A borderline-great movie. And I’m a d@mn harsh critic.
Basically it’s one man’s descent into madness…though to be fair there’s not *all* that much of a “descent” here…he’s pretty far gone not too far into the movie. It just gets more and more extreme, harder and harder to overlook.
Joaquin Phoenix is brilliant, which is no surprise, he’s a great actor. I’m gonna go out on a limb and suggest that he drew at least in part from painful life experiences to create Arthur Fleck.
It’s very well done. You can easily get lost in the despair that permeates the city/movie. Really fcken depressing, actually.
May profit from repeated viewings, if you wanted a better understanding. But I was too fcken depressed after one watch to plan for any more, and even now I wish – in a way – that it didn’t exist.
Misfortune leads to several incidents that aren’t Arthur’s fault…then again, those aren’t be-all excuses for everything he eventually does.
Visually disturbing and creepy. It’s difficult to know everything that is real and everything that is not.
NOT for the weak of heart. Scenes of graphic violence.
Gets a little slow at points. but I think (and will give the benefit of the doubt based on the rest) that this is intentional, in a way at least. Meaning, yes, here are some horrific and disgusting and terrifying things…and here’s something dull and slow as a real-life contrast. *shrug* Maybe, maybe not. In any case, I like my interpretation enough to enjoy it as such.
The vast majority of people are selfish, insensitive, rude a$$holes? I can’t really disagree with that.
Connection to ‘Are You Being Served?’ = Gary Glitter
Culmination near the end: Terrifying.
Inspirational Quote: “…you wouldn’t get it.”
Grade: A-