The romantic saga of the Joker and his ‘crazy girl’ Harley Quinn.
Who put the smile on the Joker’s lips? With “Folie à Deux”, Todd Phillips has his own answer.
Joker: Folie à Deux has been released for a few days and has caused a division on social networks and the international media, similar to what happened with the prequel 5 years ago. The difference is that while the prequel Joker caused controversy because of concerns about its content “promoting violence”, the disagreements about part 2 mainly revolve around the musical genre, as well as the quality of the film.
Observer critic Dylan Roth gave Folie à Deux a 1 (out of 4) and commented that the film was terrible: “Folie à Deux is a product of wild, aimless ambition.” Meanwhile, Film Authority gave the film a perfect score, with the comment that the Joker sequel is “twice as good as the first one,” leaving people amazed and immersed.
The reviews are so mixed that it’s hard to believe that critics are all pointing to the same work. However, what cannot be denied is the chemistry between Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga in the film. Despite the conflicting opinions about the content, both shine in their own ways as a pair of mentally unstable lovers in a dark hell.
For the first time on screen, people saw the love story between the “Crown Prince of Crime” and the “Crazy Girl” develop so differently from the original. It was different, crazy but also haunting and interesting.
When Arthur doesn’t smile
Following the events of Joker (2019), Folie à Deux once again takes viewers on a crazy psychological journey of Arthur Fleck/Joker. After a series of crimes that shook Gotham City, the clown was locked up in Arkham, awaiting the day the judge gave his verdict.
Arthur’s days in prison are hellish, as he struggles with his slowly emerging dual identity. As things get worse, he meets “Lee” Harley Quinn.
For the first time in his life at the “bottom of society”, Arthur knew love and felt loved.
| Folie à Deux was highly controversial. |
“I killed five people. One on live TV.”
“I set fire to my parents’ apartment building.”
Two madmen get acquainted like that in the middle of dark Arkham.
According to Lee, Arthur was a “nice guy.” Hearing the other party’s flirtatious words, the clown smiled, even if only briefly.
At this point, the audience realized that Arthur Fleck had not smiled, was not happy and relaxed like that for a long time. The poor man suffered from PBA (Pseudobulbar Affect), which caused him to laugh uncontrollably. That wild smile haunted Arthur throughout the prequel, making him a freak in the eyes of everyone.
Yet throughout the long opening of Folie à Deux, Arthur is left in a state of silence, lonely and exhausted. His eyes are lifeless, his body is emaciated, exhausted and lifeless. Arthur seems to have died in his cramped room at Arkham, where the faint sunlight that shines through the small window cannot provide any warmth.
But from the moment he met Lee, bright colors suddenly filled Arthur’s mind. When the clown looked up to the sky while being escorted by four prison guards, the umbrellas that were originally the dark color of the Arkham setting became strangely colorful. The magical storytelling of cinema tells the audience that this is when the character’s psychology changes dramatically.
Lee took the initiative to get to know him, started a conversation, and asked Arthur to find a private space for both of them. The first kiss at the cinema revived the clown who seemed to have rotted in the darkness. For the first time after so many years of struggling with life, Arthur was loved, or more precisely, thought he was loved.
| A scene from Folie à Deux. |
Laughter was replaced by singing. It was a hoarse sound, coming from the throat of a heavy smoker, the voice of the soul when knowing that there was someone in the world who needed him, feeling that he was important in the eyes of others, not superfluous, not a thing of entertainment that people could casually throw away when they didn’t need it.
“The only sane person in a crazy society” is in love.
The Death of Arthur
The love story of two madmen is filled with bustling music, against the dark and gloomy backdrop of Gotham. They bring chaos, madness and even violence to the whole city.
In a scene where she visits her lover in prison, Lee uses red lipstick to draw a smile on the glass separating her and Arthur. In the movie, the crazy woman also calls the person in front of her Joker. It is very clear that the person Lee loves madly is not Arthur, but the evil personality that exists in parallel in his mind.
| The person Lee loves is Joker, not Arthur. |
Since his first encounter with Batman in Batman #1 in April 1940, the Joker has been a beloved character for over eight decades. For DC fans, the love story between the Clown Prince of Crime and Harley Quinn has long been familiar.
When they appeared on screen, the image of the crazy villain couple attracted more and more attention from the public. One side was a crazy but charming psychopath, the other side was a hot scientist, crazy because of love, obeying his lover like a master.
Folie à Deux ‘s Joker and Harley Quinn, however, are anything but. Warner Bros. has given Todd Phillips nearly complete creative control, leading to unique and, of course, controversial perspectives.
Before that, the question: “What is the real relationship between Joker and Harley?” still had no satisfactory answer. Some people said that Joker was just possessing a toy, turning her into a pastime, molding her into the shape he wanted. Some people said, how can you expect a crazy person to love like a normal person? That the way he physically tortured Harley, played with her emotions and countless other deviant actions were the crazy clown’s strange love language, which made Harley blindly infatuated.
Returning to Folie à Deux, Todd Phillips has his own answer.
No more talking about Joker, what he wants to mention is Arthur’s love affair with Lee.
Viewers who wanted Arthur to “become one” with the Joker will surely be disappointed when witnessing the clown’s final decision before the film ends. Arthur is still Arthur, weak, fragile and vulnerable. But because of that, he is not like the previous Jokers: prone to violence, abuse and possessiveness towards his lovers.
Arthur loved Lee with a pure heart, with the respect of a madman who was once abandoned by society, then met the light of life. The ending that Todd Phillips gave to their love left viewers shocked. Arthur, most likely died from a fatal wound, or Lee, could also go find another “Joker”.
The saddest thing was that before he closed his eyes, Arthur could no longer keep the smile that Lee had once lit up.
