Released: 4th October 2019 (UK and US)
Length: 122 Minutes
Certificate: 15
Director: Todd Phillips
Starring: Joaquin Phoenix
With DC shifting their focus towards more standalone movies in recent years, we’ve seen them claw their way back to quality cinema. In the lead-up to 2019, some held scepticism towards an origin story for one of entertainment’s most iconic and recognisable faces, but Joker is far from a throwaway production; instead it turns out to be the best flick DC has put out in a long time.
Taking place in 1981’s Gotham City, Joker follows Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix), a run-down comedian desperate to share his humour with the world. Running afoul of the city elite, Arthur starts to spiral downwards, growing more mentally unstable as his concerns are ignored and his dreams fail to materialise. His transformation into the infamous clown prince of crime takes place over the course of several weeks, presented as a combination of factors that send Arthur over the edge. He becomes more drawn to violence and desperate for attention, a toxic combination that culminates in a wave of street carnage. From this plot focus, the film’s cleverest aspect is revealed; by showing events almost entirely from Fleck’s perspective, we not only learn so much about this single individual but are also led to question how much of it really happened. Several sequences are open to interpretation; figments of Arthur’s imagination that massively deepen his character. Joker also avoids forming too many connections to the Batman mythos, ensuring that it remains committed to the character at its centre. If it wasn’t clear enough already, Joker is a serious, adult oriented film that sets itself apart from just about every other superhero flick on the market, its moments of darkness landing with the right amount of weight and levity.
It’s rare to see a production with such a singular focus on one character and Joker delivers a truly standout lead role. Phoenix’s performance is excellent, a vivid capture of mental illness that deconstructs the madness we’ve come to expect from the Joker over the decades. On another level, it’s tied in directly with the plight of the impoverished throughout Gotham City, something we can relate to our own modern society; a stark divide between the haves and the have-nots. Joaquin commits himself both physically and emotively, creating a portrayal that makes a tremendous impression on the audience. Other characters are lesser in screen-time, but still confidently conveyed, most notably Robert De Niro’s Murray Franklin, a talk show host with immense disdain for Arthur and his hopes of becoming a comedian. Praise should also be given to Frances Conroy, who plays Arthur’s mother Penny with just as much fractured sanity as Phoenix. While the film takes care to avoid diluting the star at its centre, the richer side of Gotham could have been expanded on more to show their corruption and the efforts they take to push the populous down. The disconnect between social classes is there, but it would have been interesting to see the two sides play off each other more frequently.
The Gotham City depicted in Joker does closely resemble New York, but the film still has its share of creative visuals. Arthur is often shot at low angles, representing his place at the bottom rung of the ladder. The lighting is hazy at one moment and glitzy the next, showing the divide between the citizens of Gotham while also highlighting the protagonist’s unstable mind. Of course, the biggest motif in the film is the use of stairs; scaling both up and down, they represent Arthur’s fluctuating mental state, a simple visual method that serves a consistent reminder of his unhinged nature. Reflecting Fleck’s desire to bring laughter to audiences, the soundtrack features an array of upbeat tracks that highlight the gleeful delirium that slowly consumes our protagonist. In the film’s ultimate climax, crime really starts to heat up in Gotham and these moments are tense and violent; even with these well-staged moments though, much of the film’s impact comes from Joaquin Phoenix’s performance and this was undoubtedly the right choice to make.
Aside from some underdeveloped side characters, Joker is a near-masterful character study that provides one of the best renditions of the titular antagonist we’ve seen in years, not to mention dive deep in the fractured, scarring nature of mental illness. I implore you to put any doubts aside and give it a watch; it’s easily the best offering from DC on the silver screen this decade.
Rating: 4.5/5 Stars (Brilliant)
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