Despite high praise for Hildur Guðnadóttir's haunting score and Joaquin Phoenix's Academy Award-winning lead performance as Arthur Fleck, Todd Phillips' Joker was far from universally loved (it sits at 69% on Rotten Tomatoes), and a lot of the criticism stemmed from a perception that the movie somehow glorified Fleck's violent actions.
This is obviously up for debate (many would argue that it does the exact opposite), but this was Ridley Scott's issue with the film, which he explained while speaking about casting Phoenix as Napoleon in his upcoming biopic while on stage at Deadline’s Contenders London event over the weekend.
Despite his aversion to Joker's supposed "celebration" of violence, Phoenix's stunning work as the iconic Batman villain convinced Scott to cast him in Napoleon.
“I was blown away by his outrageous film Joker. I didn’t like the way it celebrated violence, but Joaquin was remarkable. I thought he’d be an amazing asset to Napoleon, [not only creatively] also in a commercial sense. There were only two actors I had in mind for the role. I won’t mention the other one.”
Again, some would take a very different view of Joker and its admittedly shocking depictions of violence.
Scott went on to reveal that he filmed Napoleon in just 62 days.
“Normally a film like this would be shot in around 110. I discovered years ago that eight cameras are eight times faster. Every department has to be able to keep up with my speed. Actors don’t want to hear the story of life before each take. I discovered that early on. A well-known Welsh actor once told me, ‘I love what you do because you move so quickly.’ You’ve got to know the geometry of the scene. If you don’t, it’ll be 3 p.m. before your first shot gets rolling.”
What do you make of Scott's comments? Would you agree that Joker celebrated violence? Be sure to share your thoughts in the usual place.
Forever alone in a crowd, failed comedian Arthur Fleck seeks connection as he walks the streets of Gotham City. Arthur wears two masks -- the one he paints for his day job as a clown, and the guise he projects in a futile attempt to feel like he's part of the world around him. Isolated, bullied and disregarded by society, Fleck begins a slow descent into madness as he transforms into the criminal mastermind known as the Joker.