You don’t come across many career changes like his. With the irresistible success of Joker In 2019, the movie-loving planet had to start counting on the name of Todd Phillips, its director, whom no one expected as part of a superhero franchise. Even less in the adult, dark and more realistic reinterpretation of the genre that Warner, owner of the DC Comics catalog, tried to oppose to the Marvel multiverse. Before JokerThe director, born Todd Bunzl in 1970 in New York in a middle-class Jewish home, was best known for his “greasy” comedies, including the trilogy Very bad trip (2009-2013), whose school record no longer smells so much like holiness in Hollywood. Todd Phillips laughs at the dichotomy: “I don’t see a big difference. [entre l’avant et l’après Joker]Frankly. If you look closely Very bad tripIt was already a black comedy. »
Came to London to promote Joker: madness for twoTodd Phillips appears all smiles, already positioned in the video conference window, against a monochrome background that displays the title in large letters. We wonder about the choice of the expression “folie à deux” – in French in the text – taken from 19th century psychiatry.my century. “With Scott Silver, the screenwriter I work with, we started writing the movie without having an idea for a title other than “Joker 2.” While researching, we came across this concept of a shared delusion. The French side adds a romantic touch. » The descent into hell of Arthur Fleck, the Joker version of Joaquin Phoenix (miserable, schizophrenic and emaciated), is joined by a love duet with a singer from the underworld, Lee, played by Lady Gaga.
If the previous film was largely inspired by the 1970s (Taxi driver AND The puppet waltzby Martin Scorsese), which Phillips says he was looking for “the realistic grain”dates back to the 1950s and 1960s, taking the form of a musical comedy. The songs, a medley of ’60s standards (“Songs that Arthur’s mother listened to when he was a child”), Phillips insisted that the actors perform them live on set. “It doesn’t have the same impact to hear Joaquin Phoenix sing for once in my life instead of Frank Sinatraexplains. Suddenly we really believe in the emotional truth of the song. We don’t necessarily feel that way about Sinatra, even if Sinatra is a much better singer! »
“Corruption in entertainment”
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