Joker has been spoken about a lot since its release. There is a mixture of reviews, good and bad. This is a film that you need to see for you to make your own mind up on which side you agree with.
This film shows the origins of one of Batman's greatest villains. We see many sides to this interpretation of the Joker portrayed by Joaquin Phoenix. That being said, Phoenix does an outstanding job in this film. When he is on screen you can't take your eyes away from him, you want to see everything he does and we become curious on what he may do next.
Phoenix's Arthur Fleck is a tragicomic nightmare who is a sign-twirling clown. Fleck suffers from a medical condition that makes him laugh in particular situations. This laugh is like a witch’s cackle, it is infectious yet uncomfortable to watch at times. Arthur has been abused and bullied thus becomes increasingly enraged as the film continues. Along with this, Arthur lives with his mother, Penny (Frances Conroy) in Gotham who also has secrets she is hiding from Arthur that we don't learn about until near the end of the film which may be the final straw that pushes him over the edge. These secrets explain the true parentage of Arthur and we learn more about Penny's past which explains a lot about why Arthur is the way he is. Along with all of this, Arthur dreams of becoming a stand-up comedian. What is interesting is that throughout the film, Arthur doesn’t really understand what other people find funny and when he does try to be actually funny, it can be awkward to witness as he has no idea what other people find funny.
A theme that runs throughout this film is the social divide between the rich and the poor. The media is used to portray the rich as heroes who claim to help others yet to the poorer people they are seen as the villains. Wealthy Thomas Wayne (Brett Cullen) calls Gotham's poorer masses "clowns" which then causes the people of Gotham who were offended to put on clown masks and begin to protest and riot against the rich. In the end, Arthur/Joker becomes the leader in this uprising.
We see Arthur go from a lonely man and a victim to the Joker full of revenge for those in power who mocked him with lots of supporters. There have been many variations of this character and each one is different from the other. This film is different from all the others, we see Arthur trying to get his own back on the world as no one ever noticed him before he started acting out. He gets a buzz from violence that he has caused which at times is shocking to watch.
What is very noticeable with Joker is that there is a certain style with camera shots used. There is a repeated focus on close-ups of faces. A moment in particular is at the end we have a super close-up on the face of Arthur. It can be seen as a surreal moment as we are looking into the eyes of Arthur yet we have also become the worker at the prison looking into the eyes of a crazy person. Also, at points it feels as if the camera becomes us the audience, and we are peering over someone's shoulder or hiding in Arthur's flat watching what he is doing.
Overall, this film is enjoyable to watch, however it is quite intense. This is due to the fact you can't switch off for a moment as so much is happening throughout the film. The acting in this film is outstanding but there are moments which are obviously fake and a bit too dramatic like the shooting of the Wayne parents. With that being said this film shows a different side to this well-known character and villain as we get to know the Joker more in depth and see what pushed him over the edge.
