“Joker: Folie à Deux” took Venice by storm! But can Joaquin Phoenix really be considered the ultimate Joker? We take a look at the most legendary Joker portrayals!
“Joker 2” is a complete success – or is it?
“Joker: Folie à Deux” turns a dark drama into an exciting musical thanks to director Todd Phillips and the casting of Lady Gaga as Harley Quinn. At the premiere at the Venice Film Festival, there were minutes of standing ovations, with Gaga stealing the show with her extravagant horn look.
However, the reviews of the second part of the series are divided: some celebrate the bold mix and the strong performance of Gaga and Joaquin Phoenix, others find the film “lifeless” and accuse it of not making full use of Lady Gaga’s talent. But the film definitely gives people something to talk about.
By the way, “Joker: Folie à Deux” will be in cinemas from October 3, 2024.
“Joker: Folie à Deux” – This is the plot of “Joker 2”
In “Joker 2”, Arthur Fleck, alias Joker (Joaquin Phoenix), ends up in the notorious Arkham Asylum after his violent escalation. There he struggles with his identity – until he meets Harleen Quinzel (Lady Gaga), in whom he believes he has recognized his great love. Together they lose themselves in music. The focus: the destructive relationship between Joker and Harley Quinn. Madness for two (Folie à Deux) – in the truest sense of the word!
Here is the trailer for “Joker 2”:
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Joker – The clown prince with his thousand faces
It’s not just comic fans who celebrate the Joker for his strange looks and his murderous, psychopathic games. Greasy green hair, a purple suit and a made-up clown face with a diabolical laugh are among his trademarks. Many directors and actors have dared to create their own interpretation of the iconic comic villain. Here are our highlights.
Heath Ledger in “The Dark Knight” (2008)
Heath Ledger won an Oscar for his performance as the Joker in Christopher Nolan’s “The Dark Knight” in 2009.© picture-alliance/ dpa
Australian Heath Ledger only accepted the role because director Christopher Nolan gave him complete freedom to reinterpret the Joker character. He used an unusual method to do this: before filming began, the actor holed himself up in a hotel room in London for about six weeks.
Cut off from the outside world, he experimented with various vocal tones and a new laugh for his role. He thought so deeply about his film character that he even kept a Joker diary. In 2007, he revealed in an interview: “In the end, I ended up in the realm of a psychopath. He is just an absolute sociopath, a cold-blooded, murderous clown.”
He managed to portray the master of manipulation as threatening, comical and even tragic. Including small details such as compulsive smacking and lip licking. His performance was celebrated as so powerful and diabolical that Heath Ledger was awarded a Oscar Unfortunately, the then 28-year-old did not live to see the awards ceremony or the film’s release in 2008, as he died of a drug overdose beforehand.
Joaquin Phoenix in “Joker” (2019)
Joaquin Phoenix played the role of Arthur Fleck in the 2019 film “Joker”, who transformed into the Joker throughout the film.© picture alliance / Everett Collection
The American also won the coveted Academy Award for his interpretation of the Joker. For his portrayal of the legendary comic book villain, Joaquin Phoenix pushed himself to his physical limits: he lost 25 kilos under medical supervision in order to portray the troubled clown Arthur Fleck, who drifts into psychopathism, as credibly as possible.
He wanted to give the Joker’s disturbing laugh a completely new twist in the movie. To do this, the actor researched a rare behavioral disorder intensively: “I watched videos of people suffering from pathological laughter, a mental illness that makes facial expressions uncontrollable.” Those affected do not react to a funny stimulus, but are overwhelmed by an uncontrollable wave of laughter.
In the film, he also suffers from such “emotional incontinence”. As Arthur Fleck, he impressively shows the audience that being a Joker can also be a result of abuse, neglect and bullying.
More about Joaquin Phoenix:
Jared Leto in “Suicide Squad” (2016)
With the help of method acting, Jared Leto became the Joker for the film “Suicide Squad” (2016).© picture alliance / COLLECTION CHRISTOPHEL / RnB
Co-stars like Will Smith later said that they never saw Jared Leto during the entire filming – only the Joker. He never came to the set without makeup and stayed in character for the entire six months. And the actor was barely recognizable in it.
In addition to the usual features, his version has bleached eyebrows, an extremely large number of tattoos and silver metal teeth. He has a smiling mouth with intact teeth tattooed on his left hand. Background: After the Joker killed Batman’s partner, the Bat-Man knocked out his teeth in revenge.
In Arkham Asylum, the Joker tattooed “Damaged” on his forehead. Director David Ayer later explained the message: He wanted to say that his face was now ruined.
In the action film, however, the Joker only plays a supporting role alongside the other criminals of the “Suicide Squad”. The focus is on the turbulent and toxic love story with Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie). Jared Leto shows in a frighteningly authentic way how much fun he and his girlfriend can have with unpredictable, sadistic power games.
By the way: The following part “The Suicide Squad” with Idris Elba, John Cena and Sylvester Stallone is now available on Joyn stream!
Cameron Riley Monaghan in “Gotham” (2014)
Whether Cameron Monaghan was actually the Joker in “Gotham” remains controversial.© picture alliance / Everett Collection
The TV series is considered a Batman prequel, meaning it takes place before the superhero first appeared. It shows how Bruce Wayne develops into a bat, and at the same time the origin of many of Batman’s later opponents. The Penguin, the Riddler and Two-Face are among them.
However, the name “Joker” is never mentioned explicitly during the five seasons. This also has to do with the rights to the movies, but it inevitably became part of the creative concept. Over the course of the series, viewers are presented with several candidates with typical character traits of the supervillain, all of whom are possible candidates.
The actor Cameron Riley Monaghan has a double role to play. He very convincingly portrays the identical twins Jerome and Jeremiah Valeska. Both are psychopaths and come closest to being a scary clown of crime.
In an interview with Comicbook.com, producer Danny Cannon revealed why neither Jerome nor Jeremiah can officially be the Joker, despite the obvious connection to the Batman villain: “The Joker is not a man, he is a personality. It’s a way of thinking. It’s bigger than a person […] It’s a lifestyle, an ideology.”
The Joker character is not just plain evil, but also the expression of desperate humanity. There is no fixed pattern that the character can be forced into. A message that Cameron Riley Morgan conveys very convincingly as the hurtful and at the same time injured Valeska twin.
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