JOKER - illustration of a city in distress

Director: Todd Phillips

Image source: Variety

Joker turned out to be majorly tricky in terms of its narrative. Because makes its titular character sympathetic; who, eventually will be the torchbearer of further chaos to Gotham and Batman in general. This character study was likely made to be like one. Arthur Fleck's (Joaquin Phoenix; click here in case you still want to be sure of its pronunciation) evolution-cum-revolution into the Joker, was indeed a product of its city itself. His further actions seemed to be a giveaway to this metropolis which is seemingly bereft of hope - a crucial element in many of human action's fruitful progression. Hope makes heroes thrive and when it's none (for the time being), it manufactures a nemesis. 

Arthur commutes quite often. Be it a bus or subway trains, he sits solely, usually watching over through a window. As if, he is waiting for someone to recognise him, to make him feel existed (this is mainly shown as an exterior shot). He once mentions to his orderly (played by Sharon Washington), "For my whole life, I didn't know if I even really existed.."  This somewhat goes parallel with Arthur's non-verbal communication on his journeys across the city-scape.

As Gotham's lethal crowd marches against magnate Thomas Wayne's present actions, Arthur Fleck sees him comfortably enjoying Modern Times, inside a lavish opera hall, amidst the supposed elites. Arthur himself watches the film for some time. This mainly acknowledging the reference that even Modern Times is about a lower-class worker who is fired for his weird behaviour. Additionally, Charlie Chaplin himself was a very notable comedian, a further nod to Arthur's aspiring occupation. 

Rhythmic dancing is what Arthur indulges in, whenever he attempts a drastic act. Indeed his initial one comes-up in a (majorly green-lit) civic washroom. That too is shot in a slightly Dutch-tilt style, exemplifying his uneasiness trips. Phoenix dances along onto this, in a tour de force transformation of a sheer, scrawny individual.

Joker pushes its description of an establishment of the 1980s to an extent that even the credits are projected like the features of the earlier times. For instance, mentioning of The End, followed by the end-credits portrayed like that in a horizontal format (similar to one can see in that of Kill Bill: Volume 2's). An older logo-scope of Warner Bros Inc. is the very early frame of the feature, giving it a vintage charm.

The colour scheme of Joker is seemed inclusive of light green, light red, light blue; perhaps even yellow. All the colours eventually imbibing themselves into the costume of Fleck's final clown outfit.
Image source: The Dark Carnival

 

You can view Joker's trailer here.