Joker - Origin story of batman's nemesis and the brilliant Joaquin Phoenix

ASHOK’s FIVE reasons to watch Todd Phillips’s #Joker– this is the origin story of batman’s nemesis and is dark, gloomy and disturbing but with an Oscar-worthy performance from Joaquin Phoenix. This is the story of Arthur Fleck, a loser and a loner in Gotham city with a neurological disorder that prompts him to laugh maniacally without reason and how his aspirations to become a stand-up comic pivot to tragedy and pull him down in a downward spiral. He lives with his mother Penny (Frances Conroy), is delusional about a single mom neighbour and is obsessed with the cheery TV host Murray Franklin (Robert De Niro in a cameo).

I think the team got carried away with the sublime pathos of the Joker’s story and as a result, the film is centred solely around the one individual delivering a riveting performance. The influence of Martin Scorsese’s work has a profound influence here especially films like Taxi Driver and The king of comedy. However, the problem seems to be a very serious and realistic treatment set in a Noir grandeur style that does little to inspire or leave an impact.

1.     This is Phoenix all the way. A performance of a lifetime. Right from the opening scene where the lonely clown stretches the edges of his mouth to form a smile to the delusional madness and the bursts of violence, Phoenix lives the character completely. The scenes that depict his anorexic body with the ribs sticking out, shoulder blades prominent, back arched ugly like and arms flailing capture your attention is a grotesque manner and keep you engrossed.

2.     Joker boasts some fantastic production design by Mark Friedberg and brilliant city scape imagery by cinematographer Lawrence Sher, but in many ways the references to the mythical DC comics city and characters stops there. The Cello score by Hilder Gudnadothir is a perfect complement to Phoenix’s performance.

3.     One of the issues with Joker is that when you look beyond the performance, the story trajectory is a tad too predictable. You almost know that the kids would beat him up when he gave chase or that he would go after the men who harassed the woman on the train. The scenes where he digs up his mother’s records and finds that a lot of this has been made up by his delusional mind are in the same vein; so too the final confrontation with Murray Franklin. Having said that, Joker is a must watch t understand what goes on inside the mind of the mentally ill or the sociopath. Sometimes we wear a mask over our identity and carry on living two lives. Here is a story when you take off that mask and live freely. It is disturbing for sure but fascinating.

4.     The writing, with inputs from co-writer Scott silver of The Hangover fame, does take a look at the issue of mental illness which is so relevant in modern times. Arthur is a victim, a freak, abused and mocked at. The scene where he is taking notes at the stand-up comedy class and laughs at the most illogical moments is poignant. As he says, “The worst part about having a mental illness is people expect you to behave as if you don’t” The sad humour that comes with his one liner preparations is the other hall-mark – “I hope my death makes more cents than my life”. In a time where inciting hatred, trolling, harsh memes and bullying is commonplace, one’s heart goes out to the mentally ill for whom there is no future.

5.     Joker is a gripping film but difficult to digest. Arthur Fleck is humanised but never idolised. Comparisons with Heath Ledger’s Joker in The Dark Knight are inevitable but the class and political overtones of a narrative that pushes the mentally ill to the fringes of the society without mercy is disturbing and leaves you more disturbed than pensive. It is brilliant technically and in the way it is presented. For those inclined to subjecting movies to intense scrutiny, this is a must watch.

Joker is not a funny movie. It is not a wonderfully insightful movie that will stand out as a marker of societal change; it is not something that will appeal to our collective conscious and definitely not a harbinger of change in attitude to the issues showcased. It is not a work of art and nor is it a tale of inspiration. The world is sharply divided on Joker – one half believes that it is an ugly film made to showcase the histrionic abilities of the lead actor and is over-hyped in its realistic portrayal of a cruel part of our society while the other half believes that the film is a masterpiece in its own right, supported by some fantastic frames and background score. I am going with a 3.5 on 5 for Joker.