Joker. 2019. Directed by Todd Phillips

Film

Mon, Dec 2, 2019, 7:00 p.m.

MoMA, Floor T2/T1, Theater 1

The Roy and Niuta Titus Theater 1

Joker. 2019. USA. Directed by Todd Phillips. Courtesy Warner Brothers

Joker. 2019. USA. Directed by Todd Phillips. Written by Phillips and Scott Silver. With Joaquin Phoenix, Robert De Niro, Zazie Beetz. 122 min.

Todd Phillips’s Joker injects a new level of menace into the story of the notorious comic book villain, tracing the descent of Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix), a mentally disturbed aspiring stand-up comic and amateur clown. Dark, sinister, and atmospheric, the film depicts Gotham City—a barely fictionalized vision of New York City circa 1981—on the brink of apocalypse. In an unhinged tour-de-force performance, Phoenix plays Joker with total abandon, unleashing his character’s devilish inner torment. His animalistic, trance-like physicality earned him an unusual dance review in the New York Times, which noted that his moves are “no joke.” Courtesy Warner Brothers.

This film accompanies The Contenders 2019.

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