It's not often I feel inhabited by a film. The last time it happened was after the original Robocop and I left the cinema moving as if every muscle was specifically powered by minute hydraulic servos. Tonight, I could feel Joker's twitchy, contorted dance flowing within me. But then I can get a little nuts at times.
As we crossed the Quay car park, another patron was mimicking Joker's laugh so loudly it echoed from the buildings. The impersonation was pitch-perfect. A group of lads near us giggled but as the laugh continued and the crowd thinned, to me it turned creepy and disturbing. Much like the effect of the film. I had to check with my wife that she could hear it too (she could). Driving home along an empty Paisley Road West, with its faulty lighting and graffitied shop shutters, I could picture rioters reclaiming the street because no one is listening to the people any more.
Joaquin's performance is incredible. There are touches of Andy Kaufman in Arthur's voice but the physicality is so particular to this version of the Joker, it's unique. Yes, the film is violent but it's justified because so are the injustices inflicted on the weak and powerless. Joker becomes their antihero. It's not so hard to imagine a similar character being born in today's world. With the people so dissatisfied with Brexit, Trump and climate change, it only takes a lick of greasepaint and a revolver for Greta Thunberg to be taken far more seriously.
I loved this film.
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