Talking with a friend, I said the following:
I saw it Monday, and we had the theater to ourselves. Every part of this movie is perfection – the direction, the cinematography, the music, and especially the acting. It’s a bleak, difficult to watch movie because of its accurate portrayal of mental illness and the general nastiness of humanity, but Joaquin’s performance alone is worth the admission. I’ve never seen so much communicated through so simple a gesture or glance. His pre-Joker clowning draws heavily on Charlie Chaplin, Marcel Marceau, Lindsay Kemp, etc. and when he finally transforms into the Joker it’s creaturey, androgynous and sublime. Don’t believe the hype – this movie fiercely resists being pigeonholed into the service of any ideology or political movement though everyone – inside the movie and out of it – attempts to do so anyway. Its only message is this is what a world without compassion looks like. Treat each other better.
The House of Vines 
Hail to the Harlequinade!
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It amused me that they named the Joker Arthur, considering Harlequin’s association with bears.
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I knew you’d mention that eventually lol
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How could I not?
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I’ve been noticing bears lately in sources I didn’t realize they were there
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Bears are rather like labyrinths in that regard.
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I was going to ask you if you were going to see or have seen “The Joker” and get your impressions of it through a Dionysian Lens.
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Tempting. Perhaps when it comes out on DVD I’ll do a scene-by-scene analysis. There’s a lot of relevant allusions and symbolism.
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There was an interesting NPR interview with Hildur Guðnadóttir where she talks about the music in that scene. It sounds like that piece might have been inspired:
https://www.npr.org/2019/10/03/766172923/composer-hildur-gu-nad-ttir-finds-the-humanity-in-joker
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That was a great read, and reminds me of how Phoenix speaks of the Joker:
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Thanks for your review. I really want to see it now.
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