Joker
Joaquin Phoenix as Arthur Fleck in Joker features the best acting of the year by a man or woman. Phoenix is in 99 percent of the scenes in this film and it’s his constant presence that builds the tension throughout the film. Fleck starts as a delusional outsider then slowly and consistently the film ratchets up the intensity until Fleck finally explodes.
The use of Joker’s iconic laugh has never been used better. There are actually 3-4 different types of laughs used in the film. All except one essentially inflicts pain on Fleck. These different laughs reveal aspects of Fleck’s personality in ways that his words can’t express.
The reimagining of Joker’s origin through Todd Phillips and Scott Silver’s screenplay is inspired. There are more connections to Batman lore than Phillips led audiences to believe, but these links are small and serve the particular story he’s telling.
Using the Joker story to examine the mistreatment of the mentally is a tough tightrope to walk. On the one hand, it’s an important subject that comic book movies don’t touch. On the other, the treatment that Fleck endures could have lead the audience to feel sympathy or even condone Fleck’s unacceptable actions. Luckily, Phillips masterfully handles this situation.
In addition to the best performance, Joker also features the best musical score of the year from Hildur Guðnadóttir. Her score is hauntingly beautiful.
Phoenix and Guðnadóttir deserve to bring home some awards for their contributions to this film. The future award-winning duo is reason enough to put Joker on the list of best films of the year.
The worst part of having a mental illness is people expect you to behave as if you don’t.
-Arthur Fleck, aka Joker (Joaquin Phoenix)
