Today, critics discuss cinema with Todd Phillips’ musical Joker: Folie à Deux and the Grand Prix of the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, All we imagine as light by Payal Kapadia.
“Joker: Folie à Deux” by Todd Phillips
Joker: Folie à Deux recounts the meeting, a few days before his trial to judge the crimes of the first film, between Arthur Fleck / Joker and the great love of his life, in the disturbed person of Harley Quinn.
Highly anticipated sequel to Joker, already done par Todd Phillips in 2019. The film, the director’s twelfth feature film, introduces Lady Gaga in the role of Harley Quinn, alongside Joaquin Phoenix, already awarded the Oscar for best actor for his role in 2019. But Todd Phillips does not is not content with making a sequel to his first, he also changes its register. Joker: Folie à Deux mixes genres, going from thriller to musical!
Critics’ opinions:
- Thierry Chèze : “I who really liked the first one, it’s an immense disappointment and at the same time an immense fascination to see someone deconstruct everything for which he had been loved and crowned. For me, it’s a textbook case in Hollywood cinema. In the first film, I found that the match between Todd Phillips and Joaquin Phoenix worked and was well controlled, whereas here it’s a festival, absolute histrionics. The entire composition is impeccable, imperial but it takes me out of the film. I linger to watch a little “hey, he did it like that…” and finally the film leaves me at the door.” But Lady Gaga is very convincing, she brings something to the film in her way of singing , to stand, to embody.“
- Murielle Joudet: “I who didn’t like the first one where I found feigned madness, I find that this one manages to be truly crazy. It’s an adult film that takes us a little away from the “Marvel” infantilization, which is what I rather expected from the first in fact. In my opinion, Joker: Folie à Deux is one of the most beautiful films of the year. Joaquin Phoenix takes on the project alongside the director, he throws kilos and kilos of fragility at us, in this way he removes the Joker’s makeup. What I find very beautiful is that the film is jarring in its narrative: it is a prison film which is linked to a trial film, and the two are tied together with musical comedy. So on paper it’s a bit nonsense, but this somewhat clashing side, disorganized patchwork, I find that very subversive in Hollywood. And what’s more, the romantic relationship depicted is very credible.“
The film hits theaters on October 2, 2024.
“All We imagine as Light” de Payal Kapadia
Prabha, without news from her husband for years, bans herself from any sentimental life. Anu, her roommate, also a nurse, has a hidden love affair with a Muslim man. In Mumbai, they deal with the impediment of their loves and their desires. Soon, the duo becomes a trio.
Second feature film by Payal Kapadia after a rather confidential but critically acclaimed documentary essay on Indian youth revolted by the caste system and ambient misogyny (All night without knowing2022 – the film received the Golden Eye, documentary prize awarded each year at the Cannes Film Festival). With this new film, her first fiction, the filmmaker reflects on the condition of women in India. It was also awarded the Grand Prize at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival.
Critics’ opinions:
- Murielle Joudet: “I find the film very beautiful, although it has a few flaws of its qualities. My favorite part of the film is the shots of Mumbai. I also thought a lot about Marguerite Duras, on the one hand for her films, but also for her novels, this side of waiting for women, suspended time. The documentary vein interests me much more than fiction, even if these two things are intertwined. Payal Kapadia films Mumbai with something almost amniotic and with great delicacy. These are images that go against the violent and fantasized vision that we can have of this city. The only criticism I have of this film is that it languishes in this delicacy and takes us off track a little at times.“
- Thierry Chèze : “All We see as Light is a very beautiful film which, finally – and it was especially very strong at Cannes – does not mistreat its performers, even if they are in a difficult situation. It feels good. A priori with the initial synopsis, we could say that there is fertile ground for darkness, but the director puts gentleness into it. Mumbai is filmed with the ears, there is real work on the sound, which reflects the density of the city. It’s a film that could be placed with both Mati Diop and Apichatpong Weerasethakul.”
The film hits theaters on October 2, 2024.
Sound clips:
- Excerpt from the trailer for Joker: Folie à Deuxdirected by Todd Phillips, 2024
- Excerpt from the trailer for All We imagine as Lightdirected by Payal Kapadia, 2024
