Joker (2019 film)

This is a featured article! This article has been reviewed by one of our Staff as one of the best articles on the Qualitipedia Wiki.‎

Warning! Mature Content! The following work contains material and themes that may include coarse language, sexual references, and/or graphic violent images that may be disturbing to some viewers. Mature articles are recommended for those who are 18 years of age or above. If you are 18 years old or above, or are comfortable with mature content, you are free to view this page. Otherwise, you should close this page and view another one. Reader discretion is advised.

Joker
"How about another joke, Mur-ray? What do you get... when you cross... a mentally ill loner with a SOCIETY that ABANDONS HIM AND TREATS HIM LIKE TRASH?! I'll tell you what you get, YOU GET WHAT YOU FUCKING DESERVE!!!"
Genre: Crime Drama Thriller Directed by: Todd Phillips Produced by: Todd Phillips Bradley Cooper Emma Tillinger Koskoff Written by: Todd Phillips Scott Silver Based on: Characters by DC Comics Starring: Joaquin Phoenix Robert De Niro Zazie Beetz Frances Conroy Cinematography: Lawrence Sher Editing: Jeff Groth Music by: Hildur Guðnadóttir Production company: Warner Bros. Pictures Village Roadshow Pictures Bron Creative Joint Effort DC Films Distributed by: Warner Bros. Pictures Release date: August 31, 2019 (Venice) October 4, 2019 (United States) Runtime: 122 minutes Country: United States Language: English Budget: $55–70 million Box office: $1.079 billion Sequel: Joker: Folie à Deux

Joker is a 2019 psychological crime drama thriller directed and co-produced by Todd Phillips (who co-wrote the screenplay with Scott Silver). The film is loosely based on DC comics characters, starring Joaquin Phoenix as the titular character and providing an alternative origin story for the character. Joker was produced by Warner Bros. Pictures, DC Films, and Joint Effort, in association with Bron Creative and Village Roadshow Pictures, and distributed by Warner Bros. Joker is intended to launch "DC Black", a series of DC-based standalone films and premiered at the 76th Venice International Film Festival on August 31, 2019, where it won the Golden Lion, and released in the United States on October 4, 2019.

Joker: Folie à Deux, a sequel, is scheduled for release on October 4, 2024. It's teaser trailer was posted on April 9, 2024.

Plot

In 1981, party clown and aspiring stand-up comedian Arthur Fleck (portrayed by Joaquin Phoenix) lives with his ailing mother, Penny (portrayed by Frances Conroy), in Gotham City. Gotham is rife with crime and unemployment, leaving swathes of the population disenfranchised and impoverished. Arthur suffers from severe mental conditions as well as a disorder that causes him to laugh uncontrollably. Due to his various psychological disorders and introverted nature, Fleck is continuously bullied and beaten to the ground by society, causing his fragile mental stability to decline until he goes insane and becomes a serial killer named "The Joker", determined to make Gotham City laugh again in his own twisted and violent way.

Why Arthur Became Joker

1. For a psychological thriller film and a DC Black film that sets it apart from other DC films, it's a great take on mental illness, bullying, and how it affects the victim suspensefully and awfully to the point of ruining one's life, showing why bullying is bad.
2. The film draws inspiration from classic films with similar themes, such as The King of Comedy and Taxi Driver.
   • Robert De Niro's casting as talk show host Murray Franklin is fitting, given his role in The King of Comedy and Phoenix's role as the Joker is almost a mirror reflection of De Niro's role as Travis Bickle in Taxi Driver.
3. In comparison to other DC films that try too hard to be edgy (or other DC films that fail to be edgy), Joker is dark and serious by doing it in a way that is edgy but also serious about why a character can truly feel dark and serious inside, and a victim of bad things like these. The dark tone helps the narrative to make it meaningful and true and shows why you can't mess with a dark victim in every way.
4. Joaquin Phoenix does amazing at playing the Joker; his performance is flawless and beautiful. While Heath Ledger did a great job with the Joker in The Dark Knight, Phoenix's performance is as great as the former, if perhaps even better. Just like Ledger, he earned an Academy Award for his performance and portrayal of the character. Not only this, but Phoenix's performance as the Joker is the most tragic and sympathetic Joker today; the scenes that feature him going through a hard time and scenes that show him laughing when he is in discomfort with the best performances altogether are enough to feel sympathy/sorry for him.
5. Arthur Fleck is a very compelling, tragic, and likable character. His actions are understandable because of his life's difficult stuff, like bullying. He also has a lot of character development as he transforms into the Joker. His struggles also make the viewers want to be thrown into his world to experience how he was treated badly.
   • It also works with his mental illness; it sometimes makes it harder for the viewer to know whether the events he's experiencing are actual or not.
   • The narrative also accurately portrays how his mental health progressively worsens through the film, as he stars in the film as a sympathetic, tragic person who continuously becomes even more violent until he becomes a truly terrible person and a killer.
   • Arthur's conditions make him a sympathetic victim, but his actions are still criminal, and the film appropriately paints him as a villain.
   • What also makes him a villain in the comics is that he kills people for valid reasons, such as not being nice to him; this also includes the three Gotham Wall Street men who died on the subway because they were punching/kicking him until Arthur got his self-defense out by killing them with a revolver, showing that he had every right to kill those people for what they did to him.
6. The musical score by Hildur Guðnadóttir is awesome, particularly when Arthur dances in the bathroom, giving the dance a haunting, sinister, and beautiful theme. This scene makes it even more beautiful, and when silent while watching it, it is enough to give the viewer a haunting vibe.
7. The famous scene where the Joker dances down West 167 Street's steps to the tune of "Rock and Roll Part 2" before he gets chased by the cops is amazing, and shortly after its release, said stairs became a tourist attraction.
8. Also, the scene where the poster is chosen is well-shot and creative; using the aforementioned famous dance is shown with the step stairs.
9. It spreads a strong message on hatred, unfair class systems, the dangers of long-term suppression of emotions, abuse towards the mentally ill, and many other issues with how Arthur is treated horribly by society and his ever-degrading mental state. It also talks about how cruel people can be to others.
10. The famous scene where the Joker is on Murray Franklin's talk show and goes on a lengthy rant about how society abandoned him and treated him like trash before pulling out a gun and blowing a hole through Franklin's head is all disturbing yet exciting. Everything he says to Murray on the live show is correct, and it's the perfect example of why bullying is never a good thing.
    • Regarding the aforementioned scene, the famous quote: "How about another joke, Mur-ray? What do you get... when you cross... a mentally ill loner with a SOCIETY that ABANDONS HIM AND TREATS HIM LIKE TRASH?! I'll tell you what you get, YOU GET WHAT YOU FUCKING DESERVE!!!"... enough said.
11. Besides that one aforementioned famous quote and scene, there are other phenomenal quotes as well:
    • "Is it just me or is it getting crazier out there?"
    • "I used to think that my life was a tragedy, but now I realize, it's a fucking comedy."
    • "When you bring me out, can you introduce me as Joker?"
12. When the violent moments happen, they're intense and disturbing enough to help the film's dark tone with the psychological implications behind the extremely intense and bloody violence. This proves that you can make a well-written film with enough violence to the point where it is dark inside, and the amount of blood and violence it shows is enough to show why it is.
13. At the end of the film, we see Bruce Wayne's parents being gunned down by one of the Joker's fans, allowing us to glimpse Bruce Wayne before he became Batman.
14. The part where the Joker does a bloody smile is touching and beautiful; the crowd cheering in that scene makes it even more touching.
15. The film has some funny moments without overshadowing the dark tone, such as when the Joker cracks an incredibly inappropriate joke on Murray Franklin's talk show about a woman's son being run over and killed by a drunk driver.
16. While the film is supposed to be dark (as that's the film's tone), there are some heartwarming moments, like when Arthur cheers up the kid on the bus.
17. At the beginning, it uses the old Warner Bros. ("Big W") logo from the 1980s, fitting with the period the film is set in.
18. It's a very different take on a comic-based film (and character), presenting it less as an action blockbuster and more as a character study, a tragic and sympathetic film depicting how hard life can be for such a character. It's refreshing to see how it worked well.
19. Todd Phillips, the director of this film, captures the charm of his films, but instead of comedy (e.g., The Hangover), it's a crime drama thriller, which works amazingly at its true potential.
20. The cinematography is perfect, to the point that it was nominated for best cinematography at the 92nd Academy Awards. It also feels like one shot was needed to make the film, and the scenes are sharply vivid thanks to the help of the cinematography that does everything to make its picture at its best.

Bad Qualities

1. Although the film's tackling mental illness is profound, some inaccuracies exist:
   • The pseudobulbar effect, a medical condition that causes people to laugh uncontrollably, is a physical disorder rather than a mental disorder.
   • Given his severe declining mental condition towards the end of the movie, Arthur shouldn't have been able to outsmart the detectives. After donning the full Joker outfit, he shouldn't be able to interact with the interviewers.
2. Despite being the Joker's archenemy, Bruce Wayne barely has anything to do in the film and just has one line.
3. Some commenters say that Brett Cullen and Carrie Louise Putrello are too old to play Bruce Wayne's parents, making them look like his grandparents.

Reception

Critical and audience response

While Joker polarized critics, it received widespread acclaim from audiences. Although Phoenix's performance, direction, editing, musical score, and cinematography were heavily praised, the dark tone, portrayal of mental illnesses, and graphic violence divided opinions and generated concerns of inspiring real-world violence; the movie theater where the 2012 Aurora, Colorado mass shooting occurred during a screening of The Dark Knight Rises refused to show it out of respect for the victims.

Chris Stuckmann gave the film an "A-" rating, Jeremy Jahns gave it an "Awesometcular" rating, and featured it in his list of the Best Movies of 2019.

Box office

Joker became a major box office success and set records for an October release. It was the first ever R-rated film to gross over $1 billion worldwide and became the sixth-highest-grossing film of 2019 (managing to outgross Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker by over $105,000). It is also the highest-grossing R-rated film of all time.

Awards and nominations

Joker has been nominated for and won multiple awards, including the Golden Lion at the 76th Venice International Film Festival. It earned eleven nominations at the 92nd Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Cinematography, but it lost to Parasite and 1917. However, it won Best Actor in a Leading Role for Joaquin Phoenix and Best Original Score.

Trivia

• Martin Scorsese was originally about to produce the film but backed out on that.
• This was the first film to debut the new Village Roadshow Pictures logo, although the logo is still at the end.

External links

• Joker at the Internet Movie Database

Comments

Loading comments...