But in a darkly acerbic and ironic sense that makes it impossible to take seriously. Not in a laugh-out-loud, knee-slapping way. But what makes King of Comedy so effective–and human–in its commentary, is that, well, the film is hilarious. In both films, the sad clowns manage to become massively successful as comedians, offering a commentary on how the American media landscape both oppresses and idealizes outsiders. He lacks a basic understanding of how jokes function, partly because comedy is based on an understanding of human empathy–of which sociopathic characters like Fleck and Pupkin are almost wholly deprived. And, like Pupkin, Fleck is truly atrocious as a comedian. Fleck's mother, like Pupkin's, is oppressive and disapproving–but also stands as the one tether to reality that the protagonist has in the film. Like in King of Comedy, Arthur Fleck vividly fantasizes about being on the Carson-esque talk show. Robert De Niro, instead of playing the sad loner type, has now become the powerful talk show host with whom the main character is infatuated. Phillips's concept for Joker seems to be something of a spiritual successor to King of Comedy. But it has since garnered a sizable fanbase who see the pitch-black comedy of the film as vastly influential and important for cinema–a fanbase that happens to include Todd Phillips. Shot in long, still compositions without any of Scorsese's trademark handheld photography, King of Comedy was misunderstood in its time. The film, which starred Jerry Lewis as a talk show host who is kidnapped and tortured by Rupert Pupkin-a sad, unsuccessful, and psychopathic comedian played by Robert De Niro-was not loved in its time. But, what audiences got in King of Comedy was something much darker, weirder, and lonelier than they expected. Scorsese was coming back to shoot the place he knew best–New York City–and with him was his longtime mainstay Robert De Niro. The director had been recovering from health complications and had been hospitalized leading up to the production. When The King of Comedy debuted in 1982, fans expected a triumphant return to form for Scorsese. These nuances are important for a film that delves into such controversial, real world subject matter-Scorsese's heart and moral focal point is what makes Taxi Driver a unique and valuable character study.
Travis Bickle, was of course, a misunderstood character in cinema who existed in a very different time and place, and whose portrayal has vastly different connotations in 2019. Because of softer portrayals in the past, there's a certain amount of pre-conditioned sympathy for the character that doesn't belong in a story of this nature.
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What's worse is that Joker, as a known character in cinema, is beloved by comic book and movie fans. Schrader even used it just last year in his fantastic Ethan Hawke-starring film, First Reformed.īut, where Taxi Driver explored the emotional complexities of a fictionalized character-the nuances of evil- Joker fails in its writing of Arthur Fleck. The image of the protagonist's notebook, which is also routinely shown in Taxi Driver, is a Robert Bresson-inspired Scorsese trademark, an unmistakable point of reference that both Scorsese and screenwriter Paul Schrader would return to throughout their careers. But it certainly makes Joker a chilling response to the already thoroughly upsetting world of Taxi Driver.Īlthough, unlike Robert De Niro's character in Taxi Driver, Joaquin Phoenix does not provide narration in Joker, the film puts Arthur Fleck's journal front and center. It's hard to say why Phillips chose to drain that character of his humanity.
But, in Joker's attempt to pay homage to this character type, the film misses the point. Wizard's speech in Taxi Driver is often pointed to as a strikingly human moment of the story-one that is iconic for outlining the moral soul that's possible within the fiction of the movie. But, where Wizard provided the voice of reason in Taxi Driver, Fleshler's similar character is inexplicably malicious-and is brutally murdered in Joker.
One of these men in Fleck's circle is played by Glenn Fleshler, and resembles the towering presence of the character Wizard in Taxi Driver.
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Fleck even hangs out in a working-class locker room full of other loners and Times Square-types. The film takes place around a seedy pre-Giuliani-esque Times Square, and like Manhattan in Taxi Driver, Phillips's Gotham City is scum-infested and absolutely merciless. The characters feel trapped in their dingy and inhumane low-income apartments. Phillips's film has a grainy, brown-red-yellow color palette. From the outset, Joker most noticeably resembles Taxi Driver.
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