“I hope my death will make more sense than my life.”
-The Joker
This is not your typical comic book movie. You won’t see attentive special-effects and action-packed fight scenes meant for Chinese audiences and secondarily distributed for global ones. And I know that there’s been a fair bit of controversy surrounding this film as to whether or not the film incites violence. I’m probably going to be one of the few people to say that films cannot make people do anything. There’s no such thing as a film that would make me act against my own principles, and I’m pretty sure my fellow reviewer would say the same. But I’m not here to talk about the controversy, and neither is he. We’re here to talk about the movie. The quote we chose to open with is one of the earliest quotes you see in our protagonist’s personal diary, and it’s a question I used to ask myself every day.
The story opens with us being introduced to our companion for the film, Arthur Fleck. He’s not quite the villain we’ve come to know and expect… Not quite yet. He’s a clown in the most literal sense of the word. He does gigs assigned to him by a company that often range from children’s parties to your run-of-the-mill sign holder that you can get for super cheap because no one wants to be embarrassed by standing on a random street corner in a sprawling metropolis in clown makeup. As we become better acquainted with Arthur, we realize that he’s dealing with a very specific set of challenges after getting out of the state-run institution. He’s an aspiring comedian who lives with his mother, an elderly woman with her own set of mental health challenges that remain largely unexamined and unspoken, but the results of which we see in the destabilization of their relationship as the film progresses. This film was a much-needed reminder of why I think Joaquin Phoenix is one of the best character actors working today. His portrayal of Arthur is one of the most realistic portraits of an isolated man I’ve ever seen. I truly felt for the character with every beating he took, every insult he endured, and when he was fired from his job… I found myself wondering what he would do, and if this were indeed the moment, he would become The Joker. And in his typical fashion, Phoenix made sure that the character took center stage and that his own personality faded into obscurity, allowing all of the struggle, the twisted love, the loneliness, and the sheer isolation show through.
The cinematography was some of the best I’ve encountered in some time. It complemented this nuanced character study perfectly, with even the sprawling streets of Gotham looking all at once too large and daunting and yet too small to feel like there’s any room to move, any space for peace. There is a haunting scene as we watch the Joker’s metamorphosis take place that neither of us can get out of our minds. Fleck is reaching his wits end, and in a frantic quest to find his own space, he empties the fridge of all food and shelving and shuts himself in as if he feels more comfortable in the cold than he does out in the world. This is accented with some particularly devastating news for the character which we won’t spoil here. But it’s the perfect exclamation at the end of a particularly poignant phrase in the film.
Most of this film reminded us visually of a horror film akin to something like “28 Days Later,” with the wide camera shots making us feel even more alone and unsettled. We kept thinking mistakenly, that the close-ups would feel warmer and make us feel more connected. To the contrary, they were far too close for comfort and we often felt off kilter for the entire movie. And that is by no means a terrible thing to feel, especially when the job of the film is to show you how a relatively normal, if not isolated person can become something resembling a monster. There was never anything truly wrong with Arthur Fleck, only that he was utterly mistreated by almost everyone around him and never given enough space to express who he was without fear of judgment and ridicule. Even during his mild successes, when he does his first stand-up set at a local Gotham nightclub, we find that a video of him has gone viral, and a man that he looked at as one of his comedic heroes turns him into an object of ridicule. This is what begins his slow descent into madness. Throughout the film, his laughing is played as a poorly formed coping mechanism, a way of diverting negative emotions and turning them into something that Fleck feels is more palatable. When his metamorphosis is complete, however, it becomes a symbol of terror, the symbol of a man who has sought to sow the seeds of abject chaos. Our only complaint may have been that we wished for a little more integration into the overall Gotham city mythos, but perhaps it was for the best that it didn’t risk appearing so heavy-handed and hokey in that regard. What we are left with is a critical examination of mental health care in America and a dramatic portrait of what happens when someone who desperately needs help is left to their own devices without support. This is not your typical comic book movie, and it was never meant to be. What it is, is one of the most chilling character studies we could have borne witness to. That being said, if you are comic book movie person who enjoyed movies like “The Avengers,” “Wonder Woman,” and movies of that kind, we can’t say that you’ll enjoy this movie for sure. On the other hand, if you’re the kind of moviegoer that enjoys watching amazing acting, cinematography, and spot on scoring… And you happen to have a bit of a critical edge, we can highly recommend this movie to you. We’ll see you at the movies! Thank you for reading.
Cinehorde Review 