Director
Todd Phillips
Leading Actors/Actresses
Joaquin Phoenix
Supporting Actors/Actresses
Robert De Niro, Zazie Beetz, and Frances Conroy
Genre
Thriller, Drama, Horror
Language
English
Awards
Winner of the Golden Lion Award at the Venice Film Festival, Nominated for 11 Academy Awards, won for Best Actor (Phoenix) and Best Score
Date of Release
October 4th, 2019
Producer
Todd Phillips, Bradley Cooper, and Emma Tillinger Koskoff
Setting and Context
Gotham City, 1981
Narrator and Point of View
From the perspective of Arthur Fleck
Tone and Mood
Disturbing, Tawdry, Tragic, Psychological, Political
Protagonist and Antagonist
Arthur is the Protagonist and Society at Large is the Antagonist
Major Conflict
The major conflict of the film involves Arthur's desire to become a successful stand-up comedian all while struggling to keep his composure and sanity, as he loses his job, learns that his mother was complicit in his abuse, and struggles with the derision and ridicule he encounters from society.
Climax
When Arthur is cheered on by the clown protestors and stands on the hood of the cop car, taking in the cheers of the crowd.
Foreshadowing
The fact that Arthur is imagining his relationship to Sophie is foreshadowed by some of its uncanniness. For instance, her daughter looks at Arthur strangely, and Sophie is open to Arthur following her around town and basically stalking her, which seems suspicious.
Understatement
Arthur, in his inability to process emotion, often understates the effects of his actions.
Innovations in Filming or Lighting or Camera Techniques
Allusions
Joker alludes to many films including Taxi Driver (1976), The King of Comedy (1982), the graphic novel The Killing Joke (1988), Raging Bull (1980), One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), Serpico (1973), and Charlie Chaplin films, as well as the Batman comics, mythology, and, New York crime history, including the Central Park Five and the 1984 New York City subway shooting.
Paradox
Arthur does not have confidence or come into his own until he's turned into a horrifying villain.
Parallelism
Arthur and Penny are parallels for one another, in that they both suffer from delusions. Arthur is also placed in parallel with Bruce Wayne, the young boy who has every privilege that he does not, and who will one day become "Batman."
