"I haven't been happy one minute of my entire fucking life."
--Arthur Fleck, Joker
"You think men like Thomas Wayne ever think what it's like to be someone like me?"
--Arthur Fleck, Joker
Thoroughly intelligent, emotionally complex, and fittingly relevant in light of the current political climate, Joker does for Arthur Fleck exactly what last year's Venom could have done for its titular character: it provides an R-rated story isolated from any established cinematic universes and explores the dark nuances of its lead with a gravity that sets it apart from many other offerings in the genre. It is no overstatement to call Joker a masterpiece that completely refutes the idea that comic book movies belong to a lesser genre (as if other movies haven't already demolished this asinine belief).
We have reached the point where one of the best movies for each consecutive year is derived from comic stories (Logan [1] in 2017 and Into The Spider-Verse [2] in 2018), and 2019 has only continued that trend. Diversification is precisely what the genre needs right now in the post-Endgame era, with Joker climbing above all other recent DC live action film efforts--even the largely excellent Wonder Woman [3]. Joker does not wait to display the intellectual and emotional depth at the core of its slow burn drama; it is not an action film, but a detailed exploration of one character's psychology.
It is worth noting up front that the themes of Joker are not ideas that can be casually dismissed, much less ignored completely. Every individual has the power to shape the fabric of society in at least some small way; dehumanization is at the foundation of a great deal of the mistreatment that humans inflict on each other; mental illness does not render a person unintelligent or unworthy of being treated like a person; murder is by definition an unjust solution to apathy towards the poor and downtrodden; a person's motivations for committing heinous acts can be far more complex than the simple desire to be cruel; to do nothing to oppose evil is to indirectly enable it. These are only some of the issues Joker tackles that demand to be addressed in light of actual world events.
Production Values
Since there is little need for effects work for the vast majority of the film due to the general lack of action sequences, Joker stands or falls almost entirely based on its performances. The secondary characters, some of the most notable ones played by Zazie Beetz (in her second comic book movie role, the first being that of Domino in Deadpool 2) and Robert De Niro, are realized effectively within their few scenes. Yes, there are relatively few scenes with characters other than Arthur Fleck himself, who is acted superbly by Joaquin Phoenix. Heath Ledger's Joker was phenomenal, but Heath never had to carry The Dark Knight from scene to scene. He was one of many characters. Joaquin, however, is literally at the forefront of the entire movie. While he is not in every frame, he is in every single scene, each of which in some way contributes to building or maintaining momentum.
The cinematography and soundtrack often focus on Arthur, with the score in particular almost sounding like it belongs in a horror movie. Speaking of horror, there are indeed some very clever comedic moments that provide rare periods of respite for viewers while also showcasing the Joker's personality, but the general tone of Joker is actually closer to that of a horror film than it is to that of standard comic book movie. There is no Batman to save Gotham, and the combination of mental illness and political tensions is more than enough to frighten sensitive viewers with its blatant realism. The cinematography is distinct enough from that of an outright horror film, but even shots showing something as simple as Arthur looking out of a bus are elevated by the talented camera work.
Story
I will reveal several mild spoilers below, but some of these were already shown in the trailers. For the sake of withholding several major plot twists, though, this section will be short.
The film opens with a scene that portrays the complicated sadness of Arthur Fleck, a clown who struggles to provide for his mother despite having severe mental illnesses for which he takes seven medications. His mother persistently writes Thomas Wayne, who is running for the position of Gotham's mayor, claiming that Thomas is a good person who would despise the conditions that they--and the poor of Gotham by extension--are living in. As political and class tensions escalate, Arthur finds himself placed in one dangerous situation after another, prompting him to make a decision that will dramatically impact the future of Gotham.
Intellectual Content
I will refrain from spoiling some of the most shocking and philosophically-stimulating revelations here, but Joker does openly deal with ambiguity by revealing that Arthur hallucinated a key aspect of his life for a time, and the ending does little to confirm how many of the events shown in the film truly occurred as shown. No character ever explicitly talks about matters of epistemology or metaphysics, but the shadows of both are clearly over much of the movie. The characters do frequently find themselves grappling with matters of ethics, however, and ethics in the context of class relations and politics in particular.
As simple as it may sound, the story emphasizes how casual acts of indifference that may not even be remembered by the perpetrators, especially if they are wealthy, can have such a devastating effect on the lives of those without at least a small number of friendships to fall back on. The collective citizens of Gotham are portrayed as selfish, cruel, and hypocritical, and Joker should at least raise questions about social and individual responsibility for crimes. The answer itself is not difficult to prove, but it is an important one nonetheless. A society is responsible for how it behaves, but so are individuals. That Gotham's moral decay created conditions ripe for exploitation by someone like the Joker does not mean that Arthur is not fully responsible for his own actions, some of which are morally justifiable (his first two kills), and some of which are inflexibly immoral by Biblical standards (every kill after the first two).
Arthur loses concern for the moral accuracy of his intentions and behaviors (if that was ever a priority to begin with), but that does not stop him from telling one of his victims "You get what you deserve" just prior to murdering him. Justice is not synonymous with what actually occurs, and only an imbecile would ever try to equate the two. Joker puts the consequences of private and societal delusions on full display as different characters often react to the injustices of other characters with more injustices. In their irrationalistic stupor, many of them fail to acknowledge that no illicit act justifies another illicit act. Of course, conscience and arbitrary, ever-shifting social standards are not the basis of any existing moral obligations, and no one in the movie appeals to anything higher than their own individual or cultural preferences--the Joker and his opponents alike. It is hardly surprising that randomness and narcissism are the two defining features of the actions of almost every character.
Conclusion
Joker is a film that even people who dislike or are weary of traditional comic book movies might find themselves enjoying simply because of its thematic brilliance and excellent production values. Perhaps the most relevant movie of the year, it brims with a kind of realism that could easily shock people into contemplation about serious issues like mental illness, classism, epistemology, justice, the evil of silence in troubled times, the role of government, and the nature of truth itself. It is rare for a movie about a character so familiar to the public to confront philosophical and societal subjects with this level of directness, and anyone who enjoys layered films should be grateful.
As an aside, it is hardly surprising that many criticisms of the film are rooted in misandry or racism against whites (the hypocrisy of these criticisms deserves its own future article, however) rather than in objections to the presentation of the story: the characterization and plot of Joker are executed far too well for its detractors to be able to legitimately call any of its cinematic components thoroughly bad. Anyone who cheered for Erik Killmonger but condemns the Joker is an asinine hypocrite, as is anyone who would react differently if the film's central character was a woman or a black man. Given that the deeply entrenched nature of hypocrisy in contemporary society is one of the most important points of the movie, it is truly ironic that many of Joker's critics are just as blind as key characters in the film.
Content:
1. Violence: The handful of killings in the movie are far bloodier than those in other comic book movies.
2. Profanity: Variations of "fuck" are used throughout.
[1]. https://thechristianrationalist.blogspot.com/2017/05/movie-review-logan.html
[2]. https://thechristianrationalist.blogspot.com/2018/12/movie-review-spider-man-into-spider.html
[3]. https://thechristianrationalist.blogspot.com/2017/09/movie-review-wonder-woman.html
No comments:
Post a Comment