Review | Venice 2024 movie review – Joker: Folie à Deux puts Joaquin Phoenix, Lady Gaga in musical
Lady Gaga plays music teacher and more to Phoenix’s Joker behind bars in a highly original sequel that’s menacing and beautifully styled
4/5 stars
Joaquin Phoenix returns to the role that won him an Oscar and gave him the biggest hit of his career in Joker: Folie à Deux.
Director Todd Phillips takes the brave decision to turn this into a Hollywood musical. Yes, you read that right: Phoenix’s Arthur Fleck sings old standards, the clown turning crooner.
The film begins with an old-school, Warner Brothers-style cartoon, loosely replaying events as Arthur’s Joker persona shot dead TV interviewer Murray Franklin live on air.
Now incarcerated in Arkham Asylum, this deranged loner is awaiting to see if he will stand trial. Near-silent in the beginning, Arthur only brightens when a prison guard (Brendan Gleeson) admits him to a music class.
“We use music to make us whole,” says the teacher. And it’s here where he meets his soulmate, Lee Quinzel (Lady Gaga).
An arsonist whose mother had her committed to Arkham, Quinzel is familiar to all DC Comics fans as Harley Quinn, the character known as the Joker’s paramour.
