This review is spoilers free, but has some details about the movie
On Tuesday, with a very pleasant company and an almost empty room, I had the wonderful experience of enjoying Joker, the film directed by Todd Phillips and starring Joaquin Phoenix that has become incredibly viral.
The world doesn't stop talking about this film, and I think it's very justified. Joker is a film based on the legendary DC character of the same name, and it depicts him in a way that is impossible to ignore.
Born in Batman's universe as his first and most important villain, the "Joker" has penetrated popular culture as one of the most well-known and relevant antagonists of our era.
This fame is due to many factors. The Joker from its name represents a simple but very interesting concept that does not cease to fascinate audiences: a mocking man, mentally ill and dressed as a clown who wreaks havoc in Gotham City.
This simple synopsis has been reformulated countless times over 70 years, and that is perhaps the best virtue that has kept the Joker as a relevant character. So much so that giving him his own film was necessary.
Perhaps the greatest fortune of the Joker, is that he has almost always had excellent scriptwriters both in comics and in film, television, and even video games, but if he has had great stories, we can think that he has had better performers.
Jack Nicholson and Heath Ledger had been the most outstanding Jokers to date, with the due respect of Mark Hamill as the voice in the animations. That put excessive pressure on Joaquin Phoenix's shoulders as he played "the laughing man" in this modest but well thought-out production.
Phoenix could make a completely memorable role like Ledger in Dark Knight, or forgettable like Jared Leto in Suicide Squad. Fortunately for him, unlike Leto, he had a script that allowed him to build a Joker made to measure, and with a plot that favoured his role.
Joker is a raw, cruel and suspenseful film. Here the character's origin is created almost from scratch in a parallel universe where Batman doesn't even exist.
The psychological aspect is fundamental for the development of the plot, leaving the action far behind and focusing on the daily experiences of Arthur Fleck, a man who earns his living acting as a clown.
Arthur's first important characteristic is that he attends therapies to cope with his mental instability. This he faces in a decadent Gotham on the verge of a social explosion.
During the first scenes it becomes evident that Arthur's life is depressing. Society treats him like garbage. Arthur lacks charisma and finds it difficult to relate, but he still dreams of being a famous comedian.
This Joker moves completely away from everything seen in the character before. What I enjoyed most about this story is how his birth seems to be a direct consequence of the world he lived in.
During the film, the unpleasant events that occur in his life lead Arthur to lose the little self-control he had and progressively give in to his madness. The outcome is simply overwhelming.
When Arthur Fleck becomes the Joker, he stops being pathetic and shy to become a dangerous psychopath who enjoys killing. At times this Joker is terrifying, and that's what I enjoyed most about seeing him.
Everything unfolds in a remarkably coherent way. Arthur Fleck not only has a mental problem, he is a subject who suffers from so many illnesses at the same time that he possesses unique characteristics that, as he discovers himself, he pass from psychopathical actions to sociopathy that superbly demonstrates his true mentality.
If you want a comic book movie, similar to what Marvel has us used to seeing, Joker is not the movie for you. This is much closer to Taxi Driver or Scarface than any comic book movie made to date. And in turn, it's much more enjoyable.
Joker is an intense movie, and although it develops slowly, it does so impeccably. Phoenix's performance augurs well for an Oscar nomination for his role. And I'm being modest, because it seems to me not only the best film of the year, but also the best comic-based film ever made.
I really applaud Warner for such a risky bet, and they definitely won it. In short, Joker is not a film for any audience, but anyone who appreciates it can say for sure that it is a masterpiece of cinema.
