
«Joker» (2019): Review
JUST SMILE.
Todd Philips, famously known for The Hangover triogy, directed this film; which stars Joaquin Phoenix (Arthur Fleck), Zazie Beetz (Sophie Dumond), Robert De Niro (Murray Franklin), and Frances Conroy (Penny Fleck). Joker was one of the most anticipated movies of 2019, where the most skeptical said that it would glorify violence and justify chaos , before it was even released (most of these allegations came from the US for the most part). Joker won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival and became the highest grossing R-rated movie of all time, surpassing Deadpool 2 in the process.
This movie belongs in its own DC standalone universe, far away from the DCEU. So, is it as good as they say, or is it just pure marketing?

WHAT'S GOOD ABOUT JOKER
I think that what’s stands out the most is Phoenix’s incredible transformation in order to play Arthur Fleck. Apart from his evident change of physique (he lost around 22kg), what really shocks is his behavior on screen. It’s frankly terrifying to see how well he plays a deeply psychologically wounded character, where he doesn’t seem to be happy for one single second in his whole life. Right from the start, Arthur is bullied by a group of men in an alley, making it very clear as to what we can expect from this character.
Nevertheless, even if we know he’ll eventually become one of the most famous villains in the world of superheroes, Philips does a remarkable job by making the audience feel for Arthur. As the story progresses, Arthur is also bullied by the script. He stumbles, falls, and when he gets back up on his feet again, he gets punched once more. Phoenix captures marvelously this character’s misfortune in a very convincing manner, to the point where the only thing you want for him is to catch a break and be happy for just one moment. Even if you don’t know how life has treated him until now, you get the idea that nothing has really changed.

The turning point in this movie occurs during the subway scene. Arthur is once again beaten to a pulp by three men, and in order to stop his pain once and for all, decides to shoot them in cold blood. You can see that even if Arthur is shocked at first, he quickly comes to terms with what he’s done. You could even argue that gets enjoyment out of it, because the first thing he imagines when he goes home is making out with his neighbor Sophie (Zazie Beetz).
And even if it’s something that’s unconceivable to think about on paper, the audience can even get to feel a sense of relief, just because Arthur has managed to be happy for once in his life. Just for once. The “cure” that Arthur has been so desperately looked for isn’t his medication, but a gun. And that’s the moment the audience realizes what he’s become and stops rooting for him. That man is Arthur no more. He’s the Joker.
The good man that was Arthur; the man that only wanted to make people laugh when they were having a bad day, completely dies in that subway. Even if the audience condemns his actions and doesn’t side with him, they are glued to their seats. They have seen from the beginning how a normal man such as Arthur has transformed into the Joker. That the difference may seem abysmal, but here, it’s just a simple step towards madness.

What makes the audience so engaged is that anyone of us could be the Joker. You don’t need superpowers, or super intelligence; but just something so usual like a lack of love. This can drive you so mad that you really do believe you’re alone, especially when we don’t get the help we need. Furthermore, the audience now wants to know where this story is heading towards to. Will Arthur’s delusion expand, or will he retract from it? All of this is once again greatly acted out by Phoenix, from start to finish. It gets to the point that if you were told that Phoenix really did have issues, you wouldn’t be sure if it were a lie or not. It is the acting of his life, and deservedly won the Oscar for Best Actor in 2019.
One callback that I think deserves attention is how Arthur Fleck is linked with Bruce Wayne. Meeting before even knowing it, it’s curious how this movie starts off with Arthur’s life crumbling down in an alley, and how Bruce’s life falls apart in another alley at the end of the film. It’s a good parallelism.
If there’s something else that this movie deserves recognition for is its soundtrack. Composed by the Icelandic Hildur Guonadóttir, this soundtrack perfectly captures the solemnity, darkness and sadness from this movie. It’s refreshing, that for a movie set up in a superhero universe, the soundtrack isn’t upbeat, as we’re used to for a majority of the Marvel movies, for example.
Because, in reality, Joker is a really sad film. It’s not a film that you would see every day to cheer yourself up. The torturing psychological journey that Arthur embarks on is so shocking mainly due to the soundtrack; like the bathroom scene, where Arthur starts to dance after having committed his first ever crime.
It’s a scene that really disturbs the audience. First of all, because of what Fleck’s natural reaction is after having killed three men; and second, for the soundtrack. It’s as if Arthur was dancing to that piece of music (which was actually done like that, with Phoenix listening to it as he was dancing) Guonadóttir composed. His steps are so meticulously studied that it gives us the impression that this wasn’t the first time Arthur was doing it; waiting for the right time and let out his alter ego. The film won the Oscar for Best Actor (Joaquin Phoenix) and Best Original Soundtrack (Hildur Guonadóttir), and both are completely deserved.

Another strong aspect this film has is its cinematography. It has beautiful shots most of the times, along with an aesthetic that makes it really unique. You get a feeling right off the bat that Gotham is swamped in negativity, chaos and tension.
Arthur’s smiles and looks, the dark alleys, and the tangible desperation are powerful alleys that explain Arthur’s descent into madness. All these elements are so strong that when Arthur kills what was once his idol Murray Franklin (Robert De Niro), once feels as if he had witnessed an actual murder. It feels reals because the audience has been able to empathize with Arthur since the very beginning, because we know what has led him to this. And even if we don’t share his morals or ideals, there are two things he says that are worth taking into account:
What do you get, when you cross a mentally-ill loner, with a society that abandons him, and treats him like trash?
The worst part about having a mental illness is people expect you to behave as if you don't.
And these two sentences are what demonstrate, in a brief way but simple way, why Arthur has transformed into the Joker. And, he’s right, in some way. Currently, the people that have seen the movie, live without too many problems; but we never ask ourselves what it would be like to live without such basic things, like family love or sanity. These are elements that we’ve internalized so much that we don’t even consider that there’s a possibility that someone may have this kind of problem; let alone thinking what it’s like to live without them.
It was said that this movie would glorify and justify violence. I completely disagree. This movie makes us feel bad throughout its runtime because we get to know what people with actual mental problems have to go through every day (not to this extent, of course, as this is just fiction). We feel what it is like to feel alone and see how we treat those people that are really ill by ignoring them involuntarily.
This movie tries to convey a clear message of trying to see what it feels like being someone else; not because we fear that a figure such as Joker may rise, but to help them from the hell they have to live in. It wants people to act and that are ready to help, nothing else. We just see life with Arthur’s lens. It depends on who’s telling the story.

WHAT'S NOT SO GOOD ABOUT JOKER
It’s not a secret that Todd Philips was heavily inspired by Taxi Driver, who has Robert De Niro as the main star, also present in Joker. It is true that both movies share lots of similarities (a man who descends into insanity), but I think that Joker is original enough to consider it as its own. Nevertheless, there is a deleted scene where we see Arthur attends his mother’s funeral in the same outfit as Travis Bickie, demonstrating the movie’s source of inspiration. This is really the only negative I can think of.
IN CONCLUSION
I believe that if Joker was able to cause such a fuss it was because of two reasons. The first one of them is because the US has had problems with mass shooting before, as History can prove. It’s not the same to show this movie in the US than in any other part of the world where such problems aren’t such a thing. The second one is because this movie makes us feel how people with mental issues get to feel, and lots of times, we decide to not act on it and ignore it.
It’s not a movie that’s easy to watch, but I think it’s necessary. We can empathize at the start with the most famous DC Comics villain, and that’s no easy job. But if we’re able to do so is because of how much this character is humanized. We understand what drives to be who he transforms into, even if we don’t agree with him. We even get to feel pity for him.
What’s the most shocking thing, is that any of us could be the Joke, because he’s human. That’s what’s scary. He’s not like Thanos, a 6”7 extraterrestrial that wipes out half of live in the whole Universe with 6 Infinity Stones and his Gauntlet. The Joker is just a guy you could run into any day. He’s got no superpowers. Just a gun and a bit of makeup turn Gotham upside down. The fact the movie bases itself in a realistic scenario and things we can all relate to is what makes it more frightening.
Joker isn’t a film that stands out because of its joy, but because of the message it sends. There were rumours that this movie would make violence rise, but it does the complete opposite: it tries to prevent everything that we see in the film, and also tells us how to do it. I think we can find the solution in Arthur. We need to use everything that has been taken away from him.
Jack Nicholson’s Joker was born when he was thrown into a tank full of acid. As for Phoenix's? Just throw him into society.
VERDICT: 9/10
