‘JOKER’: PEOPLE ARE STARTING TO NOTICE

There is nothing remotely funny about “Joker.” By the end of its just-over-two hour runtime, you will feel sick.

Sick being the closest feeling describable in words.

And that is just the point.

The movie will leave you with an utterly grim outlook and cynicism mirroring that of a certain caped crusader, a feeling of dread for yourself and the world you inhabit – the world we inhabit.

Joker, released in theaters nationwide on Oct. 4, is yet another adaptation of the title character from DC Comics fame, Batman’s recurring and most iconic nemesis. The duality between the pair’s ideology has been explored countless times (and arguably, a bit beaten to death at this point…) and it is a relief that this is not what this movie is about. Not in the more obvious sense, anyway.

No, this film is about a man. Simply a man – one you watch live his life in suffering, breathing in suffering, being able to think only in suffering. And about the suffering that is eventually regurgitated back out.

Arthur Fleck barely scrapes by, living in poverty and under medication for his mental affliction that dominates his everyday life. In a city seemingly always in shadow that brutally ignores all but its very wealthy residents, Arthur couldn’t be any smaller, more invisible, and more vulnerable to the harsh and unforgiving metropolis he’s found himself in.

Then, well, to quote infamous line from the 2008 adaption of the Joker character in “The Dark Knight”: “As you know, madness is like gravity… all it takes is a little push.”

It feels rather dissonant, indeed, to describe this work with a word anything even close to “beautiful,” but it truly is: beautiful. With a  musical score that perfectly complements and accompanies this tale of extreme darkness and tragic circumstance, Joker’s directorial composition and color makes every shot feel like an ink-washed painting, dancing with a water-color vibrance. It is an undeniable looker and feeler, through-and-through.

But in terms of the screenplay itself, Joker does not pull any punches. It does not pretend that Arthur is a perfectly innocent human being or that any of his actions at all are in any way justifiable. But it also does not let you get away with not sympathizing with him. Like he could leap off the screen, speaking words we have heard already from the mouths of people just as despicable.

This time, from someone who actually means them.

It is impossible to fully address this film without acknowledging the controversy surrounding its release and initial reception.

There is no secret at all regarding the discomfort being felt by audiences everywhere regarding this work’s subject matter, and that unease will make even more sense to the viewer as it goes further and further into its runtime. There is no denying the horrifying violence that drips (and at moments, absolutely pours) from this movie, and, in fact, its makers have no intention of doing that.

This is certainly one of the hardest “R” ratings you will ever come across. Joker is supposed to be ugly. The imagery is supposed to be stomach-churning, terrifying.

Does that mean it’s off the hook at all when it comes to possibly glorifying that violence? Frankly, I don’t believe it glorifies much of anything – not even the comic book powerhouse it is meant to at least partly promote. 

The pessimism of the film reaches much farther than that. Farther than just the narrative presented, the film soaks into our own understanding and perception of the carnage making headlines routinely these days. Somehow this fictional story makes this all seem that much more real, because if we can so chillingly realistically convey that kind of belief and immense cruelty in our FICTION, then…

What kind of a place are we living in now, anyway?