(Venice) “I think it’s good to be back in Venice, because I really like the festival. However, I feel more nervous than with Joker because expectations are higher for its sequel,” Todd Phillips said at a press conference Wednesday afternoon.
Written with Scott Silver, the sequel to Joker was not planned, if we are to believe the filmmaker’s words. Music and songs play a leading role, Joker: Madness for Two likely to leave more than one person speechless.
“I knew from the beginning that Joaquin wouldn’t do a sequel; we joked about it. For him to accept, it had to be bold, different and unexpected. With Joaquin, we talked all the time about the fact that his character had music in him and that he danced all the time. In fact, music was already an important character in Jokerso it made sense to continue with music,” the director continued.
PHOTO MARCO BERTORELLO, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Lady Gaga, Todd Phillips and Joaquin Phoenix at the Venice Film Festival
As they discussed the sequel, Phillips and Phoenix, winner of the Best Actor Oscar for Jokerimagined what it could be like if Lady Gaga had a role in it. They would never have believed that the singer, winner of the Oscar for Best Original Song (Shallow) For A Star Is Bornby Bradley Cooper, would embark on the project.
“ Joker “It blew me away; I was so touched by Joaquin’s performance and Todd’s work that it made me want to be a part of it. Working with Joaquin was very refreshing. With him, I had a very different experience than with the other actors I had worked with,” confided Lady Gaga, who wrote part of the film’s soundtrack with Hildur Guðnadóttir (who had written the soundtrack for the first film).
All for music
Beginning with an animated sequence produced by Sylvain Chomet (The triplets of Belleville) in the purest tradition of Looney Tunes, Joker: Madness for Two picks up the story of Joker (2019) two years after the arrest of failed comedian Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix, totally invested in the role). Detained in Arkham psychiatric hospital, Arthur meets Harley Quinzel (Lady Gaga, all voice), a beautiful madwoman who claims to have set fire to her parents’ house. The two music lovers instantly fall in love with each other.
Together, they will sing about their love, their dreams, their disappointments, while covering classics from the golden age of musical comedy, That’s Entertainment (The Band Wagon) has If They Could See Me Now (Sweet Charity), passing through Get Happy (Summer Stock). Even the Carpenters (Close to You), Burt Bacharach (What the World Needs Now) and Brel (Don’t leave me/If You Go Away) will be put to use.
“Lady Gaga, sorry, I mean Stefani,” the actor said after receiving a glance from his on-screen partner, “came into the project and right away she told us we would sing live on set. At first I didn’t want to, but in the end, in almost all the scenes, it’s live.”
Every take we delivered a different version of the songs; it was very exciting, it gave us energy.
Joaquin Phoenix
“I think the approach to music in this movie is nuanced. It’s not a musical drama; music is the way the characters express themselves. For the purposes of my character, I kind of unlearned how to sing, how to breathe properly. I just wanted to do Todd’s bidding,” Lady Gaga explained.
Harley’s connections allow her to get out of the hospital to attend the high-profile trial of her lover, who is accused of five murders – the authorities not knowing that he also killed her mother (Frances Conroy). To the dismay of Judge Herman Rothwax (Bill Smitrovich), Arthur, now a celebrity, fires his lawyer Maryanne Stewart (Catherine Keener) in order to represent himself. Which amuses the prosecutor Harvey Dent (Harry Lawtey), the future Two-Face. Court is open, let the show begin!
Asked about his weight loss for the role, Joaquin Phoenix explained that he was being monitored by a doctor: “What was more complicated was the many dance rehearsals. That said, at 49, I think that’s enough of the diets. Besides, Stefani also lost a lot of weight.”
“Thank you!” Lady Gaga replied. “We transformed ourselves for our characters. When we were hungry, we stuffed ourselves with blueberries. For months, we rehearsed the waltz scene until it was perfect, but perfection isn’t always what you need to achieve to be honest on camera. So the waltz had to go haywire to better illustrate their strange love.”
“Ten days before shooting, we completely changed the choreography. That said, the choreographer Michael Arnold is extraordinary,” added the actor.
While the idea of seeing the Joker and the future Harley Quinn dance and sing may scare some, Todd Philipps wanted to reassure those who liked the first part: “Visually and aesthetically, it’s the same film. Everything is formed through Arthur’s eyes.”
Finally, answering the inevitable question about a possible sequel, Todd Phillips left little hope: “I think Arthur’s story has been told. Everything I do is dictated by the actors. Joker was built around Joaquin and Joker: Madness for Twoaround Joaquin and Gaga. I don’t want to stay in that universe.”
Joker: Madness for Two will be released in theaters on October 4.