There are many, many creepy moments in Joker, with Joaquin Phoenix infusing the sinister comic book villain with a seething, dangerous bitterness.
From crushed, humourless splutters of laughter to callous slayings, Joker is a far cry from the bright, eternally optimistic world of modern day superhero movies.
The striking cinematography and jarring score bring an almost constant sense of dread to the drab and shadowy world of Arthur Fleck. But it’s Phoenix who brings the story to life; adding new dimensions to the script through his own inspired improvisations.
You can watch the trailer for Joker here:
There were multiple times during filming when Phoenix deviated from the script to great effect, resulting in some of the most eerie moments in the movie.
During an interview with Slash Film, Joker cinematographer Lawrence Sher revealed how Phoenix improvised what was arguably the creepiest scene in the whole film.
Feeling rejected by a society he longs to feel love from, Arthur enters his dingy kitchen and removes all the food from the fridge. He then contorts himself to fit inside the fridge, shutting himself in and away from the world.
It’s a disquieting – and really rather sad – scene, and one which offers a well-timed insight into Arthur’s increasingly volatile psychological state.
According to Sher, this scene was improvised by Phoenix in the spur of the moment, taking the film crew completely by surprise.
Sher said:
While some scenes were very planned out, like when he’s in the phonebooth or walking up the stairs, others had no plan at all,
When he climbed in the refrigerator, we had no idea he was going to do that. We set up two camera positions, and Joaquin just thought about what he would do if he was a massive insomniac. Again, we lit it so he could go anywhere, and the first and only time he did it, we were mesmerised.
I remember thinking, ‘What is he doing? Did he just crawl in the fridge?’ It was as fun and weird for us to watch it, too.
This wasn’t the only time Phoenix veered off course to memorable effect. According to Sher, Phoenix ‘created that whole dance.’
The cinematographer explained:
Joaquin created that whole dance and, after the success of that scene, we started creating more moments like that,
Like when he’s playing with the gun and fires it into the wall. All we knew was that he’d fire the gun into the wall at some point, but we never planned when or knew that he’d stand and have that conversation with himself and begin dancing.
We just had two cameras in there and let it happen, which became a major part of how we did a lot of things.
Phoenix’s disturbing performance has impressed critics and audiences alike, with many fans hoping his intense dedication to the role will be enough to earn him an Oscar nomination.
Joker is in cinemas now
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Jules studied English Literature with Creative Writing at Lancaster University before earning her masters in International Relations at Leiden University in The Netherlands (Hoi!). She then trained as a journalist through News Associates in Manchester. Jules has previously worked as a mental health blogger, copywriter and freelancer for various publications.