Joker, is directed by Todd Phillips and follows Arthur Fleck later known as Joker. The story follows Arthur and his rapid downward spiral into madness and mental illness. Early in the film Arthur is found working as a sidewalk clown spinning advertisements on a board. Life in the trash filled, gritty, and mean early 1980’s Gotham city coupled with a mentally unwell mother and separation of reality pushes Arthur into the world of crime and chaos and soon he starts enjoying it.
After seeing the film for a third time I came to the conclusion that the film can be described by two words. “Fantastic” and “disturbing”. I call this film fantastic because it is, the film is shot beautifully. Phillips utilizes long takes following Arthur up and down the grimy streets of Gotham allowing the city to act as a character unto itself. The acting from every major character is flawless and the score masterfully follows Arthur building up into his transition to the joker. Along with being a great film I found Joker to be quite disturbing. Instead of following the mold of previous Jokers where the Joker is just a crazy person with little reason of why he is like that. This film shows more than just a crazy man, Arthur is mentally unstable in every aspect of his life. He imagines relationships with people that he barley knows, going on imaginary dates with people he doesn’t know and getting tremendous laughter from people listening to his jokes who are not really there. Later he murders a few men on the subway and imagines himself having sex with his neighbor directly after. This was showing that in this man’s head murder for him was in some way sexually arousing, witch no most viewers is incredibly disturbing.
After watching I found joker doesn’t push a message the film is not looking for you to leave the theatre with a positive or negative message. This movie only wants to study what it takes to get a person to that point and what it takes to be that kind of maniac. There were a few side story’s like the one with his mother and a possible relationship with Thomas Wayne and her own story of insanity that I thought were not necessary to the telling of the story. These story lines only offset the pacing and didn’t really lead anywhere. However, Joker is an amazing character study on what it takes to be crazy and I recommend you watch it on the biggest screen you can find.
Arthur's Ripe Tomatoes 