Joker
4 stars
Director: Todd Phillips
Stars: Joaquin Phoenix, Robert De Niro, Zazie Beetz, Frances Conroy, Shea Whigham, Bill Camp
Duration: 122 mins
Class: 15
KRS Releasing Ltd

Arthur Fleck (the remarkable Joaquin Phoenix) is a loner; a man who, for his entire life, has looked after his ailing mother. He is a clown for hire, struggling to make ends meet, taking on one humiliating gig after another in his dark, depressing hometown of Gotham City.

Arthur dreams of being a stand-up comic, but any attempts of his to get on the comedy ladder result in few laughs – most of which are at his expense. He suffers from a condition that causes him to laugh uncontrollably at any given moment and is shunned by society. Social services are being cut down, his medication is not working and one sudden violent moment on a train changes Arthur’s life forever, leading him down a path of chaos and self-destruction.

DC Comics’ film adaptations of late have had a wobbly ride… but they are having the last laugh here with Joker’s $96 million take on its opening weekend and reviews that have run the gamut from the sublime to the ridiculous. They have certainly shaken up the genre – the Marvel Cinematic Universe has taken its fans to some pretty grim places – but DC has certainly upped the ante here with such a bravely dark and disturbing take on a character from a comic. 

This is an origin story borne in tragedy. It is an intimate character study of a man trying to fit in, a man who despite his tragic appearance wants to bring joy into people’s lives.

An all-consuming and wholly mesmerising performance

Ironically, Arthur is nicknamed ‘Happy’ by his mother. But life only wants to beat him down – his social worker doesn’t listen to him; his clown colleagues at work can’t resist picking on him; his mother loves him but is distant.  He lives in a city in chaos. It is a Gotham City that is seedy, creepy, dirty, rat-infested and crime-ridden; where the millions of poor people are downtrodden by the handful of rich – and as Arthur retreats further and further into his shell, his act of violence sparks a movement that inspires the city’s demoralised citizens to rise up.

Phoenix is on screen virtually for every minute of the film’s two-hour running time and it’s an all-consuming and wholly mesmerising performance.  Ever one to go very deep into his characters, the actor has lost lots of weight to inhabit Arthur’s skinny, gaunt, and grey physique and embodies his fragile persona effortlessly, commanding sympathy and revulsion in equal measure – from his sincere devotion to his mother to his pitiful attempts at stand-up via the acceptance of the evil that slowly engulfs him. In a defining moment, he seems to be celebrating his new persona with a mesmerising solo slow dance in a public toilet. A poignant line written in Arthur’s chaotic diary reads “the worst thing about having a mental illness is that people expect you to behave as if you don’t”.

And this is the point the film wants to make – Arthur is an ordinary man struggling for acceptance in a world that does not acknowledge he needs help and as his sanity begins to unravel and can’t tell any more what is real and what is imagined, so begins his inexorable path into blackness.

Director Todd Phillips does not let up on the bleakness at any point. It is a film firmly grounded in humanity and ordinary and basic human vulnerabilities and needs in moments of challenge. The Joker may be a popular character from Batman lore but there is nary a superhero to be seen here (at least one who has yet to evolve).

Phillips has assembled a strong supporting cast around Phoenix. Robert de Niro is restrained and effective as Murray Franklin, the talk-show host whom Arthur is obsessed with (a nice twist on the actor’s legendary 1983 King of Comedy role).

In a small but powerful role, Frances Conroy excels as Arthur’s mother – a woman whose own flights of fancy have a large emotional impact on Arthur’s psyche.

And finally, I must mention the haunting, melancholic and utterly beautiful score by Hildur Guðnadóttir, wihch accompanies Arthur on his downward spiral.

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