At this year's Oscars, "Joker" is an absolute hit - the nomination alone won the best picture, best director, best actor, best editing, best adapted screenplay, best original score, best makeup and hair design, best cinematography, best sound editing, best sound effects, and best costume design. Beat the Irishman, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and 1917, each with 10 nominations, and led the way in heat and topics.
But the large number of nominations does not explain anything, but Phoenix, who has been performing well in "Her", "Rwanda Hotel" and "Gladiator", has really entered the vision of more audiences with the film "Joker".
While the various messages conveyed by the film were interpreted by the audience in various ways, I found an incredible thing after three brushes on the film: the entire film almost came from Arthur's imagination, and the process of transforming from an ordinary psychopath to a "lonely king" in Gotham City only happened in Arthur's own imagination and conception.
Straight to the theme, the next long article will start from the details to present and analyze the original appearance of the movie "Joker".
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" appears 3 times in the movie >, all of which are 11:11</h1>
I don't know if you noticed the looming existence of "time" when you watched "Joker"? In fact, for a movie, especially in the early years of the old movie, the placement of the sets and objects in each shot is very exquisite.
For example, in Far from Heaven, there is a set of phone calls consisting of only actors, telephones, curtains, and a retro light fixture, and the light occupies the right half of the picture, and the character on the left has his back to the light and is in shadow, and looks at the whole empty room.
This also indicates that the protagonist's state of mind and thoughts are quietly changing, and the airtight curtains actually have a certain meaning for the artificial "light".
That is to say, a good movie, there is not a single thing in the picture that is superfluous, and there is not a single line that is nonsense.
So back to "Joker", the fact that 11:11 appears 3 times can be interpreted in two parts: 11:11 and the 3 nodes that appear.
First of all, the number 11:11 is an extension of the theory (certainly not a romantic plot like looking at a watch until "I'm thinking of you"), also known as the "Badr-Mainhof phenomenon": when you learn about a new existence, it will not be long before you have the opportunity to encounter it again.
The movie "Bader Mainhof", highly recommended
The reason why this theory is widely recognized is not only because the phenomenon mentioned in the theory is very common in real life, but also because its own characteristics overlap with the theories in different fields.
For example, in the point of "synchronicity", it intersects with Jung's "meaningful coincidence";
The point of "selective interest" is more explained by the fact that people only remember to see 11:11 when they look at the table, which is of course very similar to what psychology calls selective attention.
Jung
Next, let's talk about the 3 nodes where this number appears.
For the first time, the opening conversation therapy.
The second time, Arthur "recalled" himself banging his head against the door in the observation room
The third time, Arthur was fired for the last punch of the day
To reiterate, these three times are definitely not "shooting accidents" nor are they "coincidences", this is actually an "Easter egg" intentionally by the director, or "customs clearance code".
Throughout the film, arthur is treated twice in the observation room and in conversation therapy, both at the beginning and end of the film.
Combined with the plot of the entire movie, the node of Arthur's outbreak is actually "being fired" - which means that the whole person is abandoned by this society, and no job is equivalent to no social identity in the social context at that time.
So what is it likely to be? Combined with the scheduling of the shots that return to the observation room at the end, as well as the actors' performances and lines, it is quite possible that the time in the entire film is based on the real time when the head hits the wall. In Freud's The Interpretation of Dreams, the effect of subconscious time on dreams is mentioned.
Of course, if from this point alone, it is far-fetched to say that the whole movie is Arthur's wild thinking and "self-nirvana" in the observation room, please continue to look back.
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > obviously imagined plot in the movie, and it happens to be 3 times</h1>
For the first time, the first time Murray appeared in the film, Arthur imagined that he had gone to the scene and was named by Murray, and finally got applause from everyone.
This paragraph is imaginary and without any controversy. The significance of this imagination is not to emphasize how important Murray is to Arthur, but how important it is for Arthur to be recognized by the world.
Combined with the increasing number of characters who appear later, we will find that almost no one recognizes Arthur, he is a person who is completely on the fringes of society and outside the lives of all people. Even his own mother said:
"You want to be a comedian, shouldn't you have a sense of humor?"
Apparently, his mother didn't think he had comedic talent. Of course, this is also the end of Arthur saying, "My life is originally a comedy." "The most important reason – you can't be a comedian, but you can live a comedy."
The second time, after Arthur's mother was hospitalized, a video played on Murray's show showed Arthur performing on stage for the only time and didn't get any applause.
If you look back at this paragraph carefully, it is not difficult to find that when Murray asked the program team to "put another paragraph", he obviously said it with an attitude of looking at jokes. And the video ends with Arthur outstretched arms as true, but thunderous applause as false.
Imagine if Arthur really spoke witty and won applause, wouldn't be seen in the video? Or will Murray put an obscure little person on the show to make fun of him?
There was only one answer: the stage that night was Arthur's "self-coronation." There was no extraordinary play, and there was no applause.
This is not difficult to understand, because in terms of comedic talent, Arthur really does not. There is a scene where Arthur sits in a very popular talk show venue with a pen and paper, analyzing and annotating other people's performances. But as an audience, we will find that Arthur's laughter is completely different from everyone else's, and his laughter about the actors on stage to ridicule social phenomena is only summed up in one sentence: jokes related to "sex" will make people can't help but laugh.
This also reflects from the side that Arthur not only laughs and is curious, but also has become disconnected from the whole society. But read the program and the newspaper every day, this does not make sense? But if it was part of Arthur's imagination, it would make sense.
Because one's imagination is limited, "barrenness" will not become "novel" or "disconnected" in "dreams" nor will it become "keep pace with the times". The reason for the disconnection is that Arthur has very little time in real society.
The third time, what happened after encountering a female neighbor in an elevator.
Whether it's the fact that she knows Arthur is following her, or the surprising agreement between her and Arthur's ideas, or the joy of Arthur's initiative, or even the back in the hospital... Everything that happens with the female neighbor is actually Arthur's unilateral imagination.
So what is the significance of this imagination? It was Arthur who found a reasonable explanation and outlet for his "delusional disorder" and gave a gorgeous "clinical manifestation".
So when Arthur is drenched in chicken and runs to the female neighbor's house, but encounters a strange and hostile "lover" who is strange and hostile to him, Arthur once again makes the gesture of shooting at himself, drawing this narrative to a logical and self-consistent end.
In fact, the narrative logic of finding an outlet for yourself in a dream is not unique to "Joker". If you've seen Mulholland Drive and fully understood it, you'll understand what I'm talking about here.
Poster of Mulholland Road
In "Mulholland Road", everything about the beauty is actually the exit that the heroine of reality finds for the mistakes she has made, and arranges a wonderful life for herself in this dream, and also turns her faceless uncle and aunt into a passerby (but the reason why the two old people smile strangely after getting on the taxi, I still don't understand), and also bring the blue key that runs through the whole movie into the dream.
If one compares the two scenes of Mulholland Drive, reality and dreams, combined with Freud's The Interpretation of Dreams (which had a huge influence on directors and films throughout the 19th century), You will find that Joker is actually two narrative lines – reality and compiled "memories".
Only this time, the fictional clown simply found a new reason and story synopsis for himself to become crazy. Because Heath Ledger's version of the Joker has said several versions, there are about why his mouth laughs so exaggeratedly.
This also confirms from the side that the clown is a madman, a complete madman. The Joker himself doesn't remember why he became "himself," or he doesn't want to remember it himself.
Because for him and the whole society, it is important that the clown comes from? No. What matters is what the Joker brings to Gotham. Because the Joker is only a variant of Gotham's social reality, it is also the crystallization of the dark side.
<h1 class = "pgc-h-arrow-right" > the 3 movies that appear in Joker are also very particular</h1>
In Joker, the more obvious "picture-in-picture" is a variety of TV shows based on Murray's talk show. But in fact, there are 3 other movies that run through the whole movie - 1 has shots, and 2 have only flashing names.
One of the films that appears in the camera is Chaplin's Modern Times.
While Arthur sneaks into the theater disguised and wants to find out for old Wayne (best known as father and son), he sees a set of shots from Modern Times on the big screen—skating round and round on the edge of danger.
This is the only time in the whole movie that Arthur laughs the same way as everyone else, but it is extremely frightening to think about it.
Audiences familiar with Chaplin know that he became a master not only because of how funny or novel his works are, but more because Chaplin can skillfully integrate social reality, human nature, and self-feelings into his own works. This also confirms the saying that the core of comedy is tragedy.
Because Chaplin's first half of life had a strong tragic color, his work could not escape the shadow brought to him by the outside world in his childhood and adolescence throughout his life.
So back to the lens itself, what does that say?
Skating in circles on the edge of danger, everyone knows that mistakes are the abyss but still laughs, which is actually a side confirmation that comedy is an exploitation - exploiting the pain of others and fulfilling their own joy. Of course, it also reflects the indifference of all people.
Why did Arthur laugh along?
Because he found himself and Chaplin on the screen, they were "dancing with the tip of the knife", and there was no sympathy and help to greet them, only heartless, lungless, indifferent laughter. All Arthur could do was laugh with everyone until he finally turned his life into a gorgeous comedy.
The only two films in the film that have names are "The Line of Murder" and "Pink Shozo".
The protagonist of "Murder Line" is very similar to Arthur's situation, and finally gradually falls into an absurd world full of intrigue, pornography, murder and death, and no one around him can be trusted. And "Pink Zorro" is a bit of a spoof of Batman.
Stills from "The Line of Murder"
Poster of "Pink Zorro"
No one can be trusted or spoof Batman— which is an allusion to Arthur's absurd imagination. He wasn't Wayne's child, and the Waynes' death had nothing to do with the so-called "Joker Rally," everything was Arthur's wishful thinking, and it was the way Arthur most wanted to see it.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > written at the end</h1>
Regarding the movie "Joker", there are actually many details waiting to be excavated, speculated and interpreted. And the correct timeline for the whole movie is:
The Joker is in a mental hospital room. The doctor asked:
"Have you ever wondered why you were locked up?"
The Joker suddenly stood up and slammed his head against the door of the room—it was 11:11 a.m.
Then he thought of a joke about Arthur and began to laugh. The doctor asked again:
"What's so funny?"
clown:
"Just think of a joke."
The Joker suddenly thought of a joke about Thomas Wayne's death and laughed out loud again.
The doctor said:
"Can you say come and listen?"
The Joker answered:
"You won't get it."
When the doctor obviously didn't find it funny and was about to say something, the clown suddenly began to sing softly and killed the doctor after finishing singing.
In this way, the main plot of the whole movie is just a "flash of inspiration" after the clown hits the wall. What do you think?