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"Joker" named 11 times at the Oscars: "A spectacular recognition" for Todd Phillips

2020-02-07T16:31:28.459Z


His film leads the Oscar nominations to be awarded on Sunday. As the ceremony approaches, director Todd Phillips s


He directed one of the most watched films of the year, the one that undoubtedly made the most talk, and which cumulates this year the most Oscar nominations, eleven in total. Todd Phillips, 49, known until then for his “Very Bad Trip” saga, surprised everyone with his very dark “Joker”, who offered an extraordinary role to Joaquin Phoenix.

He received us in London exclusively to discuss the ceremony organized this Sunday in Los Angeles and behind the scenes of this film as extraordinary as popular, which will soon be released on DVD. Meeting without tongue in cheek with an amazing filmmaker.

On the eve of the Oscars, how do you experience the journey of "Joker" in festivals and ceremonies celebrating cinema?

TODD ​​PHILLIPS. It started in the most beautiful and wildest way with the Golden Lion in Venice in September. Since then, we have won many awards. I don't think I'll ever have that much in my entire career! There remain the Oscars. Already, eleven nominations, it is a spectacular recognition, it is even more important than winning Sunday evening: it means that we made a film that counts, that says things. And, of course, it's very important for Joaquin Phoenix.

At the very beginning, how did you get the idea for "Joker"?

From my thinking about the current film industry, and the fact that the iconic characters and the memorable films with which I grew up would be impossible to make today. I thought to myself that maybe I could try to make a feature film of this type. Even if I like comic books, it has nothing to do with it. I wanted to build a character who comes out of this universe. There was never any question of making a superhero film.

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VIDEO. SPOILER. What we thought of "Joker"

As of writing, did you think of Joaquin Phoenix for the role?

With my co-writer Scott Silver, we started from this idea: if we hired Joaquin Phoenix for a film on the Joker, but in reality, it is a film on the lack of empathy in our society? Everything else followed naturally. The studio, Warner Bros., joined, and Joaquin agreed. For me, he is the greatest actor of his generation, and above all, he seemed to me the ideal choice to embody this agent of chaos. To play the Joker, you need a good deal of madness in itself. Those who camped before him, like Jack Nicholson or Heath Ledger, also had it.

Joaquin Phoenix told us that you had created "a world apart" ...

I wanted a gray universe, to show Gotham City as a city in crisis, on the edge of the abyss, which looks like the New York of my childhood, during the strikers' strikes under Ronald Reagan in 1981.

Is it true that you were Joaquin Phoenix's "only social relationship" during the shooting?

It's totally true, it was crazy, he cut himself off from the world and from life to devote himself to being Arthur / The Joker. He only spoke to me. It was the most intense and beautiful experience I had as a director.

Would you say "Joker" is a social film?

Films are the mirror of society. Admittedly, this one takes place in 1981, but we wrote it in 2017. Everything that happened then in our country is found there. Under Barack Obama, I wrote three "Very Bad Trips" because it was a party. When Trump came to power, I wrote "Joker"!

When the film was released, the Yellow Vests movement was starting in France. However, there are certain similarities between their claims and those who support the Joker on the screen…

I know. The revolt of those who feel invisible, speechless, is exactly what the film tells. My fiancée for 12 years is Parisian. I have been told that your president, Emmanuel Macron, had had difficult words for strangers during public outings, of the same type that may have Thomas Wayne, the father of the future Batman, when he is contemptuous of " voiceless ". The film says this: this is what can happen when you have this type of behavior. But, he also speaks of kindness: if someone had taken him in his arms, he would never have become the Joker.

Suddenly, some American critics who found the film too violent must have surprised you ...

Ah yes, it amazed me that we do not understand at this point what the film is talking about: the dangers of lack of empathy, lack of love, consequences of childhood traumas. "Joker" shows the violence that this can cause, but it does not glorify it, it is even quite the opposite.

Did you expect such success?

I didn't think the film would also attract fans of comic books and superheroes. I was very surprised that they liked it and amazed at the huge buzz on social networks, which I use little.

The pressure from the public, and probably from the studio, is enormous for "Joker" to have a sequel. But you seem to resist…

The studio would like, obviously, given the success. For Joaquin and me, it is very clear: we will not do a sequel to make a sequel. We will have to have something new, different to explore. Joaquin is not done with the Joker. He would like to explore new aspects of it and I love to see him play this character. So let's think about it…

"Joker", available on February 12 at Warner Bros on DVD and Blu-ray in several versions, from 19.99 euros to 34.99 euros, with bonuses, including essays by Joaquin Phoenix for the role or interviews with Todd Phillips.

Source: leparis

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