Joker is a pure cinematic treat [critique]

Todd Phillips recounts the origins of Gotham City's craziest villain. A huge political film with an assumed Scorsesian influence, carried by the insane interpretation of Joaquin Phoenix.

It was one of the event films of 2019: Joker will return this Sunday on TF1, when its sequel, Folie à deuxhas just been released in theaters… and is receiving bad reviews, five years after the strange reception of the first part, which attracted millions of spectators in theaters, to the point of reaching a billion dollars in revenue worldwide, but which could have been diverted from its initial objective by being perceived as a “example” by part of the public.

“Analyzing Fleck's madness is a way of holding up a mirror to the first film, or rather to the reception of this one, which has been accused by some commentators of romanticizing incels or mass killers, we write about its sequel. Criticisms that Todd Phillips obviously took very seriously, to the point of fleeing at full speed in the opposite direction, taking great care to avoid here any titillation of our base instincts as spectators eager for violence and seditious spectacle, and not to especially not to glorify your antihero.”

Said like that, one could hope that Joker 2 thinks intelligently about these questions, and that it offers entertainment different from the first Jokerbut always of quality. For Firstif that was the objective, it completely failed:

“The result is so monotonous, so empty of ideas, desire and energy, that one almost comes to wonder if this departure from the road is not the consequence of a self-destructive impulse, as if Todd Philips and Joaquin Phoenix had suddenly decided to break their toy, to scuttle their lucrative association rather than capitalize on their success, to do, basically, what their kamikaze clown character would have done: blow up everything in its path, then watch. a smile on the lips the ruins left by the great fire. “folie a deux” of the title, it is perhaps also that of the filmmaker and the actor.”

At the editorial office, we are all the more disappointed since we appreciated the first Joker. Here is our long review, published upon release.

Joker: Folie à deux, the grimace soup [critique]

With all due respect to the pessimists who are convinced that Hollywood studios have definitively surrendered their weapons in terms of artistic ambition, with their eyes fixed on the revenues of their films which have become products, it is therefore possible to watch a film centered on a comic book character without having to fade away. deluges of special effects like trying to drown rotten meat in a thick sauce. Yes, in these times of sequels, reboots, spin-offs in spades with their characters by the kilo, it is therefore possible to tend towards the purity to return to the essential: an implacable story served by a straight-line production and a performance never unnecessarily spectacular.

This is what succeeded Todd Phillips with Joker and much more. The opening of his film sets the tone. We see Arthur Fleck putting on clown makeup, ” job “ who keeps this apprentice stand-up comedian alive by holding a sign in the middle of the street to attract customers. In front of a mirror, he puts his hands on his face to force a smile. A smile to give yourself courage and face the indifference of the street and even more so the violence. Because a gang will decide to have fun at his expense by stealing his sign before beating him up.

In a few scenes, everything is said. Joker will be a great film about humiliation, about the total impunity in which the most powerful believe themselves in the face of the weakest who can be forced and humiliated at will. Until the cup is full and revolt arises. Brutal The action may take place in the 80s, Joker is fully part of our era, one where people and elites (political, media, economic, etc.) seem to have become definitively irreconcilable.

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But here there is no enjoyment of the blood spurting, no morbid play with the spectator. When Fleck/Joker kills, there is no warning. This lack of effect characterizes Phillips' precise and never agitated production. After Adam McKay with The Big Shorthere is another golden boy of American comedy venturing into a serious register, a turn started with war dogs. But he goes even further into the darkness.

Joker lives under tension, according to assumed and perfectly digested Scorsesian influences, starting with The Waltz of the Puppets since Robert De Niro plays here a talk show host character close to that of Jerry Lewis whom he harassed at Marty's. A De Niro of exemplary sobriety and a perfect complement to the insane interpretation of Joaquin Phoenix. You have to be an insane gaming genius to interpret all the nuances of madness like him, from the most internalized to the most frightening. To never stutter in his interpretation. One would have thought the role worn out by the unforgettable interpretations of Jack Nicholson and Heath Ledger. Phoenix reinvents the myth. Because he is never in a one-man show but the – obviously central – piece of a vast puzzle which does not rest solely on him. Joker will it be a game changer? In this Hollywood world where geek cinema, once looked down upon, has taken power by sometimes behaving with the same contempt towards other cinemas as the one of which it was the victim, the box office of Joker will be closely scrutinized. But none of this belongs to Todd Philipps anymore. It did the essential: a huge popular auteur film. One of the major shocks of 2019.

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