Will Hopefully Be Talked About for a Long Time

Rating: 10/10 (9 October 2019)

This masterpiece of a film shows how, one sort of small Director and one of the best actors of all time can come together to make a movie that reflects society in the past but also today in some of the worst ways possible.
With the director, Todd Phillips, that did movies like the Hangover and Old School he shows that not only can he make very funny comedies but also a dark and serious period film. He's camera work throughout the entire film with over the shoulder shots and tracking shots of characters show how much he cared about the style and the feel of the 1980's Gotham setting.
The stand out of the entire film was Joaquin Phoenix's performance of the titular character of The Joker, but it doesn't feel like he is playing a Joker that we have ever scene before. We know the look of him and we know what his name is but his back story and many unique aspects to the character such as his laugh, and his voice are very different. Joaquin Phoenix seems to know that he is playing Arthur Fleck more than he is playing The Joker. By losing 50 lbs and learning dance moves and practicing the laugh of people with Pathological Laughter shows how much he cared about this role and the challenge it took for him to become The Joker and Arthur Fleck.
This movie as a whole is a period film and a character study. It shows how society is today with corruption and looking out the little guy. It shows how people can be treated so poorly and not cared about. It shows the dangers of what can come when things are slowly taken away from a person in their life. It also shows how mental illness can affect a person and their outlook on life. One quote is "what do you get when you cross a mentally ill loner with a society that abandons him and treats him like trash?". This perfectly sums up how society can warp the mind of someone especially someone with a mental illness.
This movie deserves all the praise it's getting and will hopefully be talked about for years to come.