After the eight-minute standing ovation at its premiere at the Venice Film Festival, Joker, the new movie by Todd Phillips starring Joaquin Phoenix, managed to win the Golden Lion for Best Film at the festival last Saturday.
This is the first comic book novel to win the most important prize at the oldest Festival in cinema history. For sure, this triumph is a sign of changing times in the movie industry, but this success is all but a surprise. Indeed, Joker, Batman’s archenemy, is one of the most appreciated characters of the comic book world, thanks to his strong personality, his original kind of madness and his troubled past.
The movie shows the origins of the character, who, from being a failed comedian and after getting in touch with the criminality in Gotham, becomes one the most dangerous and crazy criminal of the city. Joaquin Phoenix, thanks to his excellent performance, managed to convey to the audience the deep pain that characterizes Joker’s troubled past.
This way, the character, who in previous Batman movies only appeared as the main villain (through the incredible performances by Heath Ledger, Jared Leto and Jack Nicholson), acquires in this movie a central role and a deeper characterization.
After this prize and a large number of positive reviews, it is no wonder that, while we are waiting for the movie to be released in cinemas, a sequel is rumoured to be in the works, a movie in which even the character of Batman will have a central role.
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