“That’s life, and as funny as it may seem.
Some people get their kicks stomping on a dream.
But I don’t let it, let it get me down.
Cause this fine old world it keeps spinnin’ round.”
– Frank Sinatra, “That’s Life”
The 1970s are generally regarded as the last great era of American film. Known as the “American New Wave,” or “New Hollywood,” the era saw the emergence of groundbreaking new film directors such as Francis Ford Coppola, Brian De Palma, and Martin Scorsese. Movies took on a grittier, more realistic tone with edgier material and were no longer constrained by the requirement that a film must always have a happy, or at least happy-ish, ending. Films like Apocalypse Now, Dog Day Afternoon, Serpico, Mean Streets, and Taxi Driver surprised and sometimes shocked audiences with their bleak, and often too-real outlook on issues Americans were being forced to confront more and more often. Factors such as the assassinations of John F. Kennedy, Robert Kennedy, and Martin Luther King, Jr., the Vietnam War and its fallout, political upheaval following President Nixon’s resignation, the oil crises of the seventies, institutional corruption, and rising crime had led to disillusionment and social unrest in much of American society and these new films were reflecting that on-screen. Exploitation cinema had also taken hold, with films like Death Wish and Dirty Harry coming as a response to the underlying anger and rage in many Americans. This was also a time in which pornography was mainstream, seen in cinemas across the nation. All of this created a boiling pot that continues to boil over in today’s society.
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Director Todd Phillips places Joker directly in that sweet spot of American cinema. The film is visually breathtaking, with the griminess of many of those late seventies films on full display. Drawing heavy inspiration from Scorsese films Taxi Driver and King of Comedy (both starring Robert De Niro who co-stars in Joker as talk show host Murray Franklin, a total role reversal from his King of Comedy character Rupert Pupkin), the film gives an unflinching look at what can happen when someone with mental illness, coupled with a history of abuse, neglect, and marginalization, is pushed too far. Both those Scorsese films are about mentally unstable individuals living in a megalopolis who have been marginalized by society, descending into insanity, and eventually resulting in outbursts of rage and violence. Sound familiar?
Joaquin Phoenix is absolutely mesmerizing as Arthur Fleck, a man so utterly dismissed and ignored by society that he almost doubts his own existence. Fleck, who suffers from a head injury that causes uncontrollable laughing in inappropriate settings, lives with and takes care of his mother Penny (Frances Conroy) while barely surviving on his job as a clown. Often, Fleck creates fantasy scenarios to escape the colorless, joyless life he finds himself trapped in. He keeps a journal that he brings to his welfare meetings and in it he writes, “I just hope my death makes more cents (sic) than my life.” This sums up the deep despair and depression of Arthur’s hopeless life. Soon, he finds himself out of his job and on the receiving end of a subway beat down. It is here that he is pushed too far and he makes a decision that he cannot return from. He also learns some disturbing facts about his own childhood which pushes him further over the edge. The film is a terrific character study of one man’s gradual descent into madness and the chaos that develops as a result. Phoenix is on-screen for nearly the entire film and you cannot take your eyes off him for one second. Easily the most disturbed, violent film or television portrayal of the Joker to date, Phoenix so completely embodies the madness and anguish of this version that you begin to empathize with him, despite the on-screen (and some off-screen) atrocities he has committed. You’d be hard pressed finding a stronger bell-to-bell, awards-worthy performance by a lead actor this year.
Fleck’s transformation into the title character is a thing of beauty. Screenwriters Phillips and Scott Silver do a fantastic job painting the picture of how such a seemingly timid man living on the outermost edge of society is able to rise to prominence and become the anti-hero to Gotham City’s cynical outcasts. There is a terrific sequence mirroring Fleck’s own life where he infiltrates a private screening of Modern Times, a Charlie Chaplin movie (which, by the way, is where the song “Smile,” played prominently in the film and its trailer, originated), and watches in part bemusement, part disgust as Chaplin skates for everyone’s entertainment while coming dangerously close to the edge of the stage. In his final meeting with his case worker (funding has been cut for many social services in Gotham), Fleck confides, “My whole life, I never knew if I even really existed. But I do, and people are starting to notice.” Played against the backdrop of a budding mayoral campaign for Gotham’s wealthiest citizen, Thomas Wayne (Brett Cullen), Fleck’s ascent is seen in the light of one who has been ignored for far too long and has come to a breaking point. Wayne, the eternal optimist, sees a society that can turn itself around and prosper once again. Fleck believes that society needs to be turned on its head and the power structure inverted. By the end of the film, he very well may have achieved that goal. “I used to think my life was a tragedy. But now I know it’s a f*cking comedy.”
Joker is a magnificently engaging, tour-de-force of filmmaking, as much a love letter to 1970s cinema as it is a brilliant reinvention of Joker’s origin story. Which, if we’re being honest, doesn’t really exist. The Joker has had multiple origins in comics, film, and television over the years and this is just the latest. If you are going in expecting a traditional comic book film, you may be disappointed. In fact, Joker can only be considered a DC movie in that the setting, Gotham City, and the Waynes are part of the story. No, Batman is not in this film, but there are some overt allusions to why he and Joker will eventually battle someday. Just as a society riddled with crime, extreme social stratification, crumbling public welfare systems, indifference to those crying out for help, and marginalization have created The Joker, Fleck’s actions have indirectly created Gotham’s Dark Knight. It’s a fascinating twist on the long-running rivalry between the two. More importantly, though, Phillips and Phoenix have created an outstanding commentary on where society has been and where it continues to go, particularly the plight of the mentally ill and survivors of abuse.
Joker is a riveting, non-stop ride and easily one of the best films of the year. Yes, it is quite violent and often brutal and uncomfortable. But make no mistake: in an era of films that far too often play it safe, Joker is a remarkable breath of fresh air. I’m giving it five stars out of five only because our ratings system doesn’t go any higher. A must-see.
