It’s easy to go crazy when the world around you always turns its back and treats you like a threat. But in a world of lunatics, it’s the sane man who is called crazy.
Directed by Todd Phillips, "Joker" is not just any comic book character adaptation to film; it is a deep and disturbing study of the mind and the society we live in, using a main character who plays both victim and perpetrator. It redefined the boundaries of the Crime/Thriller genre just like the acclaimed "Taxi Driver" did.
The story tells us about the life of Arthur Fleck, a man who earns a living as a children’s party clown while gathering the courage to become a comedian, but after having a bad day, he loses his job and commits a murder. That, along with other tragic events, turns him into the feared and lunatic criminal clown.
This film is the adaptation and reinterpretation of the famous Batman Comics villain: the dangerous and mysterious Joker. In the vast DC Comics universe, his true identity is an enigma just like his past; no one knows who he was or why he lost his mind, no one understands his actions or what he intends to achieve.
He is simply evil and ruthless, a man who only wants to have fun causing the greatest misfortune possible because that is his twisted sense of humor. He is incorrigible and unstoppable, a misunderstood criminal genius who always manages to escape prison to commit more evil deeds.
It’s not the first time the character has appeared on the big screen; there have been three portrayals of Batman’s arch-nemesis, but the superhero genre has become more of the same repeated in different forms over and over. And when the idea arose to tell an origin story of the famous villain without involving the Gotham Bat, they moved away from the action spectacle that major franchises had accustomed us to, focusing instead on drama.
But how do you adapt such a multifaceted character with so many reinterpretations to the big screen? Todd Phillips chose a realistic Joker, not a criminal mind with an exaggerated sense of humor, but an ordinary man broken inside who, through the circumstances he lived, became a threat to society.
What is seen in this film brutally explores an apathetic society very similar to the real world, an unequal and cruel reality that can push any marginalized man toward the dark abyss of absolute, destructive madness.
The main reason this film transcends is Joaquin Phoenix’s outstanding performance as Arthur Fleck. He delivers a painfully visceral portrayal that earned him the Academy Award for Best Actor.
His physical transformation was part of his strong acting conviction, losing an alarming amount of weight, truly something admirable and chilling to witness. And that pathological, uncontrollable laugh, which reveals itself as a desperate cry for attention and at the same time a manic cackle. Phoenix masterfully made us genuinely empathize with a deeply broken individual, leading us to applaud the Clown of Crime.
As an audience, we end up sympathizing with Arthur’s character because we could be him: when we have a bad day, we just think of fighting adversity and succeeding by any means, but somehow we receive blows that leave us down on the ground. And when we see someone rise from the floor (even if their actions go against social norms), it evokes admiration. Although the Joker represents everything that is wrong, seeing his journey from start to finish, the desire to triumph becomes his and ours.
Aesthetically and narratively, Joker is a masterpiece. The realistic version of Gotham City turns the fictional into reality, because it is inspired by 1970s New York: gloomy tones, garbage piled up on the streets, and social oppression mirror the protagonist’s decaying mental state.
The film is a harsh critique of the neglect of mental health and the brutal class divide. "Joker" is a devastating tragedy told as a dark comedy. It is an exceptional gem of modern cinema that far exceeded public expectations, proving that comic-inspired cinema can reach the highest expression of the seventh art.
Rating: 99/100