Apparently the guys that made the Hangover movies are quite talented. I was not expecting that.
One of the writers went on to create the HBO miniseries Chernobyl (remember to see the corrections) and the director has co-written and directed the new “Joker” movie.
It is a great movie. It is also not a movie that leaves you happy or content.
Joaquin Phoenix is a brilliant actor and he carries the entire movie, even to such a degree that no other character is treated more than just superficially. It makes sense, though, as this is the story of a lone madman’s descend to nothing, all alone.
There is no hero in this story.
There is however a mentally ill man who, while engulfed by utter nihilism suddenly finds empowerment in destruction and seizes the opportunity to make his miserable existence count for something. Even if it is hate, destruction and madness.
While watching the movie I found that the references to the Batman story were there, and wondered if the movie would have been stronger if those references had been replaced by something else. But the scene where the protagonist returns home, soaked to the bone by the torrential rain, combined with the final iconic scene linking this story to the Batman story, convinced me that the story was right.
Because these scenes showed that there would be no redemption for the protagonist.
It is therefore wrong when some people say that the movie glorifies violence. It doesn’t, it shows us what nihilism brings us, by using the iconic character of the Joker.
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It is obvious that when you are making a movie about the Joker, you will end up having to compare the performance with the previous masters. In a way, this is wrong, not just because of Jared Leto’s insufferable pervert-psychopath, Jack Nicholson’s comic-book villain and Heath Ledger’s chaotic-evil mastermind only served as antagonists, but also because the characters are fundamentally different.
I will not compare them; both Ledger’s and Phoenix’ Jokers should be seen. But as The Dark Knight is a much easier film to digest, I think I’ll watch Ledger’s more often than Phoenix’.
Henning's blog 
Hej Henning
Go anmeldelse! Og du får lige hevet nogle væsentlige pointer frem, som jeg – ovre på http://superkultur.dk/2019/10/14/joker/ så ikke fik med, bl.a. fordi jeg ønskede at holde min anmeldelse relativt spoiler-free (som skrevet). Så må vi se om vi ka få animeret d’herrer Janus og Allan ind og se den film. I do hope so.
Iøvrigt – og på Superkulturs vegne (det må jeg godt) – glæder det mig at du kommenterer, ikke mindst fordi det så lige har en lænke til din blog (som jeg ikke kendte), jeg da i den grad vil gå på opdagelse i. Også fordi det er mit stående motto, at al snakken om den sprudlende debat, der efterlyses på alle genre-relaterede blog’ses, glimrer ved sit fravær fordi ingen blander sig sig! Bland op! MAO.
Så tak for input og lænke – det var dejligt. Hilsen Henning (ja, altså, sådan er det jo! :-)
Tak skal du have. Jeg troede egentlig at jeg abonnerede på Superkultur’s RSS feed, men den totale mangel på indlæg i min reader burde have fortalt mig noget andet :-) Jeg prøver nu at abonnere igen.
AL det med RSS og abb aner jeg intet om. Men der sker noget på Superkultur, stort set hele tiden :-) Det er en legeplads, hvor den ikke får for lidt :-D
Men – teknisk(t): – jeg har tidligere konstateret at de der “notify me”-flueben – hist og hér – aldeles ikke fungerer.
Anyways: – kom over og bland dig op i Superkultur. Det er en fest! Eller ihvertfald frikvarter på den gode måde