When Todd Phillips presented his surprising joker In Venice, he assured at the press conference that his film was not political. Leaving aside the fact that it is difficult for a cultural work not to be political in one way or another – since even the deliberate desire not to be so hides a political intention – his statement contrasts with the criticisms of all the media. These showed how he had managed to capture a state of boredom in society. One in which anyone could become a reference for an insurrection easily attributed to any leader.
Joker was a victim of the system, but the revolution he provoked could respond both to a movement like Occupy Wall Street and to those that surrounded Congress on January 6. joker became a film hailed by the left, but became an incel icon (it’s no surprise that the Joker is the go-to costume for any Halloween party).
To complete the loop, a few days later joker received the Golden Lion and the jury, chaired by Lucrecia Martel ―who had the entire competition in the eye of the hurricane for her criticism of Polanski’s presence in the Official Section―, stressed that he had made a political film in a subgenre like that of superheroes, where the absence of any social commentary had been the dominant tone. Something was praised that he did not recognize or did not dare to recognize, even though after winning the award, in the press conference that followed, he already hinted that this was the case but that he did not want to say it.
Then came the huge box office success. Until a month ago, it was surpassed by Deadpool and Wolverine– it is the R-rated film – in the United States, minors must be accompanied by an adult – that has grossed the most, exceeding the $ 1 billion mark worldwide. It was difficult for DC and Warner to let such a commercial vein slip away, and they finally convinced the original team to repeat in a sequel that was presented in Venice as one of the strongest dishes of the entire official section.
What is clear after watching the film is that Todd Phillips will not have the same problem as in the first one. It seems difficult for anyone to guarantee that there is a political film here, because he has taken it upon himself to completely empty it. Joker: Madness for Two It’s an entertainment that seeks aesthetic refinement without having anything inside. There’s nothing important to tell, it’s just a show-off tool for Todd Phillips and his main duo: Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga. The first repeats as Joker, the second makes her debut in the franchise as Harley Quinn.
The criticism of this sequel could be summed up with the popular Simpsons meme in which Homer does a handstand while his mother and Lisa watch from the sidewalk and say, “Yes, yes, very nice, we’ve seen you before.” joker 2 He wants to attract attention at all times. With his serious music, which we know is important and which underlines. With his photography in ochre tones. With his virtuosity in front of the camera. But all this… for what? Well, so that we can watch them (and go through the box office). Everything seems perfect, but there is no intention. Yes, it is very pretty, but we have already seen it.
This capricious void is there from the first minute, when the film opens with a piece hosted by the great Sylvain Chotee (author of Belleville Triplets either The Illusionist). What does this beginning bring? Why was animation used? … There is no explanation beyond the brilliance of the film. And the same could be said of the musical, spoiled despite the spectacular numbers. And here is the new one from Todd Phillips. If in the first one he said that it was not a political film, in this one he has constantly denied that it is a musical. I do not know how he would define a film where the story is filled with singing and dancing numbers and where these move the story forward.
It’s a shame because there is something very interesting in the idea that it is a musical, because it is really a genre that almost always takes place in the head of the protagonist. That is to say that it is he who imagines the numbers, and here we have a character where his madness (or not) is one of the important stakes of the film, so a very interesting game could have been set up. It is barely underlined, and the film seems to have only one idea under its spectacular packaging. This idea is that the trials and the judicial system are a spectacle just as sensational as the late shows that appeared in the first part. That’s why Joker starts his show, his show, and that’s why he sings. It’s the best narrative idea and the only one that brings form and content together. They do it in a plot that’s too disjointed – it could be summed up as Joker awaiting trial while meeting a fan obsessed with him in a prison singing group – that also wastes another possible melon, love as madness. This shared madness (that madness for two from the title) which is transmitted from one lover to another like a virus.
Despite everything, we are dazzled by the brilliance of the musical numbers, by the attention to detail, and especially by the performances of its flagship duo. Lady Gaga is great. It will be surprising that her performance is much more sober than what everyone expects, but it is a success that in a film so unbridled and where this task is already fulfilled by Joker, so it is better that it serves as a counterpoint. Joaquin Phoenix is once again a spectacle of physicality, expression, changes of register in a second … An actor appreciating a role that gives him everything in his favor.
Surprise at all costs
The press conference of the sequel joker It was one of the most anticipated. Obviously, it features two of the most famous stars to have ever walked the Lido; and for the extra-cinematic, since in recent days we learned that Joaquin Phoenix had abandoned the shooting of Todd Haynes’ new film a few days before it began, leaving everyone stranded and provoking the anger of its producers (who are facing millionaire losses). The question took a long time to arrive, and Phoenix avoided it, arguing that it didn’t seem right to talk about a subject when those he was going to talk about weren’t present.
He knew the question was coming, and while he usually seems uncomfortable at press conferences, that discomfort was even more noticeable here. In fact, when director Todd Phillips asked him if he wanted to answer a question he had started to answer, the actor said no. He even joked about the whole thing when asked about the biggest challenge of this sequel. “Deal with me,” Phoenix said.
Joaquin had never made a sequel, so if we were going to do it, it had to be a film that challenged him like the first one did, and that’s why it had to be bold.
Todd Phillips
— Director
Faced with such a panorama, Phillips has become the main voice and has repeatedly stressed that this sequel, presented “with more nerves than the first”, aims to surprise the viewer. “Joaquín had never made a sequel, so if we did it, it had to be a film that challenged him like the first one, and that’s why it had to be daring, it had to take the fans to different places and do something as unexpected as “It was the previous one and also it was a sequel”, explained the filmmaker. For him, the most complicated thing was to “go unnoticed” to look for that surprise. “That nobody knew what we were doing, something difficult when it comes to the sequel of joker” he added.
Phoenix also failed to analyze what it was about the first film to attract so many people, saying only that he thought it “resonated with very different people.” Phillips elaborated a bit more and said that “movies try to hold up a mirror to society, and joker “He did it with the society of the moment.” Of course, he also clarified that this sequel was not made as a response to those who appropriated the icon: “It’s too difficult to make a film to do it as a response to something like that.”
Although they denied that it was a musical, they talked again and again about the songs and how the music was already a character in the first one, so here it was like a natural jump where the choice of songs was based on their origin. a specific time and that the Joker’s mother could have sung them to her son when he was little. The novelty, or not so much because it has already been done on other occasions even if it is not normal, is that they were performed live to favor the interpretation of the actors, so, as Phoenix said, “each take is a different version of each song. This is seen in the way the two men enjoy each number in two performances that can lead them directly to the Oscars, as happened with the first installment, which left Venice launched into the awards season.
