The musical sequel of Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga

“Folie à deux” means a kind of shared madness, possibly two extreme hearts on the same wavelength or perhaps a conflict in the mind of a disturbed person. When Arthur Fleck aka Joker meets Harleen “Lee” Quinel aka Harley Quinn in director/co-writer Todd Phillips’ bold and dizzying follow-up to his 2019 billion-dollar-grossing origin story, Joker: Foil A In both cases, it may be all of the above.

The first trailer for this new film, which could be described as a musical but is much more than just a hook, uses the basic theme of “What The World Needs Now Is Love” by Burt Bacharach and Hal David, and perhaps that is exactly what Phillips (and his co-writer Scott Silver) are trying to say, because this meeting of the souls of Arthur (Joaquin Phoenix) and Lee (Lady Gaga) is indeed a strange love story in a world that is losing control.

An early inspiration for the filmmaker and his star, dating back to even the making of the first film, was that there is music living inside Arthur waiting to come out, just as his clown-makeup-adorned altar ego is waiting to come out. In this film, both happen – on a grand scale, but very much in the fantasy world he has created, juxtaposed with the harsh reality of life in Gotham City, there is no comic book facade here.

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The film, however, unexpectedly opens with a Looney Tune, as Warner Bros. famously delivered before the main film, this time not with Bugs Bunny but with the Joker, and it cleverly sets up the film we are about to see as a collision of old-fashioned Golden Era musical fantasy and real-life violence. The animated Joker struts through a cinema lobby past posters of Fred Astaire in The band wagon, Frank Sinatra in Buddy Joey, Gwen Verdon in Dear Charity, all this will appear later in the film in the music selection, but also blood will splatter the screen. The great French animation wizard Sylvain Chomet (Oscar nominated for The Triplets of Belleville) created this cartoon as a kind of homage to the funny world of these old cartoons, but also as a warning of what will happen in the divided musical universe inside Joker's head.

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The film then picks up in the real world, set about two years after Arthur, aka the Joker, murdered Murray Franklin on his live TV talk show (as well as Bruce Wayne's parents). He is now in a mental institution/prison, Arkham, awaiting trial. He is obviously medicated and doesn't say much, but in the meantime he has become a minor sensation, the object of obsession for “fans,” especially after a mediocre TV movie, so to speak, documented his infamous rise to fame. One of them turns out to be Lee, a patient on another floor in Arkham who has seen the TV movie many times and feels a soul mate, if not with Arthur, then certainly with the Joker. As their relationship begins, Arthur opens up, and with him the film's color palette.

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He's someone the world has never thought about, but if they had, his crimes might not have happened. Lee sees someone unique as they sit together, a couple of society's outcasts, in the Arkham lounge watching the 1953 MGM musical. The Band Wagonthe film in which Fred Astaire sings “That's Entertainment,” a song our stars have reprised more than once in darker, more demure tones. Although Gaga is obviously a fine singer and Phoenix won an Oscar nomination for his role as Johnny Cash, both turn down the volume since neither Arthur nor Lee are singers themselves, but it's the music inside that brings both out in fantasy numbers staged as if they were at MGM rather than a prison.

Phillips plays all this out in a series of musical sequences, including a stunning “Bewitched Bothered And Bewildered” from Buddy Joey that lend themselves to old-school MGM-style musical films à la Freed Unit. There's also Judy Garland's “Get Happy,” the anthemic “If My Friends Could See Me Now,” which Lee sings with subtle bravura as her relationship with Arthur intensifies, the same goes for Anthony Newley's “Gonna Build A Mountain” when she thinks there's going to be a fairytale ending here, and even Sinatra's “That's Life,” the only song we hear clearly from Lady Gaga rather than Harleen, as it plays over the credits in a jazzed-up arrangement. Otherwise, Phillips doesn't allow the musical aspects to resemble the risk-it-all style of most musicals from the era when Arthur probably saw them as a child or listened to records. A poignant “(They Long To Be) Close to You” exudes a certain wistfulness as Lee sings it during an otherwise tense prison visit where the stained glass window separates her from the imprisoned Arthur. The music selection throughout reflects the central points of the story and does not just serve as an obligatory moment to break out into song. The stars make the music seem almost like a dialogue.

The lyrics of the lively “That's Entertainment's” are also, ironically, a sharp counterpoint to the crowds outside the Gotham City courthouse as Arthur's trial takes place, a madhouse outside and inside as he is given permission to defend himself in full Joker garb. He has become something of a folk hero, his celebrity, no matter how horrific, energizing the masses. It seems as if Phillips wants to comment on what has become Entertainment in a TMZ world where tabloid stories and social media dominate interest over more serious topics. We want to show and it is ironic that a former president and current candidate beloved by his base is holding court in a similarly high-profile trial in New York City. Coincidence? This is indeed entertainment, but what are the consequences? Without giving too much away, Joker: Foil for Two has some answers and twists.

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Phoenix knows this character inside and out and in a role that others would call risky, he tap dances, sings and sells it like no other, if not better than his Oscar-winning role in Joker, at least she finds a way to take it in a different, completely unexpected direction. Gaga is cleverly understated, not the Harley Quinn we associate with Margot Robbie, but her own person, casually dressed and believably showing her affection and connection with the Joker and, more importantly, the man behind the makeup. The great supporting cast includes Brendan Gleeson as the chirpy prison warden, Catherine Keener as Arthur's empathetic lawyer, Steve Coogan as interviewer Paddy Myers, and reappearances from Zazie Beetz's Sophie Dumond, as well as the wonderful Leigh Gill as Gary, now also known by his surname Puddles.

The production quality is excellent throughout, especially the cinematography by Lawrence Sher, the production design by Mark Friedberg and the costumes by Arianna Phillips. Hilda Gudnadottir's music for the first joker was so important to the story that it won an Oscar. Here, too, she hits exactly the right notes. Musically, the contributions of executive music producer Jason Ruder and supervisors Randall Poster and George Drakoulias are worth highlighting. The song mix is ​​artful.

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Phillips probably couldn’t have predicted the explosion of the music form this season in unexpected ways, but with The End, Better Man, Emelia Perez, And piece by piece all the enthusiastic Telluride viewers over the weekend, it is clear that the genre is ushering in a new era of innovation. Phillips, with today's world premiere at the Venice Film Festival, where the 2019 joker won the Golden Lion, has contributed his own voice to its development. With singing, dancing, comedy, darkness, animation, drama, violence and more, this is a musical – if it can be Is a musical like no other.

This is also entertainment.

Producers are Phillips, Emma Tillinger Koskoff and Joseph Garner.

Title: Joker: Foil for Two
Festival: Venice (Competition)
Distributor: Warner Bros.
Release date: October 4, 2024 (October 2 internationally)
Director: Todd Phillips
Screenwriters: Todd Phillips and Scott Silver
Pour: Joaquin Phoenix, Lady Gaga, Brendan Gleeson, Catherine Keener, Zazie Beetz, Leigh Gill, Steve Coogan, Harry Lawtey, Bill Smitrovich
Evaluation: R
Duration: 2 hrs 18 mins