Todd Phillip’s 2019 film, Joker, was one of the most controversial films of the last decade. Whether it was the media making loose connections to the tragic Colorado Dark Knight shooting, the fear of the film inspiring troubled individuals to go out and commit acts of violence, or many fearing that the film celebrated “incel” culture, the film had many opposing it before it even came out. Joker eventually came out and surprised many. It racked up eleven Oscar nominations, winning two. Joaquin Phoenix and Hildur Guðnadóttir won Best Actor and Best Original Score, respectively. Looking beyond the awards, Joker was also a box-office darling despite the controversy, earning over one billion dollars. Though there are extreme similarities to Martin Scorsese’s Taxi Driver and The King of Comedy, Joker is a solid narrative film that breathes a life of fresh air into the oversaturated superhero film genre.
To dive deep into the evolution of Joker’s score, we must understand why the score needs to evolve. Arthur Fleck, Joker, is a round character and our protagonist. He suffers from multiple types of mental illnesses, gets abused by nearly everyone in his life, and receives little to no help from the government-funded therapist he sees. Throughout the film we see Arthur evolve as a character. He goes from a meek, beaten-down man to a full-blown murderous psychopath who’s quite ironically becomes extremely confident in himself throughout the film.
We are introduced to Arthur with a diegetic piano piece that is quite upbeat. This is paired with Arthur performing as a clown in the street. However, the score changes quite quickly in the opening scene when Arthur is attacked on the street. This is our first introduction to a darker, violin and drum-heavy piece. In the following scenes, the score remains fairly light. The violin is much lighter, and the drums are non-existent.
At the end of the first act, Arthur commits his first act of murder, killing three men on the subway. After fleeing the scene, we are once again met with Hildur Guðnadóttir’s beautifully haunting score. The deep, violin-heavy score, coupled with dimly-light cinematography illustrates the beginning of the evolution of Arthur into the character we know as Joker. Since we are late in the first act, we are now being introduced to the dark nature of Arthur’s personality. The now-famous bathroom scene shows us the birth of Joker.
During the early scenes in the second act, the score once again is subdued. During the more important scenes such as Arthur finding out about his mother’s abuse, the score rises slightly, returning to a deep, violin and drum-heavy piece. This is coupled again with extremely dark-lit scenes of Arthur. Though not part of Guðnadóttir’s score, we are introduced to Arthur’s physical transformation into Joker with the inclusion of Frank Sinatra’s “That’s Life”. This signals the end of the second act and the further evolution of Arthur’s confidence and psychotic breakdown.
The soundtrack rather than the score kicks off the third act with a bang. Arthur appears, dressed completely in his Joker apparel, with Garry Glitter’s “Rock and Roll Part 2” playing. This once again signals, along with Arthur’s erratic dancing, that he is now a different person. He’s confident yet psychotic. After the climactic interview on the Murray Franklin Show, the score reaches its crescendo. Arthur finally received the recognition he deserves. While standing in front of a crowd of his new-found supporters, a new piece plays. A new, epic piece plays. The use of a completely different, grand score completes Arthur’s character arc throughout Joker.
In conclusion, Hildur Guðnadóttir’s brilliant, Oscar-winning, score as well as some great thematically-fitting songs in the soundtrack audibly tell Joker’s story well. The deep, string-heavy score’s evolution into a grand, bombastic crescendo matches Arthur’s evolution from a meek, ill man into a psychotic, confident killer. The evolution of the score matches the evolution of Arthur’s character throughout the film’s runtime, completing his character arc.
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