Quentin Tarantino praises Todd Phillips’ Joker: Folie à Deux after Warner Bros. film bombs At the box office.
The Kill Bill director gave his thoughts on the film starring Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga and shared why he enjoyed the film based on DC Comics.
“I really, really liked it,” Tarantino said on the latest episode of The Bret Easton Ellis Podcast. “A lot. I went to see it tremendously, expecting to be a fan of the making of the film. But I thought it would be a far-reaching intellectual exercise, which in the end I don’t think it works like a film, but I’ll appreciate it for what it is.”
Tarantino added that he’s “nihilistic enough to enjoy a movie that doesn’t work as a movie. This is kind of like a big, giant mess.”
“I didn’t find it an intellectual exercise. I really fell into it. I really liked the musical sequences. I really caught on. I thought the more vulgar the songs were, the better,” he added.
The director said he found the film “really funny” and watched it in a “nearly empty IMAX theater”, which allowed him to “laugh without annoying everyone”. Tarantino also praised Phoenix for his portrayal of Arthur Fleck, saying he gave “one of the best performances I’ve ever seen.”
Tarantino also said that the Joker sequel operates on a different level, saying that Phillips was actually the Joker himself.
“The Joker directed the movie. The whole concept, even him spending the studio money, he spends it like the Joker spends it, okay?” said the director. “And then his big surprise gift – haha!” – Jack in the Box, when he extends his hand to you for a handshake and blows a 10,000-volt whistle at you – he’s the comic book nerd. He says fuck you all. He’s saying fuck you to the film’s audience. He’s saying fuck you to Hollywood. He’s saying fuck anyone who owns any stock in DC and Warner Brothers. Todd Phillips is the Joker. The Joker movie, well, it is what it is. “It’s the Joker.”
