The Greatest Cinematic Depiction of Existential Crisis Till Date

Rating: 10/10 (11 May 2020)

In the world that Arthur Fleck inhabits, gunshots are comparable to cannon blasts - their sound and fury envelop the surroundings with an untamed, ferocious reverberation. It's startling, it's frightening, and it's realistic.It's apparent that the filmmakers have sought vigorously to uphold an almost slavish devotion to realism. The Joker's signature cackle has been fashioned into a neurological disorder and is more an expression of anguish than maniacal glee.It is this commitment to realism, and the script's interpretation of Arthur, that makes Joker a vivid, engaging and affecting character study.
When we first meet Arthur, he's alone in a room full of people, gazing in the mirror, forcing a smile. His only friend is the person he sees on the other side of the mirror. Arthur is lonely and has been throughout his life. He yearns, above all things, for connection. He believes his purpose in life is to bring smiles to people's faces. To that end, he works as a clown for hire and seeks to become a stand up comedian.He just wants to exist, but he was never really here. And Gotham and its citizens don't take heed of people like Arthur, they don't see him; they don't understand him, and more detrimentally, they don't want to.However, Arthur doesn't understand them as well. As someone who has been mired in desolation and isolation his entire life, Arthur doesn't know how to make meaningful connections with people.He doesn't understand people as much as they don't understand him. Sample this scene - Arthur is at a comedy club, watching a comedian perform. He's taking notes, but he doesn't comprehend the jokes. He forces a laugh at the most inopportune moments, desperately trying to fit in.That scene, among many others, brings to light the invisible yet insurmountable wall that separates Arthur from the rest of the world. It's devastating. Arthur's life is a comedy for those around him, but to him, it's a tragedy.
Apart from Arthur, the only other three-dimensional character in Joker is Gotham, and it's entirely appropriate. Arthur's descent into depravity mirrors Gotham's collective downfall - the birth of the Joker is the logical culmination of the city's shared apathy.It's Gotham that takes away his medication, it's Gotham that puts a gun in his hand, and it's Gotham that puts his hand on the trigger.The city is on the brink of a class war, a charged powder keg readying to explode. And Arthur, a man who has been circling the rabbit hole his entire life, gradually goes in, and he takes Gotham with him.Now, Gotham burns and Arthur is the one holding the matchstick. It's a vicious cycle - a sadistic joke.
That being said, Arthur is accountable for his actions, and the film never condones the things he does, quite the contrary. While Joaquin Phoenix pulls us in, Todd Phillips, the director, actively strives to pull us out at several vital junctures. He makes it apparent that something is wrong with Arthur in his very being; his core is rotting away.So,while the movie offers a conceivable scenario of how horrible situations compound his mental illness, the choices Arthur makes are his own. Gotham and its citizens exacerbate the situation, but Arthur was already a man with inherent vices.
Phillips conveys to us, in no uncertain terms, that Gotham doesn't pull the trigger.
This Joker's scars aren't conspicuous, because they reside deep within his being, but they are there, and Phillips makes sure we see them, and we see Arthur for what he truly is - a troubled, mentally ill man who went down the wrong path.
Arthur's descent is envisioned through the stairs he takes every day. Throughout the movie, we only see him ascend them, with weariness and slouched shoulders, all in the bleak, grey and inadequately lit nights synonymous with Gotham.It's essentially an analogy for what his life has been like - dark, difficult and desolate.
Towards the end, however, having gone through his baptism by blood, he descends the stairs, adorned in full Joker regalia, with the sun basking on him. He's dancing, he's moving with newfound confidence, it all seems so easy to him.Arthur is reborn; it's a cathartic moment for him. He is now the master of his destiny.
However, we know better. We are not meant to cheer him on.But some(Me especially) undoubtedly did, and that is endlessly fascinating because now, the mirror is no longer in front of Arthur, Phillips puts it firmly in front of us, and we choose what we want to see and how we want to reflect on the events unfolding in front of us.
Phoenix ensures Arthur walks the line between sympathy and horror. Moreover, Phillips, particularly through sparse yet judicious use of comedy, further blurs that line, constantly questioning the viewer.
Arthur has a weak grasp on comedy, and we never share a comedic moment with him - a situation or a joke that both the audience and Arthur find humour in.When that moment does come, courtesy of an out of reach door latch, it is horrifying, yet we laugh, and Arthur, for the first time, shares in the humour. The lines keep getting blurred.
The entire movie is open to interpretation. We get to decide whether Arthur was a man with delusions of grandeur, or a man, who through tragedy and trauma, had found the formula for it.
There are signs sprinkled throughout the movie that lends credence to either interpretation. It's like the Joker said - "If I'm going to have a past, I prefer it to be multiple choice!"
Joker is a profoundly affecting and evocative film, destined to linger long in the minds of those who see it. It is a movie that inspires dialogue, both within us and the people around us.The film takes aim at our collective apathy, our lack of compassion and our readiness to ridicule. It puts a mirror to our society and asks us to introspect.
There is so much to unpack within those 122 minutes; it's a movie that demands repeat viewings. Although that may not be agreeable to everyone, and that's understandable.And single-handedly carrying this whole endeavour, like an Atlas on steroids, is Joaquin Phoenix. Words such as 'stellar,' 'wonderful,' 'incredible,' et al. can't do justice to what Phoenix has achieved here.
Perhaps 'transcendent' comes close, but it is a performance one has to see to truly believe. It is staggering work, a sweeping symphony of physicality, vulnerability, trepidation, melancholy, comedy and tragedy.One bad day, that's all it takes. And for someone like Arthur, who has had an unfair share of bad days, that one bad day was positively wretched.
A comedian died that day, but a Joker was born
My Ratings:10/10