Joker: Folie A  Deux, A Fractured Symphony   Of Broken Hearts

Just the joy of  watching two of Hollywood’s  brightest stars, one  an acknowledged  singing powerhouse  the  other a new convert to  the  chord  of  conduct, should be incentive  enough for us to waltz  through director Tod Phillips’ beguiling  spiritual sequel  to  Joker.

The second part  is as far removed first as  One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest from the Sound Of Music. But that’s exactly what  Joker: Folie A Deux is: a musical  wrapped around a depressing story of  mental illness.

When  this surreptitiously profound sequel starts , we know Arthur Flex, a.k.a Joker, has killed five people.  It could be six  people. We can’t be sure. Arthur-slash-Joker can’t sure. To be bequeathed  with a hero who can’t be trusted is  a curse for  any cinema ,particularly one which aspires to be a portrait of  a mind on the  brink.

Joaquin Phoenix as  the precipitously unhinged  Joker gives a dizzying spin to  a film that  doesn’t know  its mind. Or rather,  chooses not to. Joker: Folie a Deux is  a musical wrapped in a courtroom  drama .It is  also  an acutely tragic romantic tale  a, symphony of fractured emotions , underpinned  by  a  rush of profound tragedy.

 The  sheer  privilege of  watching Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga singing classics like  “Get Happy”, “For Once in My Life”  and “What the World Needs Now Is Love”. “It’s Showtime” and “That’s Entertainment” is a  pleasure  beyond measure.

However the Broadway  angle in a film about  incurable  psychosis  is somewhat unnerving.

I am  not sure that the musical format works here. It’s as  though  while  Arthur Fleck tries to figure out his dual personality as the Joker, the screenplay takes  musical breaks. The songs thereby become bridges  between reality  and fantasy , between  sanity and  insanity.

The musical  equation between Joaquin  and  Gaga is pitch  perfect.If not  for their disembodied  equation as  a couple,  the two  deserve Oscars for their mutual sonority.

 All  said  and sung,the questions that remains vitally unanswered is this: would  the Joker sequel, for all its artful splendour and musical resonance(I especially like Gaga  bursting into the Carpenters’ “Close To You” when she comes visiting Arthur in jail) appeal to the audience that turned  the first  Joker film into a  raging cult product?

I am  afraid not!  The sequel is way too distanced  from the first film,and Joaquin Phoenix’s   character for all his murderous madness,  evoked sympathy and support earlier. Here he is so filled with righteous delinquency, it feels as though he has not only lost his mind he has also decided that martyrdom suits him and his television personality.

That’s not what  the Joker fans  are  looking for. While  the  duets with Lady Gaga are likely to be seen as intrusive , Joaquin  Phoenix’s performance is  extraordinarily apt. He  is  at once the victim and  perpetrator,  sophisticated in his  evil designs  and  yet a victim of abuse and  intolerance.

I wish  some of the other performances could match up. The Judge at  the trial (played by Bill Smitrovich) is  wallpaperish as  compared with other prominent courtroom dramas, as though to remind us that standing-out is not the best way to be.And who knows this better than  the Joker?