Todd Phillips (The Hangover Trilogy)'s much awaited stand-alone origin story for Joker has finally come and there are two truths about it: first, a lot of people are about to see it whether because of their love for the DC universe or because of their appreciation of Joaquin Phoenix's talent or just because they're curious about the comic-inspired film that managed to win the Leone D'Oro at this year's Venice Festival. The second truth is that, as it happens with everything that gains a big audience, not all will love it; expectations vary and a film that achieves to gather people of all cinematic backgrounds to a movie theatre will surely not satisfy everyone.
So, what is it about Joker that had critics in Venice love it so much that gave it the big award of the night and why has it, not once but numerous times, been compared to Martin Scorcese's Taxi Driver (1976)?
The fact is that every generation needs movies that take on the system and the way things work. After all, this topic has been tackled in books as well: the struggle of people to make sense of society and its mechanisms and the way in which they are affected as well as how they decide to work through it or around it. It is somewhat sad to realise that such a concern is so fundamental and so timeless that can be found in 100-year-old books in addition to films of the 2010's. What is surprising, also, is the number of films that deal with such a topic; and they seem to be even more now than in the past. Where is society leading to?
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| Films against the world |
1. Taxi Driver (1976)
Martin Scorcese's neo-noir about a man (Robert DeNiro) who's had enough with society and its injustice and decides to take matters in his own hands, is a film that has defined cinema as a whole and is quoted or mentioned whenever the topic of an unethical world comes into conversation.
2. 1984 (1984)
George Orwell's futuristic and extremely pioneering story of a man who rebels against the Big Brother by falling in love, is one that shaped fiction in all its forms and is still surprising us with its ageless questions (to which we still have no answers).
3. Animal Farm (1954)
Another Orwell classic (and in my opinion the far better one), this masterpiece is an allegory for the overthrow of a well-established system and what happens afterwards. If you haven't, you really should read the book first as it, once again, poses the question of what is right and what should be done in order to make the world a better place; but can we really do that?
4. V for Vendetta (2005)
In a futuristic UK, V (Hugo Weaving), sick of the fascist government that commits atrocities throughout the country, and with Evey (Natalie Portman) by his side, reacts and tries to bring down the established order.
5. Fahrenheit 451 (1966)
François Truffaut's adaptation of the classic book written by Ray Bradbury is an allegorical revolution to a system so authoritarian that forbids books and employs "firemen" to set fire to hidden libraries. The story's hero goes through a personal revelation when he understands the fault of his lobotomising society and tries to get out of it no matter the cost.
6. The Matrix (1999)
Stepping into sheer sci-fi territory, the Wachowski Siblings' creation transports us to a society where everything we consider real, isn't, and machines play the role of the master. In such a world, one must not only come to terms with their own existence but they also have to find a way to survive in the real world.
7. Snowpiercer (2013)
Joon-ho Bong is infamous for his social comments in almost all his films (we've mentioned Okja (2017) as well as Parasite (2019) in this blog) and Snowpiercer is no exception. Set entirely on a train which mirrors the way society is ranked, the story follows those people who start from the bottom of the social pyramid and using all kinds of means - violence as well- they try to get to the first carriage and take control of both their lives and their "world".
8. Pleasantville (1998)
A surprising addition to this list, Gary Ross's delightful and seemingly simple film is once again an allegory for change. Two teenagers are transported into the black 'n' white television program they are watching but their different ways and habits constitute a type of mutiny in the fairy-tale-like TV show. People follow them or fight them but the message remains: one should feel free to be comfortable in their own skin.
9. Network (1976)
Taking a stand against media and the profound role they play in influencing the views and psyches of those who follow them, Network shows how a man who's given his life and blood to such a medium, is exploited by it, thus being led to a desperate reaction that is far from being considered "civilised".
10. The Truman Show (1998)
On the same page of media exploiting people's lives, The Truman Show starring an impeccable Jim Carrey is the disturbing story of a man who realises that his whole life has been a lie and strifes to get out of it. Truman chooses the high road in this case but who would blame him if he had taken the matter in his hands and had reacted a little more angrily?
11. Gandhi (1982)
Another -though real- person who chose the high road is Gandhi, portrayed in Richard Attenborough's masterpiece by the iconic Ben Kingsley. In his struggle to oppose to the British and help India gain its independence, Gandhi takes the road of patience and silent persistence, gains a following and changes the world forever via the idea of a peaceful protest.
12. Into the Wild (2007)
Sean Penn's directorial effort to bring to the silver screen the life and beliefs of a man so sick of the established system that prefers to live out of the grid was crowned with success. Bringing to mind more recent works such as Captain Fantastic (2016) and Leave no Trace (2018), the life of student and successful athlete Christopher McCandless is that of a man who abandons all comforts and privileges, turns his back to anything materialistic or superficial and chooses the road of abandonment and peace of mind.
13. American History X (1998)
In contrast, this film demonstrates the guilt of a man who chose the way of violence and hatred; a lifestyle that led him to prison but also infected the mind of his younger brother who, by looking up to his elder sibling, tried to mimic him and become a skinhead himself. American History X manages to show both the way someone follows a certain road but also what happens after particular events have come to pass. It's a violent film but so anti-violent at heart; it questions self-defining through hostility and wrong choices.
14. A Clockwork Orange (1971)
Stanley Kubrick's classic is an ode to non-violence. It may follow the story of a gang of teenagers who steal and rape and vandalise all around but it ends up being an effort to bring a groundbreaking change to their beliefs via unconventional means. Is it less violent to coerce someone to denounce his brutal ways by exposing him to extreme brutality, though? And if so, when is it enough? But whatever the means or the aim, does a person really change? Or are they still attracted to bloodshed because they are just born this way?
15. Pink Floyd: The Wall (1982)
A smothering overprotective mother; a missing male role model; unsuccessful romantic relationships; superficial media attention; an oppressive school system that promotes bleak logic and demotes creativity and art. That is how Pink (Bob Geldof) has grown up, ending up feeling isolated and hiding behind his personal wall. This is exactly how many people react to a system that does not seem to understand them or forces them to be someone they are not. But do they achieve to bring down the wall and find true meaning?
16. One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest (1975)
Speaking of isolation, this time we turn to a more literal one. Jack Nicholson's amazing performance in Cuckoo's Nest is not the only thing that we should remember. If we just look at the surface of such a film, we only see crazy people in an asylum, but look closely and you'll recognise the patterns of rebellion and uprising set in an unconventional environment; not to mention that all the revolt is being orchestrated by someone who might be a little out of his mind but surely knows what he's doing.
So if you've seen Joker, by now you must have, more or less, recognised a lot of similar themes with the films mentioned above. Joker may be based on comicbooks but in reality, all the Batman universe represents and comments on is a sick society that has had it up to here and has ended up in chaos.
That is how Todd Phillips presents his version of this universe. From the opening shots of his film we see a vandalised, dirty Gotham extremely dangerous and threatening; no one is safe, not even a seemingly innocent clown who works at the sidewalk. That is quite a realistic depiction of the real world, as well: in a big city, let alone in a metropolis such as fictional Gotham, it is scary to walk alone in the dark or be in the tube at night; it is even scarier if you are a woman (something that the film shows). However, even a man such as Arthur Fleck (the normal alter ego of Joker in the film) who has worked and lived his whole life in such a city but has the peculiarity of dressing up as a clown or bursting out laughing at the most inappropriate of times, must face his fellow citizens' sheer contempt, disrespect or even inexcusable violence.
How does a man react to such continuous behaviour? You either follow a pacifist's beliefs, such as in Gandhi, you try to get away from this world like in The Truman Show, Fahrenheit 451, Into the Wild or Pink Floyd: The Wall or you break it all out against the world, as it happens in Taxi Driver, V for Vendetta, One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest and Snowpiercer.
It all depends on your qualities as a human being. We have gotten used to witnessing such changes in character when it comes to super heroes. But the usual process is that our hero faces difficulties, gets his super powers, and against all odds, rises up stronger and better than before. The anti-hero, however, has a different standpoint: he is not going to become a better person; he is going to raze his enemies to the ground no matter the cost or the means and then he is going to do it again and again until he prevails.
How does a man react to such continuous behaviour? You either follow a pacifist's beliefs, such as in Gandhi, you try to get away from this world like in The Truman Show, Fahrenheit 451, Into the Wild or Pink Floyd: The Wall or you break it all out against the world, as it happens in Taxi Driver, V for Vendetta, One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest and Snowpiercer.
It all depends on your qualities as a human being. We have gotten used to witnessing such changes in character when it comes to super heroes. But the usual process is that our hero faces difficulties, gets his super powers, and against all odds, rises up stronger and better than before. The anti-hero, however, has a different standpoint: he is not going to become a better person; he is going to raze his enemies to the ground no matter the cost or the means and then he is going to do it again and again until he prevails.
Todd Phillips succeeds in presenting such a story without actually taking any sides; his direction is rather objective using gritty colours and comic-strip shots which could have easily jumped out of a graphic novel - not a difficult feat to be extremely realistic in a Batman Universe adaptation (it is apparent that Phillips followed Chris Nolan's footsteps from The Dark Knight trilogy). Nonetheless, he uses the timeless topic of bullying and he makes his character struggle with it.What is more, he presents Joker not as an everyday man, but rather as a psychotic person who has to deal both with his own depression and with his mother's special needs. Arthur Fleck is a man who lives in his self-created fantasies: he wants to be accepted and loved by everyone as a human being, as a comedian, as a male. But the bricks of the wall that constitutes his life start to be knocked down one by one. He's been lied to all his life; he's been ridiculed, brushed off, ignored and beat up since he can remember. Not even people he admires on TV have been kind to him; and what a humiliation can it be when people you look up to don't take you seriously.
So, adding to all that a man with a persecution complex - a natural progression for a man always on the run- you get the version of Joker as depicted by Phillips. Joaquin Phoenix does a tremendous job in bringing this wounded man to life; and he's had people who preceded him to be compared with: Jack Nicholson in Batman (1989) as well as the award-winning Joker performance by Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight (2008); it seems as if Joker is a challenge for good actors. Phoenix portrays this man as a peculiar human being and his desire to make him not easy to identify with, is partially achieved: you can't help feeling sorry for him but as his madness prevails and his malice shines the audience does not really take his side. We understand that he's had enough but we do not accept his actions however depressed he might be feeling.
He is lucky, though, that his turn to darkness coincides with the general unrest in the world around him; his violence is interpreted as the only valid solution and that's why he becomes the face of a different kind of revolution; one that accepts killing, nullifies families and deifies criminals.Joker is the psychological portait of a man steadily on the verge of insanity; but the question is, does desperation lead to madness or is it the other way around? As the Joker ascends and stands his ground, he iconically descends a staircase dancing to Cream's White Room ("I'll sleep in this place with the lonely crowd - Lie in the dark where the shadows run from themselves"). Not everyone would (or should) react the way Arthur Fleck does, but the key phrase here is this: "What do you get when you cross a mentally ill loner with a society that abandons him and treats him like trash?".
The answer is one word: Joker.
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