REVIEWS
November 2019 | Sight&Sound | 71
strand around the lack of social safety net that
has taken away Arthur’s ability to obtain psych
meds. This all feels very in keeping with a liberal
worldview. The trouble is that its lionising of the
loner-hero is also just as easily associated with
the rhetoric of the Trump supporter; common
folk who are sick of perceived elites, using
violence as a means to empower themselves.
This might be the greatest issue with Joker, that
the ideological mish-mashing feels confusing;
right-on in one moment and uncomfortable in
the next. Narratively, there are real moments
of shock, degradation and exhilaration in the
film, and certainly this is true of its performance
from Phoenix, who is magnetic. Ideas-wise,
it’s only slightly less superficial than so
many other comic book movies, but on pure
entertainment factor, it’s a thrill to watch.
Grin reaper: Joaquin Phoenix
Gotham, 1981. Loner and party clown Arthur Fleck
lives with his ailing mother. Every evening they watch
their favourite comedian/talk-show host Murray
Franklin on television, and Arthur dreams of becoming
a beloved stand-up comic himself. He has a mental
illness that makes him burst into hysterical laughter
at inappropriate moments, and is increasingly
bullied and insulted for his strange behaviour. After
Arthur is beaten up by some teenagers, a colleague
gives him a handgun to protect himself. His mother
- a former employee of mayoral candidate and
millionaire Thomas Wayne – repeatedly writes to
Wayne asking him about the increasing chaos in
Gotham. Arthur’s mental stability is threatened by
a series of events, including the discovery of one of
his mother’s letters, which claims that Wayne is his
father. After he kills three Wayne employees who
violently attack him on the subway, Arthur becomes
a figurehead for an Occupy-style movement against
the wealthy of the city. The authorities begin to
suspect him of the killings, especially after he is
fired from his job for carrying a gun. After police
scare his mother, she dies. Meanwhile, a viral video
of Arthur at a disastrous open-mic comedy night is
shown on the Murray Franklin show, and he is invited
to appear. Losing all grasp on sanity, Arthur paints
his face and brutally murders a former colleague
before appearing on the show and shooting Franklin
at point-blank range. Afterwards, he is greeted by a
riotous crowd of people, many wearing clown masks
inspired by his appearance. Joker has been born,
and is finally receiving the adulation he’s craved.
Produced by
Todd Phillips
Bradley Cooper
Emma Tillinger
Koskoff
Screenplay
Todd Phillips
Scott Silver
Based on characters
from DC
Director of
Photography
Lawrence Sher
Editor
Jeff Groth
Production Designer
Mark Friedberg
Music
Hildur Guðnadóttir
Costume Designer
Mark Bridges
Production
Companies
Warner Bros.
Pictures presents
in association with
Village Roadshow
Pictures, BRON
Creative a Joint
Effort production
A film by Todd Phillips
Executive Producers
Michael E. Uslan
Walter Hamada
Aaron L. Gilbert
Joseph Garner
Richard Baratta
Bruce Berman
Cast
Joaquin Phoenix
Arthur Fleck
Robert De Niro
Murray Franklin
Zazie Beetz
Sophie Dumond
Frances Conroy
Penny Fleck
Brett Cullen
Thomas Wayne
Glenn Fleshler
Randall
Bill Camp
Detective Burke
Shea Whigham
Detective Garrity
Marc Maron
Gene Ufland
Douglas Hodge
Alfred Pennyworth
Josh Pais
Hoyt Vaughn
Leigh Gill
Gary
Brian Tyree Henry
Carl
Gary Gulman
Sam Morril
stand-ups
Dolby Atmos
In Colour
[1.85:1]
Distributor
Warner Bros. Pictures
International (UK)
Credits and Synopsis
Reviewed by Alex Davidson
Tomer Heymann follows his touching
documentary Who’s Gonna Love Me Now? (2016),
about Saar, an HIV-positive expat living in the UK
who found confidence and self-determination
through joining the London Gay Men’s Chorus,
with another intimate documentary about a
vulnerable gay Israeli man. Jonathan Agassi is the
stage name of Yonatan Langer, who went from
bullied gay kid to hugely successful porn star,
chiefly through his work on Men of Israel (2009),
an erotic blockbuster that became a worldwide
hit. Despite the industry acclaim and a close
relationship with his hugely supportive mother,
there are dark moments in Agassi’s life, past
and present: we witness his tense meeting with
his father, who walked out on the family when
Agassi was a baby; and his continual drug use,
which threatens his part-time career as an escort.
The film opens with a surreal, almost
tragicomic scene. Jonathan sits next to another
performer in a sex club, both of them dressed
as butch construction workers and nursing
huge erections in preparation for a show.
Their conversation reveals that the other
man’s sister very recently died of cancer, but
as Jonathan makes to comfort him, they are
called to perform their daft sex routine in front
of a packed house. Any personal moments of
solidarity and human emotion are pushed away:
the campy sex show must go on. It’s symbolic
of the film, in which Agassi’s insistence that
all is well in his life masks a darker reality.
Performance and deception infuse
Heymann’s documentary. Even the title is
a lie, a line proclaimed by Agassi himself in
one of many instances of self-delusion. While
the film certainly captures some shockingly
personal scenes, he is very aware of the
camera’s gaze, at one point urgently reaching
for his laptop – “You want memories? You
want drama?” – to reveal a chilling moment
of childhood trauma caused by his father.
Agassi is an often frustrating character to
spend nearly two hours with. He is prone to
bad choices and has a childlike need to shock,
particularly when with his mother Anna, with
whom he watches his own fetish porn films
and who serves as an audience as, garbed in
outrageous costumes, he performs catwalk
parades in her living room. Some of the
more troubling scenes, of rough sex and
Jonathan Agassi
Saved My Life
Israel/United Kingdom 2018
Director: Tomer Heymann, Certificate 18 105m 45s
In a lonely place: Anna and Jonathan Agassi
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