The decisions made at the end of Joker: Folie à Deux are possibly the main reason why the film It’s been so polarizing.. While some find them interesting and clever, many others find them frustrating and subversive. However, two people who do like the ending are co-writer and director Todd Phillips and his star, Joaquin Phoenix. In a new interview, both spoke in detail about the ending.
In dialogue with IGNPhillips and Phoenix discussed Arthur’s decision to leave Joker behind, as well as the fact that he dies and the person who kills him. Let’s start with the idea of what these films have been about in a broader sense, which, as explained, relates to the person who kills Arthur at the end of the film.
“One of the things people never understood about the first movie was, ‘I don’t get it.’ He visits Bruce Wayne and is 30 years older than him. What kind of geriatric Joker is going to fight in the future?’” Phillips commented. «I don’t know if you ever saw the script for the first film. The first movie is called Joker. It is not called The Jokeris called Joker. And the script always said ‘An origin story.’ He never said ‘THE origin story’. It was this idea that maybe this isn’t THE Joker. Maybe this is the inspiration for the Joker. So, in essence, at the end of this movie, what you’re left with is, ‘Wait, what’s going on behind him?’ Is that the guy?’
The explanation of the ending
That makes sense, and also aligns with Phillips’ idea of Arthur’s mentality at the end of the film, just before he is killed. “I think Arthur has found peace with the idea, with the struggle, that it’s okay to be yourself,” Phillips explained. «And that’s what he’s always struggled with, you know what I mean? I like to think that he died peacefully in some way, being himself. The boy says, ‘Do you want to hear a joke?’ And although he thinks that maybe it is [Lee esperando visitarlo] below. We don’t even know what’s down there, but that kind of optimism that Arthur has, that’s still in him. It’s like, ‘Well, yeah, sure,’ because he knows that feeling of wanting to make someone laugh. So you give that moment to the guy, right? “Obviously things go wrong because, again, everything goes wrong for Arthur, but I always thought it was such a beautiful moment where Arthur still has hope.”
Phoenix agreed with those sentiments. “There’s a warmth to that scene, which is nice,” the Oscar winner said. “That’s all I was thinking, here’s this young man telling me a joke and he’s nervous about telling me, I can tell he’s nervous, and I’m going to listen to him. And it’s a good approach.”
Basically, Phillips is saying that movies are about a man who goes on a journey to find himself, eventually succeeds, and dies in the process. Along the way, he inspires others to take themselves to the next level, and well, we’ll see what happens from there.
If you want to read more about Phillips and Phoenix, visit IGN. Joker: Folie à Deux It’s already in theaters.
This article was translated from Gizmodo US by Lucas Handley. Here you can find the original version.
