Joker

Uneasy, disturbing, chilling. Phillip’s Joker is a well crafted exploration of how a marginalised person in society can crack under the constant oppression they face in the world. The entire movie is a showcase of Joaquin Phoenix’s incredible performance as the titular character, from the laugh alone Phoenix deserves to be accredited with some award. The emotion that is poured into every scene breaks your heart and you are found questioning how you should treat this character, is he deserving of sympathy? Aside from Joker himself, every single person in this movie is outstanding but especially Robert DeNiro, which every scene he’s in you’re enthralled.

The score of the film is equally incredible, adding eryness to ordinary scenes, which leaves a constant uneasy feeling in you. In addition the music used throughout the film is poignant and somehow manages to make otherwise happy music insurmountably creepy.

The story is complete and for the most part successfully shows the slow, downward spiral that leads to the breaking point of someone who lacks support from society yet this is where my small criticism lies with the film. Throughout the film there is a distinct focus on the mental health of Phoenix’s Arthur Fleck which ultimately I feel is fleshed out enough, there are subtleties to his past which explain the starting point of our main character’s mental state but never fully lands on a distinct message for the treatment of mental illness. Then there is the political message where the class system is examined and again the mistreatment of those marginalised by society is emphasised. The overall idea being that media puts a message behind events, they can’t just happen, they have to happen for a reason, such as a statement on the treatment of the working class, and on the whole the movie does a good job showing this. Yet my problem lies with where these two messages are supposed to combine, the whole message of Joker is not political nor is it to make a statement, it’s simply a deranged man getting back at his oppressors and while this is expressed explicitly in the film, I can’t help but feel the ending, no spoilers, turns this on it’s head and tries to add a message to his madness. Having said this, Joker is an exquisite piece of cinema from the performances and music to the incredible cinematography and aesthetic of Gotham, captured perfectly. Joker isn’t a film about the Joker, at it’s core it’s a film about Arthur Fleck and how he decended into madness, to compare this to the likes of Heath Ledger’s Joker would be unfair as they’re completely different characters but both incredible in their own ways. While I did have a small problem with the overall message of the film, it by no means overshadows the film, it simply doesn’t mesh cohesively despite the parts being there. In sum, Joker is a great addition to the superhero genre and hopefully allows for more creative ventures in this genre.

And that laugh though.