Brilliant, devastating, humbling.

Rating: 10/10 (4 October 2019)

Performance rating: 10/10, Joaquin Phoenix
Notes: Intense social commentary, veins of anarchism, "seeing through the veil," struggle, social isolation, bitterness, rage, emotional deregulation
Emotion: Raw, human
Score: 9.5/10 (will post an aged score later, perhaps)
Why you should watch it:
1. You suffer from mental health problems and "making it" in modern society
2. You want to cry
3. You want to understand an aspect of the human condition
4. You like social commentary
Stream of consciousness review:
I cried several times during this movie. I cried for the brutality of humanity and the depth of suffering we can experience at the hands of one another. I cried for Arthur. I cried for myself because in him I could see a frightened child, one which I still have. I cried because it was all too real, too accurate, too brutal. The violence was not in any sort of murder; rather, the violence was a mental one.
Joaquin brought to life the tenderness of the open wound that is the human condition. One could view the entire thing as "trying too hard" but I did not go in with a cynical mind. And I'm sure glad I didn't because if I were cynical about everything I would hate everything. The commentary of a generation, the suffering. Feeling out of place in a world that moves too fast. You stop and smell the roses, and someone, out of spite, cuts your roses up and poisons the well. This may seem an extreme assertion on the surface but take a moment to think about times you have exposed your heart of hearts, to have it degraded, or worse, dismissed.
The human condition is something we should start taking seriously again, because we are losing our humanity. We are losing our soul. I found it fascinating, the "jokers" running around, and then for this piece to come out, to address the shredded chord, the perforated vein running through all these folks. It is a dangerous slope, and we joke and ridicule those who would have something to say about it, but I believe this is out of fear. I understand that fear.