Film Review - Joker: Folie a Deux

 

The title translates as “madness for two” and appropriately most reviews I’ve seen fall on one of two sides- this is either `utter rubbish` or its a work of `genius`. As ever the truth sits somewhere else though its fair to say this is not the film you might be expecting if you saw the first one.  

 

Spoilers beyond this point

 

 It opens with an animated short before shifting to the colourless cells and corridors of Arkham State Hospital. Its two years after the first film and Arthur Fleck’s trial is imminent. A lengthy sequence shows just how he and the other inmates are treated worse than animals and are at the mercy of sadistic guards whose chatty demeanour is often contrasted with their brutal treatment of anyone who steps out of line. Fleck himself is almost skeletal, bones protruding, head down and lifeless as if his light has been switched off. Then a chance encounter with a lower category inmate, Harleen Quinzel, known as Lee, sparks the gradual return of his Joker persona, which she encourages and her belief in him brings him back to life. 

The ensuing narrative shows someone who is essentially an obsessive fan turning the object of that appreciation into something he actually really isn’t. He becomes the source of disruptive behaviour inside the prison and something of a celebrity idol with the wider public aided by a tv interview. By the time it comes to the trial he and Lee are obsessed with each other and with the idea of the Joker. He takes over his own defence with little but his personality to defend himself with.

The film examines the nature of fame and reputation and when crime becomes little more than entertainment. For Batfans critical of this ideas, director Todd Phillips has said Fleck is not the same Joker who will go on to confront Batman et al, rather his story sets in motion the idea of that Joker persona.  Lee lies to gain his attention and, just as there was with Arthur in the first film, there are doubts as to how much of what she says is the truth. Yet when Fleck, moved by the murder of another prisoner his deeds inspired and realising he can’t actually change anything, publicly crumbles to confess he is not the Joker, “just Arthur”  she abandons him. Its notably too that both the public, whom we see outside the court, and most of the other prisoners, idolise the Joker despite the terrible things he did whereas in earlier scenes Arthur was ignored or treated, ironically, as a joke. This echoes all those celebrity stories of criminals where revulsion at the crimes evolves into fascination with the person who committed them. For Lee this parasocial relationship becomes real yet she cannot ultimately control it.

At the end we see Fleck being sprung from the courtroom by followers in Joker guise who have set off a huge bomb.  I’m not sure this development was necessary especially as Arthur remains free for only a short time. Was this a last minute addition to give the ending more punch? It just feels like something from another film. At the very end Fleck dies at the hands of another follower who it is indicated will take on the mantle next. So, it might be several people later till the Joker we know comes to be. 

As to where the viewer’s sympathy might land that’s a tricky question. Our instinct when we see how Feck and the other prisoners are treated is to think how awful this is and yet these are dangerous individuals. There does not appear to be any option for the kind of secure corrective treatment such people might now receive and the film does appear to be set in the earlier part of the twentieth century inasmuch as Gotham is ever time specific.

It is certainly a role that is perfect for Joaquin Phoenix, whom I wasn’t impressed with as Napoleon, however this is in another league. Once he meets Lee, Arthur seems to battle himself to supress these dangerous urges and Joaquin Phoenix’s expressions give the idea of the Joker physically trapped and trying to rise to the surface. Fleck is a contained ball of energy that occasionally explodes but never seems too indulgent and the actor goes deep into this role. It is an impressive immersive performance. 

Lady Gaga’s singing prowess we already know and she does not disappoint. Joaquin Phoenix’s does well to match her and his singing is more energetic while  these sequences add a little colour to the grim façade elsewhere. As an actor Lady Gaga holds the screen without seeming to do a lot yet it is all in her face and eyes. Together the two are dynamite. There’s also strong support from Brendan Gleeson in intimidating form as Jackie Sullivan, a bully of a man who can just as soon seem amiable.

The much vaunted musical content is worked into the narrative cleverly. This is not, as was suggested, an actual musical and the songs are presented in a fantasy context to underscore what’s happening. It is an interesting juxtaposition to hear a set of songs that are mostly optimistic film musical staples from a bygone age played out amidst this sort of oppressive atmosphere. It definitely puts a different emphasis on some of the lyrics. Its also the case that none of the other characters can hear the music itself. Two of the musical sequences are stand outs- one where they run loose around the hospital grounds and later when Arthur imagines the two of them in their own tv show.

Curiously there are several moments featured in the trailer that are absent from the finished film, one of which suggested an entirely different ending might have been planned. Throughout director Todd Phillips creates interesting material from the bleakness of the hospital and the plainness of the court room.  This is a challenging film, certainly not for everyone, but if you take the plunge it will give you plenty to think about.