Psychologically intense, dark, and Todd Phillips and Joaquin Phoenix have made an extraordinary masterpiece: Joker, the movie available to watch on Hotstar. Joker is the latest movie based on a DC Comics character that was released in cinemas in 2019, but with the COVID-19 pandemic, the question that has been recurrent among the fans is whether it is available to watch on Hotstar in India.
Joker was an instant worldwide box office success and was welcomed with open arms by international critics as it achieved 11 Academy Award nominations, out of which it won 2. Hence, with all the hype around this movie, it is expected that you will be really curious to watch this masterpiece on OTT.
Story
The central protagonist is a failed comedian named Arthur Flake. He has been forever alone in a crowd and is on a quest for connection as he wanders the streets of Gotham City. Arthur Flake had been accustomed to wearing two masks. One mask he painted for his profession as a clown, and the other was his vain attempt to feel or include himself in a society that never really accepted him. Being the clown, he had been bullied, ridiculed, isolated, and disregarded by society. All of this together led to his descent into madness and finally transformed him into a criminal mastermind known as the Joker.
Before that, he lived an impoverished life with his sick mother. It is because of the society that labelled him as a freak when he decided to embrace the life of chaos and criminality. With a box office collection of 107.43 crores USD, this film, among many others, won the Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role. It was released in India in October 2019.
One of the greatest lines from the movie was when Joker said to himself,
I used to think that my life was a tragedy, but now I realise that it is nothing but comedy.
This, however, explains the recurrent theme of the film, which has a conflict between tragedy and comedy; however, it is disturbing as it highlights the ongoing socio-political structure of our country. The film is a fresh take on the iconic clown Prince of crime, the home we are all accustomed to, and love.
This movie is the most realistic portrayal of a comic book film that the audience has seen. However, the main person who was behind the success of the film was Joaquin Phoenix, who played the complex character brilliantly and inculcated a lot of depth in the character, nailing the iconic Joker laugh so well, which plays a major role in the film. It becomes an ordeal to decide whether he or Heath Ledger was a better Joker because both of them did an exceptionally brilliant job when it came to portraying their roles. The cinematography of the film is also really brilliant, which is another reason to make this film worth watching. It leaves the audience amazed by the countless number of unique and artistic shots that it contains.
Even the background music and the score are another strong element of the film, adding a lot of depth and intensity to every scene. You sense deep chills down your spine, and that is what we expect from a movie based on one of the most dangerous villains ever, who has been caught up in the most entangled web of crimes.
One of the most important features of the film is that it adds a touch of the real world, which proves that a man so dangerous has indeed been created by the society that decided to neglect it and drove him to the point of becoming the worst criminal ever. The plot is extremely captivating, powerful, and merging. It provokes thought in the audience and leaves them on the edge of their seats every time the phoenix appears on stage.
The acting and the actual scenes are exceptionally well delivered and done in a highly realistic manner. They were intense scenes that were so realistic that they shook the audience, who found themselves gasping in shock while watching the movie. The character study in the film is prominent in the repetition of the music. Whenever the Joker is at his best, his crimes allow the audience to connect to the film well and witness the birth of the villain, the birth that serves as the main climax of the film.
If you are a person who is a fan of psychological burners then you should watch this film which would send chills down your spine whilst you watch this film. It will evoke pathos most terrifyingly.
Joker Movie Cast
The cast of the film is also another important factor in making this film a huge success, as all of the actors played their roles brilliantly. They are as follows:
Joaquin Phoenix as the Joker
Walking Phoenix plays a mentally ill, impoverished party clown and stand-up comedian, disregarded by a society, which causes him to become an elastic criminal with a clown motive. Phoenix adds Indian interest in a low-budget character study of a comic book character, and said that the film feels unique in its way and maybe it might as well be the thing that scares you the most to be a part of the film.
Phoenix lost 15 pounds in preparation and based his laughter on the videos of the people suffering from pathological laughter as I always already said earlier walking phoenix’s laughter was an important factor in making the film a success and making it realistic.
Zazie Beetz as Sophie Dumond
An important thing to notice about her character is that she plays a cynical mother and also serves as Arthur’s love interest. Another important fact that most of us did not know was that Beetz was a huge fan of Phoenix and said that it was an honor to work with him. She learned a lot working with him on set because he is such a talented actor.
Robert De Niro as Murray Franklin
Robert De Niro was a talk show host who played the role in Arthur’s downfall. His role in the film contributed homage to his character as the king of comedy. Rupert Pupkin is a comedian obsessed with an English talk show host.
Frances Conroy as Penny Fleck
Arthur was living his life as a clown with his ailing mother, and Francis plays this role of being Arthur’s mentally and physically ill mother. She also worked formerly for Thomas Wayne. The Canadian actress Hannah grows and acts as the young penny.
Cinematography
Principal photography for the film started in September 2018 in New York City under the working title. Romeo Bradley Cooper joined the film as a producer, which was unknown to most. Lawrence was the director of photography, with whom Philips had previously collaborated in his previous projects. According to one of the actors in the film, Philips wrote the entire script during production because Phoenix lost a lot of weight for the film, and there would not be an opportunity for reshoots.
Film Setting
Gotham City was one of the primary locations in Joker. However, this fictional town was set in 1980s New York City, according to Todd Phillips. To separate it, quite frankly, from the DC universe, he wanted the city to portray a gritty small city as described in Taxi Driver. Therefore, he renamed all the structures and lines in this film and drew a specific map of Gotham City.
A certain place was named after Batman comics, like the state hospital, Arkham. The VFX Team also played a major role in the beauty of the film, adding fictional buildings and erasing the skyline of the city to give the city a sense of pressing down on earth, which suffocated him and gave him a sense of claustrophobia.
Cultural Impact
The film had many cultural impacts, one of which was prominent when, during a five-star movement event in October 2019, Italian comedian and politician Grillo gave a speech varying the Joker’s makeup. Also, one of the locations seen in the film was a set of stairs in the Bronx in New York City, which was then renamed the Joker Stairs.
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