Tense, thought-provoking

Rating: 10/10 (15 October 2019)

My expectations were very high (largely because of its #10 spot in the top 250) and Joker absolutely delivered. Not many movies are like this. It's similar to Taxi Driver overall but I think it's superior. It's a character study, more about Arthur Fleck than the Joker. At the centre is Joaquin Phoenix's incredible performance but the music, cinematography, other actors and overall story are also top-notch and make it special. It's an exciting time for film buffs when a movie of this calibre comes out. There's so much potential for discussion, for theories and for simple appreciation.
It's ridiculous the controversy some people try to stir before a movie even comes out, purely from a place of ignorance. But that's hardly surprising these days. Joker is a bold and thought-provoking movie which transcends politics or any efforts to simplify the issues surrounding crime and violence. It doesn't reach simple conclusions, nor tell you what to think. It challenges you, affects you and makes you question what you think you know about hard topics like murder, self-defence, class, self-esteem and so on.
One key strength is how relatable Fleck is. It's easy to empathise with him and feel terribly about his life and situation. He's not evil. Not at first anyway. What's great is seeing gradually how things play out for him and the complete ambiguity of where exactly he crosses the line. Some of his actions feel completely justified, but this obviously shifts over the course of the film.
His emotions are confused, his reactions often upside-down. But at the core, Arthur is deeply sad and troubled, hence why we care so much about him. If he becomes dangerous, it's not solely his fault. It makes you want to learn more about mental illness and how it can best be dealt with - I'm doubting there are easy answers. There are many haunting moments with jarring dissonance between the extremes of horror and humour. Arthur's disconnection from reality means that terrible things may make him happy or trivial things may upset him severely. He jokes at the wrong times. He means well but often comes across as creepy - it's a vicious cycle.
As he becomes the Joker, we hate him for the villain he becomes, but sense relief that maybe he's found himself. It's messed up. You sense life pushed him down no matter what he did. His only path to any semblance of happiness, independence or acceptance was through evil acts. That indeed reflects on society and makes for tragedy.
I believe in harsh penalties for criminals and remain sceptical about ideas like rehabilitation, especially the naive notion that it will always work. Punishment works - it's a deterrent and quarantines dangerous people away from the rest of society. But I also understand the harm gov't policies or certain philosophies can have.
For example, when you have a public education monopoly which lowers standards and fails to teach kids, welfare which rewards single motherhood and unemployment, a minimum wage law which does nothing to help low-skilled people develop their productivity but instead puts them out of work, and leaders who tell people to blame others for their shortcomings, rather than work hard and be responsible. These combine to create circumstances where lots of young people are unemployed and have no easy legal or moral path to success. Making drugs illegal, creating black markets and opportunities for high-risk, high-profit endeavours, doesn't help. These problems have especially plagued black communities in the US but similar problems have also arisen among lower-class whites in the UK. At a certain point, when you pursue terrible policies, you get what you deserve. See Thomas Sowell to learn more.
Most of the characters are understandable in their decisions, with a handful of exceptions who are jerks. They're flawed human beings, not malicious, but capable of mistakes, hurting themselves and others, making poor judgements, over-reacting, being careless, etc. The difference is that whereas most of us can get by, Arthur is in desperate pain. Lonely, lacking social skills, without guidance, without having had a solid, loving, upbringing. He is ill-equipped and anyone in his position could do what he does. We're not above him, we're just healthier.
The movie depicts riots and rising tensions in Gotham City. The city has an effective sense of time and place, roughly the 70s, maybe a bit like L.A. or New York (I'm Aussie so I don't know the US that well). While Arthur indirectly influences these tensions, he didn't intend to. The point is that anything can operate as a catalyst for unleashing social unrest. If one event doesn't occur, another one will - the riots will happen sooner or later. But it's interesting that they read things into what Arthur does. They assume he has a message. Nobody knows the full context, but they jump on the bandwagon nevertheless. The truth doesn't matter. This parallels modern journalism and various groups like BLM and Antifa who are often founded on worse principles than those they claim to be fighting. The hysteria surrounding Trump is less about him and more about hating anyone who disagrees. Only because he is president is he hated.
Anyway, Joker is an incredible movie, worth seeing but definitely not for kids. There are some nice hommages to the Batman universe which are unobtrusive. It's a bold and engaging movie - I'd even say it will be a profound experience for a lot of people. It's very different from The Dark Knight which will draw inevitable comparisons, the latter being an epic action crime thriller, the former being a focused drama thriller. Regarding Ledger and Phoenix, why not both? Joker truly deserves its current spot in the top 10.