Let’s be clear right off the bat: Joker: Folie à Deux is for all intents and purposes a musical, although Lady Gaga at the world premiere at the Venice Film Festival rejected this definition, pointing out that the music in the film was an element that allowed the characters to express themselves “because dialogue and scenes are not enough.”
For much of the film, the two leads Joaquin Phoenix (Joker) and Lady Gaga (Harley Quinn) sing and dance, switching seamlessly from a scene of violence to one of tap-dancing. The two actors give us an absolutely extraordinary performance, just as magnificent is the soundtrack, which revisits such traditional American evergreens as Judy Garland’s Get Happy, Stevie Wonder’s For Once in My Life, Frank Sinatra’s That’s Life, and the Bee Gees’ To Love Somebody, along with original songs by Oscar-winning composer Hildur Guðnadóttir for the music of the first Joker (Lady Gaga, in turn, contributed as musical consultant).
However, it must also be said that the merits of Folie à Deux stop there. Todd Phillips’ new film, a sequel to his hugely successful 2019 Joker, with more than $1 billion at the global box office and an Oscar for Phoenix, adds nothing to what has been told before, and rather has the air of a divertissement, of a coda that concludes without deepening, and somehow leaves one puzzled.
We are back in Gotham City, and after the events recounted in the first film Arthur Fleck (Phoenix) is locked up in a criminal asylum where he experiences a crisis between his real identity and that of the Joker, who has since gained him a large audience of copycats and fans. He is awaiting a trial that will be broadcast live on TV, but in that same institution he meets Lee (Gaga), the future Harley Quinn, also a big fan of the Joker, with whom he falls in love, initially reciprocated. The happy ending, however, will not occur.
Director Todd Philips had explained in Venice, “Joker in the first film was already using music to express his emotions, so it seemed logical to continue in that direction. We wanted to give the audience something bold and unexpected.”
Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga recorded most of the songs live while filming the scenes. “I didn’t think it was possible, but we did it,” Phoenix recounted. “It was really exciting for me to take those songs that are so famous and adapt them to the character. Before the movie was even conceived, I had had a dream that I would go back and play the Joker and sing. I told Todd about it, and now here we are.” And Lady Gaga: “Working with Joaquin was an experience unlike anything I had done before with other actors. He is very free and taught me that coming to the set with a preconceived idea is not good. We all benefited from the chaos that was created, striving to carry out a daily work of finding truth for every single scene.”
The film, which arrives in Italian theaters today, distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures debuts in U.S. theaters Oct. 4.
The article <i>Joker: Folie à Deux</i> comes to theaters comes from TheNewyorker.
