Uncomfortably real

Rating: 10/10 (13 October 2019)

Joker is a 2019 drama film directed by Todd Phillips. It could be said that it tells the origin story of Batman's arch-nemesis, but that doesn't actually matter here. This movie is not about superheroes, neither is it really about a supervillain. It's about a person. That's why it's so good, so deep, and so impactful.
Arthur Fleck, the man soon to be known as Joker, has a very sad life. That comes across from every single element that surrounds him: his boring routine, his horribly thin body, his tired eyes, his simple clothes, his decrepit apartment building, his lack of friends, the bluish tone that seems to dominate the scenes. However, the more he becomes the Joker, the more violent his acts become - the more confident he gets. The colors on the scenes become more vibrant, just like the Joker's outfit.
Beautifully played by Joaquin Phoenix, Arthur earns our sympathy on his first few seconds on screen simply with his expression. The sadness in his eyes as he tries to put up a smile seems immediately relatable to the audience. Throughout the movie, even amidst the chaos of Gotham and the violence of some of the Joker's acts, the film always manages to be extremely sensitive, making us understand (and feel) everything that the main character goes through - for better or for worse to our minds.
Joker is also a movie that is constantly getting people to laugh, but not because the situations the character faces are actually funny. We laugh because the movie messes with our emotions. It makes us nervous. It shows us how rough the world is, then it throws jokes around, right when things are tense. It gets us to laugh when we shouldn't.
It is fictional, but it is real. The feelings we see on screen are strong enough to have that impact. Which doesn't mean that we sympathize with the main character so much that we should excuse all of his misdoings, only that we understand how he got where he got. His journey, even much after we leave the theater, gives us a lot to think about.