An Important Story and A Brilliant Vision

Rating: 10/10 (24 December 2019)

SPOILER ALERT !!!
When I first saw Christopher Nolan's 'The Dark Knight', there was a scene where Ledger's Joker was standing on a heap of this huge pile of money with his arms stretched out slowly rising up and for a moment I felt like probably he would break into dancing slowly in a manic sort of way enjoying the moment that it is, but then of course he jumped down that monumental heap sliding his way back to the ground. A Bizarre thought, maybe, but given how he is, it made sense. Now 11 years later we get his Origin Story in the 'Joker' and quite astoundingly Joaquin Phoenix fulfilled this in his own portrayal of The Dark Prince of Gotham. While some critics described it as ridiculous, I felt it is appropriate. Portrayal of shock and a sense of emotional release at first and later as a symbol of victory and a metamorphosis of his character, it is simply brilliant. Although I expected some grand Beethoven like background music in the later scene.

Todd Phillip's brilliant in his vision of creating Gotham in a Martin Scorsese setting. It doubles the experience of watching it on an IMAX screen. In fact Arthur's Character seems a lot inspired from Martin Scorsese's own iconic movie characters - 'Travis Bickle from Taxi Driver' and 'Rupert Pupkin from The King of Comedy' . Todd kept the color palette of the ambience mostly dark slightly foggy in most cases. Even the days are gloomy resembling the rising level of pollution in the city and in people's behavior and put Arthur in the middle of all these as a host of the chaos.

Director-Writer duo Todd Phillips and Scott Silver created the whole narrative from Arthur's perspective. While the reliability of Arthur as a narrator is another big question but still from narratives point of view Arthur is chosen with a bigger picture in mind. In the very first scene, we see Arthur sitting in front of a mirror in a clown's make up stretching his lips to understand what is it to look happy. Arthur says "All I have are negative thoughts". Beaten and bullied everyday, Arthur is suffering from an increased identity crisis and mental illness. Mahatma Gandhi said - "The true measure of any society can be found in how it treats its most vulnerable members". The City is no better than him as well. As we start to explore the cityscape from Arthur's perspective, we discover how Gotham's vibe resonates with Arthur's helpness. Arthur Says " Is it just me or is it getting crazier out there". Both Arthur and Gotham are crumbling towards chaos. The Socio-political structure of Gotham is burdened with lack of leadership, lawless ness, huge class divide, unemployment with an acute increase of crime. There is an anger brewing against the rich. Its sewage system has collapsed leaving heaps of garbage everywhere on the streets. As if all of these are creating a perfect setting for the birth of either a Liberating Good Soul or a Chaotic Evil Spirit. Jesus was born in a crumbling Jerusalem while Joker's born in a crumbling Gotham (fictional I know but trying to make a point). While Jesus gave up his life away for salvation of human kind, Joker's born to feed on the poison of human mind. What you sow is what you reap. And rightly so in the ending scene with Arthur's coronation as Joker, you can't help but get goosebumps. This resonates back to that Older saying by Harvey Dent "You either die a hero or you live long enough to see yourself becoming the villain". This made me realise why Nolan's 'The Dark Knight' is such a brilliant piece of cinema. You can find the hint of all these elements as well as a few glimpse into Joker's past which becomes, quite frankly, an extrapolated and neatly written and developed character of Joker in the 'Joker'.

Also, a big praise to the brilliant and haunting background score by Hildur Guðnadóttir. Somber yet so Beautiful, nicely deepening the connection of the audience to Arthur's mind.

Joaquin Phoenix simply shined in his acting to put it simply. He is probably an actor born to play this part. He took this simple premise and this extraordinary character and took it to a whole new level of brilliance. I've never imagined before how laughter can be such an acute reflection of pain. His face is like a blank canvas which he can use in so many different ways to emote several different shades. The camera simply loved to shoot as many close-ups of his face as it can to crank up the intensity. While Ledger's Joker is a blend of Psychopathic killer and Charismatic Criminal never giving away how he actually thinks, Joaquin's Joker is all human, sucked and dried down to its bone quite literally and figuratively never missing any chance to make you feel uneasy. Heck, it wouldn't be inappropiate at all to name this film 'Arthur'

Todd Phillips created an origin story that is more about torment, bullying, chaos and mental illness in a totalitarian environment than it is about the rise of the iconic villain. To witness the unfolding of the psychological breakdown in the crumbling Socio-Political Climate is as scary as it is alarming about the ensuing abyss of chaos & danger. Probably that is why it has connected with so many people as if it's some kind of a global phenomenon. Nevertheless, 'Joker' is an important cinema and I am glad that is out there for people to see.