Guns R Us

Rating: 9/10 (10 October 2019)

Echoes of Hitchcock Keystone Cops, Fritz Lang, Chaplin.......
Joker is about the real world right now in Western societies.
It's a very pessimistic view but isn't the present world very pessimistic?
We have global warming climate change promising extinction point-of-no-return within ten years. We have nuclear holocaust more possible than ever before.
We have the collapse of antibiotics.
We have the Technological Revolution disruption upon us.
We have democracy itself disappearing everywhere, especially in the USA.
We have real life Jokers as US president, UK Prime Minister, and other dictators throughout Europe and the world. China will become the major power on the planet very soon and that spells the end of democracy. But no people likes or wants democracy anyway, so what's the problem? No one remembers the past. History is dead. President Mitterrand said in his last speech to Europe before he died trying to remind the world that "Nationalism causes war!" But the world has totally forgotten and abandoned that idea because we have pure Nationalism in the USA and Europe with the UK leading with Brexit.
Nationalism causes War.
Brexit is pure Nationalism because every single reason for voting Leave is Nationalism.
Therefore, Brexit causes war!
What do these existential threats have to do with a silly film called "Joker"?
Well, just about everything. The frustration of Arthur results in Psychosis and violence. USA gun laws and the NRA play a central core part in Joker. He performs every bad guy Joker act with a "Saturday Night Special", a 38 hand gun. That gun escalates the violence. He's a nihilist at the point of the gun. The music specifically weaves itself into the film/ Joker actually mouths the words of the soundtrack music at one point which is shocking. This is an extremely realistic film almost documentary-style. The reality of the environment is a main character in much the same way as the fog is the main character in Bleak House by Charles Dickens. Joachim Phoenix is as good as any Best Actor award. The editing also shines. The director is a master as are the writers. The supporting cast are wonderful and great, all award-winners! The cinematography is close to perfect and the styling is spot on with careful attention to detail. There is little to fault with this film other than the subject matter, which is the real world which is very much at fault! Joker is a classic masterpiece and takes its place in cinema and world history. It's up there with Citizen Kane. It's as destructive as hundreds of millions of Hiroshima/Nagasaki atom bombs. Trump is as bad as the Joker only Trump doesn't have the compassion and empathy that the Joker has. Joker will inspire psychologists and psychiatrists to study it. Politicians should study it but won't because they, like the business person are triadic personalities (Narcissist/Psychopath?Machiavellian). Fear and Greed is the business person's Credo. The supreme God of sapiens is money and the corruption of Western democracy and liberalism is complete. One can think too much and too deeply about the issues that Joker touches upon. In spite of this dark film it is magical because it is immensely entertaining. Work that one out....