Joker: Folie à Deux – Why Arthur Fleck Will Never Be Gotham’s Prince of Crime
Todd Phillips has other, more personal ambitions for the character of the Joker.
In the next issue of the magazine Empiredirector Todd Phillips gives some details on Joker: Madness for Twowhich will bring together Lady Gaga (Harley Quinn) and Joaquin Phoenix (Arthur Fleck). He explains in particular that we will never see the Joker become the prince of crime of Gotham, as in the comics and certain Batman films. We would never do that. Because Arthur is clearly not a criminal mastermind. He never was. “The character’s goal is therefore not to rule the local underworld, but the whole world has its eyes fixed on him.” He has become a symbol for people, an unwitting symbol who must now pay for his crimes from the first film, but at the same time find the one thing he truly desires: love. It has always been his only desire, even if he has been pushed in other directions. » Joker: Madness for Two will therefore really be a love story above all.
And to achieve this, Phillips decided to make his characters sing. A choice that might seem strange, but in which Joaquin Phoenix fully found himself. The actor assures that he was ” important than words (by Fleck) » are not perfect during the singing sequences, and even that he sometimes does « wrong notes (…) Arthur grew up hearing the music his mother listened to on the radio. He is not a singer, and he must not have the voice of a professional singer. He must sing like anyone else in the shower. »
Phoenix says Lady Gaga put him at ease and they were able to find a creative harmony in the singing. Joker: Madness for Two will be released on October 2nd in France. Trailer:
