Laf Ebesi

Tag: Movie

  • JOKER

    JOKER

    a short review of joker movie
    Poster of Joker

    “I will tell you how I became like this. Don’t forget, if I did not exist, you would not exist. Hahahaha!!!”.

    These are just the starting lines of another Joker story, told by Joker, usually towards Batman. Even if you listen to it in your dream, or you see it in a movie theatre, don’t believe him. He is trying to fool you! This is his biggest weapon: to make you believe that he has the right to become such a criminal, and all his behaviors have a very-well justified reason. For example, he robs the banks because this money is already insured by companies and he spends this money to boost up the economy. He kills criminals who would kill him; so, he defends himself (don’t get into small details such as a gun was pointed to these criminals!). He helps many other people, so people support him.

    But is this one true?

    His story may not be whole of it, so what? He is the funny part of Batman. He has his sense of humor. Serious people also don’t tell you the whole story. This is Gotham, so you must already know these dark politicians, police managers. They never tell you that they spend your taxes to rescue their own companies which got bankrupt, because it is necessary for the economy. They also wait for Batman to catch all the ‘bad’ people. Besides, they are boring. Why should Joker bore you with all the details of the truth? Batman is the dark side of Gotham, whereas Joker is the fun side! Just enjoy him.

    This is Joker. So, if you are making a movie of him, people should have a pity for him; and they would say that he is right at his actions. This is the delirium of hopeless people. That is why you will read many reviews which will say that Joker is a movie which praises violence. Don’t lose your hope. If you have the determination of Batman, you will realise that he is not telling all the truth. So, this movie does not show Batman, but rather it gives the opportunity how Batman is feeling when he is told a story by Joker. You will have the chance to get into the shoes of Batman. You will need to realize what is wrong and what is right. Even Batman cannot always realize!

    Is it a breakthrough for the cinema?

    From a cinematographic point of view, Todd Phillips makes references to many other movies, but the strongest reference is to Taxi Driver (1976). However, in Taxi Driver, the shots of the main character were not from a close distance; therefore, we were not in close relation with the feelings of the character. It seems like Todd wants to be in the shoes of Joker and makes us believe what Joker is telling and he tries to bias us towards Joker’s innocence. There is nothing experimental or innovative with the cinematography of the movie. Joaquin Phoenix seems to have a deep understanding of Joker. If the academy members liked DC, he would have gotten an oscar for his acting.

    Overall, if you like comics, and a fan of Batman, I would recommend to see this movie. No movie really reflects the spirit of a comics, but I would place this one after the Nolan’s Batmans.

    If you haven’t watched it yet, have a nice time!

  • Mother!

    A New Era in Aronofsky’s Style? or Yeah, Next Time It Will Be Better?

    It is difficult to talk for a movie full of metaphors without giving any spoilers. Even this is a spoiler itself. But, if you are used to Aronofsky’s movies, you already know what you will face with in Mother!. So, I will not talk about the details of the movie, or try to reveal out the metaphors, which would need a few tens of pages of explanation at least. Rather, I will talk about my own expectations and the relations to the old movies of Aronofsky.

    In his interview for Mother!, he tells that he was not sure for making the movie, so he sent the initial text to a few friends and they encouraged him to make it. Indeed, you get this uncertainty when you are watching the movie. The director is not sure how to connect everything. The events are unrelated to each other. Sometimes there seems to be a relation in between stories. You expect it to be established. How distant can they be in a small house occurring in a limited timeline? But he’s making it once more. Everything is happening at infinity, but you don’t realise it. To be able to really understand what is happening, you must watch it a few times. The feeling of the curiosity is increasing from time to time. However, you still have the feeling that something is missing in the movie.

    In mathematics, there is something called as completeness. The official explanation is “the state or condition of having all the necessary or appropriate parts.”. Since Aronofsky usually thinks in terms of mathematics, as you may have noticed from his movie ‘Pi’, I always expect complete movies from him. Indeed, this was the case until Mother!. Even if you don’t get it very easily like in ‘Fountain’, there was always a completeness in his movies. I mean that even if you don’t get the metaphors, it is still a movie with a plot. Everything starts and finishes in the movie, there is a story in front of your eyes, and a ‘secret’ story behind the metaphors. You can enjoy it with the feeling that there was something more in it. But in Mother!, this is not the case. If you don’t get the metaphors, it means nothing. The movie doesn’t connect the stories in the plot. This is not his style. Maybe this is a new era in his filmography.

    Another point is of course the musics of the movie. There are good movies of Aronofsky without Clint Mansell, I agree. However, when he works with Clint Mansell, it is a classic: e.g.: Pi and Requiem for a Dream. You can watch these movies just for the music. They force a feeling of completeness in the movies. They must be occuring for a reason. This is divine.

    Of course artists will try new things, they gain different experiences and reflect these in their new eras of their life. I totally respect this. However, I have to say I like the early style of Aronofsky. There was always mystisicm in his movies, but this is more than that. For my flavor, he needs the unseen hand of divinity, he needs Clint Mansell.