Jokeris moving from strength to strength. After a healthy initial showing on the international movie circuit scene by winning Best Picture at the Venice Film Festival, and subsequently becoming the highest-grossing R-rated movie of all time,Jokerhas added another feather to its cap by becoming the most nominated film for the UK’s 2020 BAFTA awards. This comes amid controversy over the lack of diversity in the nominations announced today, of which you may see a full list below.
With 11 nominations, including Best Actor and Best Picture, it is clear that theBAFTA awardscommittee has fallen in love with Todd Phillips’s somber take on one of the most colorful and bombastic villains in comicdom. And they are not the only ones.Joaquin Phoenix won the 2020 Golden Globe awardfor best actor, making waves earlier this week.
It can be readily argued that the success of the film rests on Phoenix’s shoulders. The temperamental actor has shown reluctance in the past to be associated with the usual trappings of a superhero movie, despite being offered major roles in the MCU. But something about making an origin story for theClown Prince of Crimeattracted Phoenix to the project, and he immersed himself in the role with his trademark enthusiasm for unusual characters.
After losing a shocking amount of weight and studying the habits of real-life patients with mental illnesses, Phoenix transformed into Arthur Fleck, a struggling standup comedian who finds himself adrift in an uncaring society while burdened with undiagnosed mental problems and an ailing mother.
A run-in with a group of rich, violently obnoxious Gotham elites leads to Arthur’s first crime and a domino effect that sees the city’s disenfranchised rise up against the wealthy, andArthur’s eventual transformation into The Joker.
It is a haunting tale that upends all expectations that critics have of superhero movies, and the no-frills treatment of the story as a character study instead of focusing on explosions and CGI helpedJokergain the positive reviews it needed to make the BAFTAs, along with every other major awards show, take notice.
Interestingly, if Phoenix wins, it will be the second time the character of The Joker gets recognized at the BAFTAs. Heath Ledger memorably won the BAFTA award posthumously for Best Actor in a supporting role for playing the same character in Christopher Nolan’sThe Dark Knight. A win on Phoenix’s part will only raise the prestige associated with The Joker as a character that offers scope for incredible performances by actors brave enough to take on the role.
Apart fromJoker, the BAFTAs has announced 10 nominations forThe Irishman, 10 forOnce upon a time in Hollywood, and 9 for the war epic1917. The nominations have come under criticism for favoring works by white, male filmmakers at the expense of movies made by women and people of color.
The controversy aroundJokeris also far from over, with Phoenix’s big win at the Golden Globes setting off fresh debates about the killer-as-victim narrative that some say the movie espouses. Only time will tell if Phoenix will be able to match Ledger at the Oscars as well, making the Joker the only comic character performance to win the Academy Award for Best Actor twice.BBCannounced the awards earlier today. you may take look at the full list below.
