Ronan Keating, on his classic ‘Rollercoaster’ song sings, “I don’t even know where to begin”. Where do I begin to put words into this 2019 cinematographic blockbuster masterpiece? Joker, potrayed by Jacques Phoenix, is an amazing piece of work. In the perhaps first stanza of the movie, it chronicles Arthur Fleck as a sociopath, but towards the end, as he turns into the Joker we all know, seems to be a normal person whom society completely misunderstood. Surprisingly, the credits shows Todd Phillips as the director of the movie. Who’s he? Todd Phillips is the creator of the hit comedy movie ‘The Hangover’.
Todd, somehow managed to transition, perhaps only for this one, from hilarious comedy screenplay into this DC Comic thriller. Although a little part of the movie isn’t exactly what the Comics portray of Joker, Todd Phillips managed not to stray away from the DC narrative about the villain. For example, the movie seems to suggest Bruce Wayne’s father, Thomas Wayne, is also Athur Flecks biological father. This is perhaps the first ever movie that has managed to get fans to revere a villain to such levels. Perhaps maybe it’s because there wasn’t a hero? You’ll be the judge of that. The gifted Jacques Phoenix portrayed a hero and a villain at the same time.
The Joker movie is the first R rated movie that has grossed over a billion dollars at the box office, that’s how huge the movie is. Another interesting story about this movie, the musical play, was produced and composed by cellist Hildur Gudnadottir, she did it only through reading the screenplay. She, along with Jacques Phoenix, won the Best Original Score and Best Actor respectively at the academy awards the following year. The movie has become a cultural phenomenon. The stair dance apparently took place in the Bronx, and fans have continuously flocked to take pictures there. When Phoenix received the award, he chose to speak on environmentalism, much to applause from the audience at the ceremony. This definitely must on end the best movies to ever come out of Hollywood.