Can we really take back the sentence ＂There are no clowns after Heath Ledger＂？

A thousand people have a thousand reasons to look forward to The Clown:

The first superhero movie to enter the main competitions of the three major European film festivals, whether joaquin phoenix can be crowned emperor again, whether DC can usher in a turnaround, whether The Dark Knight can be surpassed, and whether the saying that there will be no clowns after Heath Ledger can be broken …

After the premiere of Venice Film Festival, The Clown exploded. A hard-to-find explosion situation, spontaneous standing ovation at the end of the media field, and despite the strict Embargo (the official time limit of the film festival) this year, many media still can’t help but express their inner ecstasy between the lines, which clearly affirmed the success of this film in Shuicheng for the first time. Douban has been scored by more than 1000 "cloud viewers", and DC powder can’t help but be proud.

Entertainment studio interviewed some reporters randomly after the media screening, and 90% of them gave absolute praise. Everyone recognized Phoenix’s performance very much and thought that he was expected to hit the Oscar winner. Two reporters said in unison, "The Clown is like a new version (Taxi Driver directed by martin scorsese and starring Robert De Niro, released in North America in 1976)."

The favorable rate of our on-the-spot investigation is basically close to the word-of-mouth of foreign media. At present, The Clown’s rotten tomato index is 86%(29 comments), MTC score is 75(13 good and 4 poor), and imdb score is 9.8, which is a bright start.

"The Clown" is really unlike any superhero film we have seen, and most of the content in the film is more like an independent realistic work. No superpowers, no high IQ, no dazzling special effects and fighting, just telling a poor patient in a down-to-earth way.

Venice Film Festival field journal score, the last one is "The Clown".

story

"The Clown" can be regarded as a prequel to reveal Joker’s life experience. It doesn’t involve any superheroes, but it is a crime film with the low-level nobody as the main character, telling how an honest poor man slipped into the dark abyss step by step under the compulsion.

In the following paragraph, we will briefly introduce the plot (excluding important nodes and ending parts), so that readers who guard against spoilers can skip it:

The story is set in Gotham City in the 1980s, where the protagonist Arthur works in a Haha Club, and he is responsible for playing clowns in different places according to his needs, such as putting up signs in the street or teasing children in children’s hospitals. His childhood dream is to be a comedian, love to watch talk shows and worship talk show host Murray Franklin (Robert De Niro).

But he has a strange disease since he was a child, that is, he can’t control himself to make strange laughter. This strange disease makes Arthur a freak in everyone’s eyes and is often humiliated and bullied. Finally, one day, he was noticed by Murray talk show as a "failed comedian". At the same time, his mother, who lived alone with him, told him that his life experience was related to the Wayne family.

"The Clown" is probably the most in-depth excavation of human nature in all the super-English films in recent years. Arthur’s background is not a villain, but just a patient. How he was "forced to go to Liangshan" to become a criminal little by little, the film has a convincing description of his every step of change.

The trailer only shows the picture of him being bullied and prejudiced, but the motivation of this character in the movie is not as simple as Hollywood commercial revenge, which has internal reasons and external promotion.

Arthur’s dream is a comedian, but he himself is a downright tragic figure. He suffered unfair treatment, which led to his physical and psychological defects. Even if he has a criminal record, he can still be a rational, restrained, gentle and kind person, not a black-and-white masked villain. And when he experienced a terrible day, the dark side of his heart was released and gradually became numb and crazy.

You don’t have to make up any comics or other movies to watch this movie. This is a brand-new and independent story that has nothing to do with the DC universe. Compared with superhero movies, it does have the temperament of martin scorsese and other new Hollywood movies in the 1970s. Arthur is not as cynical as Travis in Taxi Driver, but both of them are passively on the road to crime and absurdly portrayed as some kind of hero.

atmosphere

Dark and wet roads, garbage-strewn blocks, flashing neon tubes, and the smell of explosive riots … This is Gotham in The Clown, and the familiar dark wind is back. Excellent visual atmosphere serves the background of the whole story.

In the interview of the entertainment studio with the media at the premiere, someone mentioned the word "Modern". Yes, although The Clown is a story set in the 1980s, it reflects the familiar status quo: the gap between the rich and the poor, prejudice, social hostility, rising crime rate and rising populism … The film always emphasizes that we are in a Tough Times. The fresh story background is highly praised, but some critics are not very satisfied with the social issues expressed in this film.

Arthur was originally a coward who would be scared by his careless gunfire, and he was still a "mother-in-law" in middle age. He repeatedly expressed that he was not interested in politics and didn’t know anything about collective activities, but he unexpectedly became their spiritual spokesman.

Therefore, the "burning" of "The Clown" lies not in the rise of heroes who have played invincible hands all over the world, but in the creation of a symbol of the times. Perhaps this film is not great, but it can indeed be compared with the Dark Knight in terms of insight into human nature and times. The "Hangover" team, which was not trusted at first, finally proved its multifaceted strength with a serious and profound work.

perform

Many excellent actors have played clowns: Cesar Cesar Romero in the old Batman TV series in the 1960s, Jack Nicholson in the tim burton Batman in 1989, cameron monaghan in the American TV series Gotham recently, and the movie Jared Joseph Leto.

Of course, there is the most widely recognized and deeply rooted Heath Ledger in Nolan’s version. Because of his tragic untimely death, Heath Ledger was deeply remembered by fans as a clown, and was regarded as insurmountable.

With such a pearl jade in front, any actor who takes The Clown will be more severely scrutinized by the public. When joaquin phoenix was announced to play, public opinion generally expressed satisfaction and expectation.

Joaquin is undoubtedly one of the greatest actors who are active at present, which needs no proof by the number of awards. His own experience is bizarre and tragic, and he has suffered emotional shocks unimaginable to ordinary people. He has also played many people with psychological defects: the cowardly love rat leonard in Two Lovers, the alcoholic and down-and-out veteran in The Master, the lonely and empty Theodore in She, and the veteran who suffered from traumatic sequelae in You’ve never been here … He always seems to have a feeling of pain, melancholy, anger and madness, so he is the most suitable candidate for a clown.

Three generations of clowns: Jack Nicholson, Heath Ledger and joaquin phoenix.

In order to be closer to Joker, joaquin phoenix lost 47 pounds, with sunken eyes, high cheekbones and bony bones, and two rows of protruding ribs were like a pair of inverted folded wings. Such a withered body is first of all quite shocking in appearance, and the professionalism of a good actor is admirable.

"The Clown" is a film with outstanding performance. The lens constantly switches between various facial features of joaquin phoenix, the clown performance with exaggerated limbs, and the behavior from cowardice and helplessness to insanity, showing the actors’ performance details in an all-round way.

With its rich layers of corner colors, the past of the Oscar legacy, and the right place at the right time, The Clown may really create the best opportunity for joaquin phoenix to bid for the Olympic Games. Adam Trevor in Marriage Story is also very brilliant, but in contrast, The Clown is a film made for performance.

Robert De Niro’s talk show coffee is also good, but the space is small, and all the roles have become a foil for clowns. As far as joaquin phoenix’s outstanding performance is concerned, the sentence "There are no clowns after Heath Ledger" can be taken back.

Stills of the movie "The Clown", bony joaquin phoenix.

R-level identification

"The Clown" is determined to be an R-rated movie, butThere are not many violent scenes in the film, only an indoor action scene can be called bloody, and there is no erotic scene at all.

At present, there is no news about the introduction of the film, and North America is scheduled for October 4.

"When I was a child, my dream was to be a comedian, and everyone laughed at me. Now, I have really become a comedian. You see, no one laughs anymore? "

This is a joke that Arthur told. It’s a little cold and bitter. He is a boring Clown, a bad Comedian, but he will be a Joker in the future. I look forward to seeing joaquin phoenix continue the real Joker trip one day.