The city is unlivable, degradation and social disorder are the masters and someone falls victim to injustice and violence. The protagonist reacts and takes revenge for the abuses. This, in summary, the plot of Joker, the film signed by Todd Phillips, at its first major production engagement which is enjoying enormous international popularity and has also quickly climbed the charts in Italy. There are many good reasons for this success.
First of all a superb, incomparable acting test of the protagonist Joaquin Phoenix, in the guise of Arthur, a clown with the same tragicomic mask that we already know in the cinema from having seen it in the previous one Batman of 1989 (in that case played by another great Jack Nicholson). Actors of this caliber are not seen many around and, alone, holds up the whole film. Masterful! Let us also add that the "mask" theme is an element of sure hold for a suggestive cinematic story. Since ancient times the Greek and Roman theaters have used masks to represent dramas and comedies. Cinema has done nothing but resume this “tradition”.
Secondly, Joker contains within it a series of references to great titles that have been part of the history of American cinema of this genre: the first that comes to mind is Taxi driver by Martin Scorsese from 1976, with a young De Niro showing what he is capable of doing in front of a camera. Other films, before and after and beyond Made in USA in truth they have enriched the genre "revenge" and we remember a few. Among the first to try was Ingmar Bergman with The Fountain of the Virgin of 1960, and to follow countless others such as the great Sergio Leone with Once Upon a Time in the West, then again Mario Monicelli with A tiny little bourgeois of 1977; then again the saga of the Korean Park Chan-Wook, the legendary, deserves to be remembered Kill Bill by Quentin Tarantino, without forgetting V for Vendetta. In short: it is a very profitable genre that attracts the general public (it will also be necessary to understand the reasons, but this is not a matter of film criticism).
Another good reason that pays off Joker of great interest is its intersection, its declared intent to mix with another great means of audiovisual communication: television. Arthur, the protagonist, is attracted by the small TV screen and aspires to participate in a talk show directed and played by another cinema giant (Robert De Niro) and we won't reveal how it ends because it's all about a topical scene. Also in this area, the film re-projects us verbatim scenes already known to many viewers, at least those subscribed to the Netflix platform. It is about The paper house, where it happens that a group of robbers intends to rob the Bank of Spain and the "public" is more on the side of the robbers than that of the police. The theme is social injustice which is very strong and underlined in Joker and it is no coincidence that it arouses interest and participation on the part of the public.
As far as we have seen so far, Joker has all the credentials to be considered an excellent title among the many of this part of the season. However, we must underline an aspect that does not convince. As Tarantino himself did with his latest film, once again we are faced with an attempt to summarize the good old days, the past years, when Hollywood and not only had great ideas and created products destined to enter the history of cinema. We have confidence: we expect big titles to come.
