JOKER
o the annals of unique interpretations and iconic performances of The Clown Prince of Crime we must now add Joaquin Phoenix and his exquisitely tragic turn as . The film’s Arthur Fleck is a new creation fully outside any established cinematic or literary continuity, a man barely able to function on the mean streets of Gotham City circa 1981. We can feel him’s Robert De Niro as the host of Fleck’s favored TV talk show is clever indeed, but also draws undeniable inspiration from another De Niro/Scorsese affair, , with its desperate loner on final approach to his boiling point. In a town without pity, a world utterly lacking in human compassion, is a descent into violent crime inevitable? And how exactly might one man’s last thread of sanity unravel?
