Joyce Glasser reviews Joker: Folie à Deux (October 4, 2024), Cert 15, 138 mins. Jesters or fools appear in history as travelling performers or live-in entertainers in the households of noblemen or monarchs. But in early 19th century theatre, London’s Joseph Grimaldi paved the way for the future circus clown with white face paint, bright red cheeks and colourful costumes. Though Grimaldi was a master of physical comedy and ribald songs, his childhood was abusive, his adult life was tragic and he died an alcoholic, penniless and crippled from his stunts. It was Charles Dickens, who was charged with editing Grimaldi’s memoirs, who may have come up with the idea of the scary clown, but in the 1892 Italian opera Pagliacci (Clowns), the unhinged eponymous clown, racked with jealousy, murders his wife. Somewhere along the line a fear of clowns (coulrophobia) developed and it’s that fear that DC Comics exploited in WWII with their super villain, The Joker. In Todd Phillips’ 2019 film, Joker, the Joker (Joaquin Phoenix) went from being Batman’s nemesis to a destructive main character in his own story, wreaking havoc over Gotham City. The psychology was basic. Arthur’s cruel, abusive mother called her son Happy and it is how he interpreted her wish that he bring joy and happiness to the world that we see on the screen. Five years on, Todd Phillips and Phoenix (who won the Academy Award for his 2019 Joker) are reunited in an unusual musical sequel to Joker. It is enhanced, but not enough, by the addition of Lady Gaga as Lee Quinzel. With Arthur Fleck’s mother dead, could the new woman in his life be a positive influence? Hardly. There is apparently truth in the old saying that men fall in love with women like their mothers. When one of the stereotypical sadistic hospital guards (Brendan Gleeson, underutilised), allows Arthur to take part in a music therapy class, he locks eyes with an intense younger woman, named ‘Lee’ Quinzel (Lady Gaga) who, in contrast to Arthur’s romantic handcuffs, has checked herself in voluntarily. Lee seems to have been waiting for him and comes on strong. She tells him that she, too, is from a poor, broken and abusive home and was committed for setting fire to that family home. Arthur is convinced he has found his soul-mate. His long-suffering defence lawyer, Maryanne Stewart (great to see Catherine Keener again), has done her homework, and warns her client. But the truth is a societal construct to destroy the newfound love that keeps Arthur going. The story is set in the Arkham State Hospital prison and in a nearby court room, in the run up to, during, and in the immediate aftermath of Arthur’s trial for murder. But the musical numbers – or most of them – are coping mechanisms. The songs, incongruous to the reality of Arthur’s life, instead reflect the various delusional states of mind and the stages of the relationship with Lee. For Once In My Life, If My Friends Could See Me Now, Bewitched, Close to You, When the Whole World is Smiling, and others reflect Arthur’s fantasy with Lee. It is gullible Arthur’s painful rendition of Jacques Brel’s If You Go Away into an unresponsive pay phone that turns the fantasy back to reality. The two lovers sing their way through an attempted escape (after Lee sets the prison on fire), furtive meetings, a television interview and stage performance before a live audience where Lee says to Arthur, ‘let’s give the people what they want’ and takes out a gun. What the people want is probably less Phoenix repeating his tortured soul performance from Joker and more Lady G singing and dancing. If Joker focused on Joker’s reign of destruction, Joker: Folie à Deux delves deep, but perhaps not deep enough, into Arthur’s self-destruction. Maryanne’s idea is to mitigate the irrefutable evidence against her client with an insanity – dissociative identity disorder – plea. Arthur is not the same as the Joker but pays the price of sharing a body. Everyone is sadistic or cruel to Arthur, punishing this aspiring comedian and reinforcing the job done on young Arthur by his mother. He has no friends and everyone betrays him. But Arthur is a violent serial murderer. Maryanne wants the jury to see another side of Arthur and tells the chain smoker not to smoke while calling witnesses like Gary Puddles (Leigh Gill) who, in tears over his testimony, recalls Arthur’s kindness. This presents a problem for Arthur, terrified of disappointing his mother by revealing the pain beneath the happy face. Arthur has to choose between Maryanne and Lee, who, attracted to his notoriety, encourages his Joker side. Arthur is also encouraged by a chilling young inmate (Connor Storrie) who hero-worships Arthur, there to pick up the mantle should Arthur waiver. When Arthur sacks Maryanne to represent himself in full Joker attire, dancing around the court like he did on the streets of Gotham City, he hopes to give Lee what she wants and entertain the crowded courtroom. But after hearing the witnesses, Arthur is forced to confront the pretence. The format, which relies on the song numbers for expression and novelty, ironically acts like a straight-jacket. While the film is riveting with pockets of artistry and emotion, it grows repetitive as the format replaces a story. Entertainment, which harks back to the original role of the court jester, seems to be the theme of the movie. It is not confined to Arthur the comedian, or the musical numbers, but extends to the film as a form of entertainment. Although the filmmakers provide little insight into the nature of violence, comedy and spectacle, we see Arthur mocked for not being funny when, emaciated and catatonic, he is in chains. The script, by Phillips and Scott Silver, invites us to think about why we are fascinated with clowns like Grimaldi, who, like Arthur, cannot separate himself from his stage persona. When Arthur announces, ‘I can’t be who...
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