By Dylon Turner
Joker is the first film that made me uncomfortable to watch from beginning to end. I have seen countless thriller and horror films that did not achieve what Todd Phillips’ 2019 film about a man’s slow descent into madness did. Despite my uneasiness throughout its duration, the promoted feelings of hopelessness, despair, and madness are both justified and necessary to the story of Joker.
It is impossible to talk about any film involving the Joker without a prominent discussion point being the actor’s portrayal of the character.
As soon as I got out of the theater, my friend immediately asked me if we had just seen the best portrayal of the Joker.
Ever since the release of The Dark Knight in 2008, I have said that Heath Ledger gave the best performance as the Joker. In that movie, the Joker was a mysterious figure with no true origin who’s only true desire was to test the spectrum range between society and chaos and the finite balance between the two. That Joker did not need an origin story. Joaquin Phoenix’s portrayal of the titular character in Joker provided an adequate justification for this version of the character to get an origin story. This Joker is unlike any of the previous incarnations of the character. Phoenix’s Joker was a scarier human being then he was a clown. This perception was achieved by showing the fuel to the madness fire contained inside Arthur Fleck. Before ever putting a single stroke of white paint on his face, Joker sold its main character as a lunatic with a dark past molding his outlook on the future. I will never say that this or any incarnation of the Joker is a relatable character. However, I like the route this film took with the Joker. Instead of the criminal mastermind wanting to cause crime and chaos, Phoenix’s Joker is the product of a dark childhood and incapable of producing the appropriate emotion to cope with the flawed life he lives. The Joker in this film does not know how to cope with the ill fated hand that he has been given thus synthesizing his motivation for overthrowing the societal elite that he blames for his problems. He believes that lower class members of his world deserve to overthrow their upper class brethren. The tagline “put on a happy face” not only sells the film but illustrates the situation that this Joker is in. The film does not necessarily glorify its demented titular character but almost represents a warning about the ends of madness while also being a character study of mental health.
The graphic violence in the film is not necessarily a celebration but more a warning for what could happen when the darkest human beings do not receive the appropriate aid, whether that aid be protection from attackers or adequate counseling.
Once Fleck dons the clown makeup, he seems more complete as a character thus representing the where the ends of madness could take someone. Joaquin Phoenix is absolutely fantastic in this film. From the physical mannerisms, the auditory techniques (especially the laugh), and the facial expressions, Phoenix paints a new more terrifying iteration of the Clown Prince of Crime. Seeing the character with few clothes on was particularly shocking due to the physical contortions shown. Phoenix is so captivating, this character could standalone as an iconic psychological villain without ever introducing the notion of the Joker.
Accompanying Phoenix’s brilliant leading performance, the film is made using methods that exceeded my expectations. Todd Phillips was known more for his mid-2000’s comedies that, while fun, were not examples of exceptional filmmaking. Joker is a breath of fresh air to the career of Todd Phillips and makes me more intrigued for future films by him. The director uses camera shots that illustrate the world the Joker lives in. I really enjoy the film being set in 1981 and the sets, costumes, and props definitely give the story the appropriate aesthetic sense for its setting. The soundtrack for the film is surprisingly excellent. The main piece of the film’s score, which heavily reminded me of the Game of Thrones song “The Rains of Castamere,” appropriately promoted the film’s tone of hopelessness and bleakness. The dark color pallet, which usually fails in most comic book films (here’s looking at you Suicide Squad and Man of Steel) captures the dystopia feel of 1981 Gotham. Something brilliant the film does is its colors slowly get brighter as Arthur Fleck descends further into the bottomless pit that is the metamorphosis of the Joker. Joker feels like a filmmaker wanted to strip away the template of a “comic book movie” and used base material for its main character to craft its own unique tale.
This addition to cinematic Joker lore isn’t just a new chapter but is a new book with its own world completely away from the universe its preceding stories reside in.
Unfortunately, as much as I love this film, it has two significant flaws. Don’t worry, there will be no major spoilers discussed ahead. Firstly, Joker makes the mistake of forcing the Batman mythos into the story. There is a main character in the plot that if the name was changed from someone that isn’t directly linked to Batman, the story would remain completely unchanged; in fact, this portion of the film feels completely forced. Secondly, the film presents the notion that Arthur Fleck is psychotic and suffers from hallucinations. This comes up as a point in the plot but I think is handled incredibly lazy. I am a big fan of the actor/actress involved in this portion of the plot but I was incredibly let down by how the filmmakers handled it. I do not believe either of these severely harm the film’s quality. I think one flaw represents studio encouragement/interference while the other shows that it doesn’t completely trust the audience to understand that key part of the plot.
Joker is a breath of fresh air to the “comic book” film genre. If the intent of Warner Bros to have this film be the beginning of a standalone series that operates outside of the DC Cinematic Universe and contains darker, more innovative, and edgier entries, I am definitely intrigued. Joker is the first film since The Dark Knight (coincidentally both having the Joker in them) that feels like if all comic book references and characters were removed, it would still be a fantastic film. This dark masterpiece does not rely on its protagonist’s own legend in order to thrive but uses that lore as a canvas to add a new and innovative layer to it.