Joker: madness for two | Not gaga for the Joker

Five years later Jokera dizzying dive into the head of an incel who won the Golden Lion for best film at the Mostra, Joaquin Phoenix once again plays Arthur Fleck, a failed comedian turned assassin, under the direction of Todd Phillips. In Joker: madness for twoa trial film where the music prevails over the story, the actor sings alongside Lady Gaga, the new incarnation of Harley Quinn.

Beginning with an animated sequence directed by Sylvain Chomet (The Belleville Triplets) in the purest Looney Tunes tradition, Joker: madness for two takes up the story of Joker (2019) two years after the arrest of failed comedian Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix, totally invested in the role). Detained at Arkham Psychiatric Hospital, he suffers mistreatment from guards, including the brutal and jovial Jackie Sullivan (Brendan Gleeson), who whistles and sings Oh When the Saints to provoke the prisoners.

In the gloomy corridors of Arkham, Arthur meets Lee Quinzel (Lady Gaga, amazing, but underused), the Joker’s groupie claiming to have set fire to his parents’ house. The two music lovers instantly fall in love with each other. As the title of the film suggests, they will go crazy together. Worse still, they will sing their love, their dreams, their disappointments by covering classics from the golden age of musicals.

Of 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) and Brel (Don’t leave me/If You Go Away) will be put to use: the inexhaustible jukebox that is Joker: madness for two will soon exhaust the viewer.

Thanks to her parents, Harley leaves the hospital to attend the televised trial of her lover, accused of five murders – no one knows that he also killed her mother (Frances Conroy). Much to the dismay of Judge Herman Rothwax (Bill Smitrovich), Arthur, who has become a media celebrity, fires his lawyer Maryanne Stewart (Catherine Keener) in order to represent himself. Which happens to amuse the arrogant prosecutor Harvey Dent (Harry Lawtey), future Two-Face. The courtyard is open, bring in the jester with the sardonic laugh.

Far from the original

Initially, Todd Phillips knew that Joaquin Phoenix did not want to make a sequel to the Joker. And quite frankly, the director should have respected the actor’s wishes. To convince him to reprise the role of Arthur Fleck, Phillips had to move away from the original. At the risk of disappointing many spectators.

Certainly, they will find the anxiety-provoking climate which reigned in Joker And the dark aesthetic reminiscent of pre-Giuliani New York. Unfortunately, the sequel does not bring anything new to the themes explored in Joker.

As announced in the cartoon, where the duality of the character is addressed in a bloody manner, misogyny, toxic relationships and the cult of celebrity only serve as a pretext for endless violent and burlesque acts.

Alas! Gaga, who modified her voice for the needs of the character, sings less often than her partner, who has completely unlearned to sing since Walk the Lineby James Mangold, where he played Johnny Cash. Emaciated, with a crazy look, he performs with the grace of a disjointed puppet a few dance steps with Lady Gaga in a series of dull paintings evoking a filthy version of La La Landby Damien Chazelle.

Holding a place of choice in Jokerthis time the music takes center stage in the manner of a musical drama. According to Lady Gaga, who wrote part of the film’s soundtrack with Hildur Guðnadóttir (who signed that of the first part), Joker: madness for two is not a musical drama since the songs serve as a mode of expression for the characters.

It is true that in a musical comedy or drama, songs serve to move the action forward. However, stripped of its songs, the sequel, written by Todd Phillips and Scott Silver, screenwriter of the first part, turns out to be a boring trial film where not much happens.

In the room

Drama

Joker: madness for two

Todd Phillips

Joaquin Phoenix, Lady Gaga, Harry Lawty

2:18 a.m.

4/10