Joker – 2019

I’m usually very detached when I watch movies: it’s art. And it’s not real. Joker broke all the expectations I had. 

I couldn’t stop thinking about it after I left the theatre – a week later and I’m still thinking about it – the hall fell silent, proceeded with high applause when it ended. Joaquin Phoenix set the bar way too high (PS: Not intended to compare him with any other Joker cause each had their interpretation – except for Jared Leto, that was shit)

Anyways back to our Joker. The colour grading throughout the movie is amusing, it starts dark then halfway it turns to brighter colours with his red and orange suit. The first half Arthur Flick is just trying to go through his day with no joy and fighting his laughter and his mental illness. Midway we see Arthur’s slow turn into Joker and he finally embraces his madness – the dance down the stairs.

 

 

The soundtrack is haunting, nothing over the top and no clichés, yet very slow mellow music that adds colour to the already dark frame. I found out that the composer Hildur Guðnadóttir is the same composer of Chernobyl HBO. Honestly, a 3000 words essay will not fulfill discussing how in awe I am with the directing and cinematography because it’s magnificent, and I’m planning to see the movie again just to appreciate it.

Now what really blew mind is Phoenix’s performance. For starters, the way he lost weight that you can see his bones through his skin is skin-crawling. The way he’s slouching in his stand, he walks with his head down gives a very depressing look into mental illness.

Why is this movie so realistic and kept hitting home for so many people? When you watch a “horror” movie like IT, which also has a clown; you might get scared cause this it is a scary movie which cultivates your feeling into, but in the back of your mind you know it’s not real. No clown will grab you from the sewers.

When you watch any superhero movie – that also includes the Dark knight (Batman VS Joker) Good VS evil, you know it’s pure fiction. You do enjoy it, you love the acting, but the good guy saves it all. It’s a superhero movie at the end of the day! In Phoenix’s Joker, there’s no good guy, hell there’s no even bad guy! All we see is a person who was a victim of childhood trauma, a mother who was not fit to raise a child, and a system who wasn’t able to help him, in his case talking to someone and allowing him medications.

**Major spoilers here**

In the first third of the movie, Arthur gets bullied by three blue-collar dudes who work at Wayne Enterprises – Wayne is also running for mayor – and Arthur, wearing his clown suit shoots them dead. Arthur runs panicking to a public washroom, instead of hiding the gun or washing his face, he pauses for a second and mesmerizingly dances.  

And so I thought that must be his turning point.

He then got mocked on TV by his favorite comedy icon, which deeply crushed him. And I thought “Okay, that’s definitely his turning point”

His hopes and dreams just keep on shattering when he visits Arkham Asylum and finds out that not only his mother lied to him about his childhood, she was also a reason for the abuse the left him broken. Another turning point.

But in reality, there were no turning points in Arthur’s life. Shit has been piling up since he was a child and it just kept going downhill. 

“Happy, Hmm? I haven’t been happy one day out of my entire fucking life” Arthur, right before he ends his adopted mother’s life with a pillow.

The statement that kept poking me in the back of my head was: This is a very dangerous movie. It shows a lot of colours of mental illness, and what could happen if it’s not addressed. Joaquin Phoenix portrays it beautifully, the way he has uncontrollable laughter, he kills his mum and goes dancing on the stairs with his red suit, he seems more comfortable, and finally when he was sitting backstage for his comedy icon backstage and what happens next.

This is not a Batman movie, it’s not an action-filled suspense movie, maybe that’s why some people didn’t like it. It didn’t give them the adrenaline rush they were looking for. After all, this is a very slow background story of how Joker became Joker. Previous stories of Joker was like “Oh, let’s throw him in bleach”

This one: “Let’s throw him in a society and see how he takes it”

Final thoughts: I’m genuinely worried about Joaquin Phoenix, as this was a masterpiece of a one-man show that he gracefully carried. I think that was a very tough role, and I couldn’t stop putting Heath Ledger into the picture, and I really hope he’s doing okay.

I didn’t leave the theatre feeling heavy and depressed as some did, but more of heavy and concerned. I enjoyed every minute of it, and to me it was a 10/10, I can’t think of a mistake. Kudos to every single person who worked on this movie.

I can’t wait to see it and enjoy the aesthetics again, will probably keep on adding things to this review.