Joker (2019) Review - Minor Spoiler Alert
Okay.
So I watched Joker yesterday at 18.00 local time with my dad. It was one hell of a rollercoaster.
For the people who follows fan theories, leaked scripts, leaked footages, it were all true. Nothing different in the terms of plotline. To be quite honest, if you don't follow them at all nothing will make a difference.
The film was that simple. A guy went nuts because he couldn't handle the society. And that's simply what the film tells you. Period.
Though, the storytelling was the one who makes it feel like it's not that simple. It was the one who actually makes you deeply unsettled. Cry when you weren't supposed to. Laugh when you weren't supposed to.
The story follows Arthur Fleck, a failed wannabe comedian who bent into a certain way where he sees mania and lunacy as an escape to a cruel society. He has uncommon condition where he laughs uncontrollably every various period of time. And yes, he has another amounts of mental illness.
But, he's actually a good guy. Or he tries to be a good guy. That's where Joaquin Phoenix's acting plays the biggest part. He must execute Arthur's personal conflicts into transforming him to become the Joker perfectly. The slow burn from Arthur Fleck to the infamous Clown Prince of Crime was the heart of the film.
And he did that tremendously.
Joaquin's Arthur did a lot of dancing. He danced when he's being pressured. He danced when he's happy. He danced for work. And he danced during his unsettling transformation. It's not common for Joker as the character. Or at least that's how I see it.
But it's clever the way Todd Phillips made his version of Joker danced through everything. He really exploits the beauty of visual movements to describe how Arthur's feeling.
Because of that exploitation, Arthur didn't need to say much to tell the audience how he feels most of the time. There's no inner monologue to describe his conflicted morals.
And I think that's extremely unique and thoughtful.
But despite all of that, Joker indeed has beautiful script. It's not overly complicated or dramatic (because again, this movie was just a simple one), but it's amazig enough to explore the characterization of the Joker and the relation of what Arthur had.
And yes, this Joker makes you feel sympathy and some weird amounts of relation to what Arthur's experiencing.
He was a vulnerable man in the midst of chaotic environment. He was a man who's at the brink of lunacy in the sea of indifference and violent people. I don't know, I think we've all been in Arthur's position in our lives at least once.
The score to this movie was also as good as the whole thing. It's not something as iconic as John Williams's Star Wars opening theme, but it helps Arthur to catch the atmosphere and the moment of his transformation, what comes next, and what comes before.
It sounds haunting enough to cause shivers down your spine. It's depressing, beautiful, and just painfully disturbing. A perfect match for Joaquin's work.
And lastly, Todd Phillips's direction really REALLY blows me away. The way the camera slightly vibrated or kind of nudged down just to give another effect of what Arthur's feeling was plain brilliant. The cinematography was just as beautiful and suiting for the whole picture.
In conclusion (or maybe in short), Joker was tragic, beautiful, haunting, clever, depressing, and simply a masterpiece. An absolute R-rated gem between other PG-13 DC's films.
My biggest thanks to Joaquin, Todd, Hildur, and other guys who's heavily involved with this project. You can't just forget a piece of this cinematic perfection.
My score: 10 out of 10
So I watched Joker yesterday at 18.00 local time with my dad. It was one hell of a rollercoaster.
For the people who follows fan theories, leaked scripts, leaked footages, it were all true. Nothing different in the terms of plotline. To be quite honest, if you don't follow them at all nothing will make a difference.
The film was that simple. A guy went nuts because he couldn't handle the society. And that's simply what the film tells you. Period.
Though, the storytelling was the one who makes it feel like it's not that simple. It was the one who actually makes you deeply unsettled. Cry when you weren't supposed to. Laugh when you weren't supposed to.
The story follows Arthur Fleck, a failed wannabe comedian who bent into a certain way where he sees mania and lunacy as an escape to a cruel society. He has uncommon condition where he laughs uncontrollably every various period of time. And yes, he has another amounts of mental illness.
But, he's actually a good guy. Or he tries to be a good guy. That's where Joaquin Phoenix's acting plays the biggest part. He must execute Arthur's personal conflicts into transforming him to become the Joker perfectly. The slow burn from Arthur Fleck to the infamous Clown Prince of Crime was the heart of the film.
And he did that tremendously.
Joaquin's Arthur did a lot of dancing. He danced when he's being pressured. He danced when he's happy. He danced for work. And he danced during his unsettling transformation. It's not common for Joker as the character. Or at least that's how I see it.
But it's clever the way Todd Phillips made his version of Joker danced through everything. He really exploits the beauty of visual movements to describe how Arthur's feeling.
Because of that exploitation, Arthur didn't need to say much to tell the audience how he feels most of the time. There's no inner monologue to describe his conflicted morals.
And I think that's extremely unique and thoughtful.
But despite all of that, Joker indeed has beautiful script. It's not overly complicated or dramatic (because again, this movie was just a simple one), but it's amazig enough to explore the characterization of the Joker and the relation of what Arthur had.
And yes, this Joker makes you feel sympathy and some weird amounts of relation to what Arthur's experiencing.
He was a vulnerable man in the midst of chaotic environment. He was a man who's at the brink of lunacy in the sea of indifference and violent people. I don't know, I think we've all been in Arthur's position in our lives at least once.
The score to this movie was also as good as the whole thing. It's not something as iconic as John Williams's Star Wars opening theme, but it helps Arthur to catch the atmosphere and the moment of his transformation, what comes next, and what comes before.
It sounds haunting enough to cause shivers down your spine. It's depressing, beautiful, and just painfully disturbing. A perfect match for Joaquin's work.
And lastly, Todd Phillips's direction really REALLY blows me away. The way the camera slightly vibrated or kind of nudged down just to give another effect of what Arthur's feeling was plain brilliant. The cinematography was just as beautiful and suiting for the whole picture.
In conclusion (or maybe in short), Joker was tragic, beautiful, haunting, clever, depressing, and simply a masterpiece. An absolute R-rated gem between other PG-13 DC's films.
My biggest thanks to Joaquin, Todd, Hildur, and other guys who's heavily involved with this project. You can't just forget a piece of this cinematic perfection.
My score: 10 out of 10
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