'Joker' is an Oscar contender says Venice Film Festival chief
Joker is looking good for Oscars season, claims the the chief of the Venice Film Festival.
Alberto Barbera believes the Joaquin Phoenix-led film based on the DC Comics character will be a contender at the 2020 Academy Awards during an interview with Deadline.
âTheyâre very good,â he said of he filmâs Oscar prospects. âAbsolutely, it will be in the running.
âThe film deserves the reception it is getting,â he added. âIt goes beyond the boundaries of the genre. Joaquin Phoenixâs performance is outstanding and Todd Phillips did a great job.â
Since the movie screened at the Italian film festival, Joker has received a polarising response.
Read more: Joker reviews are in
Some people are calling it âa masterpiece,â with Empireâs Editor-in-Chief Terri White giving it five stars and writing, âitâs a character and a movie thatâs liberated, entirely. Free to be whatever and whomever it choose.â
Robbie Collin of the Telegraph, in his four-star review, compared Joker to Fight Club.
âMake no mistake, this is a film that is going to stir up trouble - in the consciences of everyone who watches it, and almost certainly in the outside world as well.â
David Eherlich of Indiewire continued this sentiment in his review, calling it the âboldest and most exciting superhero movie since The Dark Knight,â but also âincendiary, confused, and potentially toxic.â
Read more: First look at Edgar Wrightâs Last Night in Soho
While Stephanie Zacharek of Time panned the movie, writing, âPhoenix is acting so hard you can feel the desperation throbbing in his veins. He leaves you wanting to start him a GoFundMe, so he wonât have to pour so much sweat into his job again.â
Directed by Todd Phillips, known for The Hangover, Joker centres on Batmanâs archnemesis and the events that led to him becoming a villain.
Phoenix plays Arthur Fleck, an aspiring stand-up comic who is the butt of the joke too many times and it leads to dire consequences for him and Gotham.
Joker is in cinemas from 4 October.