"I’m not sure whether it was the intention of Todd Phillips, director of Joker: Folies a Deux, for audience members to leave the cinema laughing somewhat maniacally just as the title character does, but I certainly did."
I’m not sure whether it was the intention of Todd Phillips, director of Joker: Folies a Deux, for audience members to leave the cinema laughing somewhat maniacally just as the title character does, but I certainly did. Partly because my husband’s face was a picture as the credits rolled, partly because it was completely bonkers and partly because I enjoyed it so much.
The sequel to the 2019 Oscar winner, Joker, is a complete shift in tone from the first film. Keeping that intentional change of direction in mind is crucial to the enjoyment of the second instalment. Go in thinking it will be a carbon copy, a further exploration of Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix) and the abuse and neglect that have led him to have such severe mental health problems, then you may well be disappointed. Although there is a continuation of plot and a resolution following the events of Joker, this is an entirely different endeavour.
Folies a Deux has taken the musical influences from the first film – mainly the inclusion of tracks such as ‘That’s Life’ – and expanded on that old Hollywood genre to create a musical-thriller-drama. With influences from films such as La La Land and Chicago, it is a darkly joyous song and dance spectacle with a serious injection of glamour and intrigue in the addition of Lady Gaga.The chemistry between Phoenix and Gaga is electric, an excellent pairing. However, Phillips has been careful not to make this a movie about Joker and Harley Quinn (Gaga). Therefore her character is not explored at length and, apart from some fabulous vocals and dance sequences, she is not given a great deal to get her acting chops around, and instead she is a welcome dose of light in Arthur Fleck’s story.
You only have to look at the meaning of the title of this sequel to reveal its identity: ‘madness of two’ and that is the only way to describe it. Quite mad.
There are references to the Batman universe such as the introduction of Harvey Dent (Harry Lawtey) who appears as Assistant District Attorney in Arthur’s murder trial. There are also signs in Phoenix’s performance of Jokers gone by; there is a universal way to play the Joker with his impish movements and eccentric mannerisms previously embodied by Heath Ledger and Jack Nicholson and you can see similar moments in Phoenix’s Joker which provides a continuity with other films. The fantasy and performance of the Joker character is dialled up in this outing and it is very entertaining watching Phoenix have fun with it as opposed to his deeper and, frankly, sadder study of the character’s mental health in the first film.
It is a chaotic mixture of genre, style and storyline with the latter admittedly lacking in places, but this appears to be a metaphor for the type of mental health disorder Arthur suffers from following a lifetime of mistreatment. It is a non-linear concoction of suspended reality and fantastical whimsy, a breakdown of order and an eruption of bedlam. The format feels messy because our minds are messy. You only have to look at the meaning of the title of this sequel to reveal its identity: ‘madness of two’ and that is the only way to describe it. Quite mad.
Joker: Folie a Deux plays at Broadway Cinema until Monday 14 October
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