Joker - Anatomy of a chaotic mind

Rating: 8/10 (31 October 2019)

Every day we see acts of extreme violence but rarely we reflect on the origin of such acts and study the characters behind them. Joker is a spot on character study which focuses on Arthur's life and his transformation into Joker. Director Todd Philips takes the chaotic and unorganized mind of Joker and make the entire narration equally unorganized and unreliable.
Todd Phillips carefully walks the line between tragedy and comedy and impeccable acting of Joaquin Phoenix makes sure that each emotion is captured in a single scene. The transformation into Joker was very well acted through an improvised dance scene in the bathroom (and many after) which reflects freedom and confidence Arthur was feeling after the acts of killing the vicious Wall Street men. This shows how well soundtrack, acting and directing are integrated throughout the movie. Especial kudos to the cinematography which emphasizes the loneliness and darkness Arthur was feeling throughout the movie.
Arthur draws depression & loneliness of Travis Bickle from "Taxi Driver", anger & frustration of Howard Beale from "Network" (all the characters based on 1970s America). Movie truly reflects a sick society in which a broken and mentally ill character was abused in childhood and later was regularly marginalized by society because of his mental illness.
With so much bad happening around the world it is easy to get mad as hell. Media and people are still talking about negative effects acts of violence shown in the movie but I rarely find anyone talking about lack of attention towards mental illness across the world and how a weak mind if put into situations like these can turn out to be a menace to the society. Because of the sheer performance by Joaquin and a huge risk taken by Todd this movie deserves Oscar nomination at the least and a rating of 8/10.