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It’s been said by director Todd Phillips that his Joker film isn’t based on any comic, and it promises to be one of the more original takes of the character. To bring his own twist to his Clown Prince of Crime, Joaquin Phoenix admitted to study people with mental illness to come up with the laugh.
This comes from Italian publication il venerdi di Repubblica (via Discussing Film):
Joaquin Phoenix has said that he watched videos of people suffering from pathological laughter, a neurological disorder that makes individuals laugh uncontrollably, to come up with his laugh for ‘JOKER’. (Source: https://t.co/iE2v7YAV7V) pic.twitter.com/1absbD11ra
— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) August 14, 2019
Though the Joker’s most famous origin is that he fell into a vat of acid and became crazy, there have always been different ways to approach the story. The Dark Knight’s Joker had a permanent Cheshire smile on his face (and the reason he has them is purposefully vague), and this one will be different in a sense that he has a mental illness where he can’t control his laughter.
As a fan of the mature direction that the DCEU was going for, I’m very excited to see something like Joker getting made. With Aquaman and Shazam! shifting closer to the kid-friendly Marvel formula, it’s cool to see WB taking a risk and giving us something dark and gritty with Joker.
October can’t come soon enough.
Failed comedian Arthur Fleck encounters violent thugs while wandering the streets of Gotham City dressed as a clown. Disregarded by society, Fleck begins a slow dissent into madness as he transforms into the criminal mastermind known as the Joker.
Joker hits theaters Oct. 4.