A few hours before its curtain falls 81st Venice International Film Festivalthe films that are almost certain to walk away with one of the event’s major awards are two: The “Next Room” of the Spaniard Pedro Almodovarand the “Brutalist” of the American Brandy Corbettwhile favorite for performance awards is Nicole Kidman for “Baby Girl” of the Dutch woman Alina Rein, the Brazilian Fernanda Torres for the “I’m Still Here” of Walter Salesthe Englishman Daniel Craig for the “Queer” by Luca Guantanino and the American Caleb Landry Jones for the “Harvest” her Athens Rachel Tsangaris.

Strong chances for a prize also have Alexander Avranas, the film of which “Quiet Life” stood out in the parallel section Orizzonti and was loved by both the public and professionals.

Immediately after the awards ceremony, this evening (7/9), the black-and-white psychological period thriller will be screened “The American Backyard” signed by the 85-year-old Italian master Pupi Avati.

But the film that is being discussed strongly in the last days of this year’s Mostra is the “Joker: Folie à Deux”, sequel to the wildly successful incarnation of one of the most famous villains in comic book history. Its director is again Todd Phillips and protagonists o Joaquin Phoenix and the Lady Gagawho stole the show on the event’s red carpet, sending their fans into a frenzy.

However, critics and audiences are divided on this idiosyncratic dark musical which confines its action indoors and attempts to distance itself from the (already controversial) political positions of the first part of 2019 which won the Festival Venice Golden Lion for best film.

Having this time on his side the Lady Gagao Joaquin Phoenix (who had won the 2020 Best Actor Oscar for the first ‘Joker’) creates quite a different character. It focuses on the immense psychological problems of its hero, acrobats between his reality and his self-indulgent fantasies and constantly escapes through music and song presenting some excellent vocal duets with the American singer and actress.

Those who were excited about the first part were left embarrassed by the current sequel – they found it unnerving, without a solid plot and far from the (necessary in their opinion) style of the original comic. On the contrary, those who had underlined the easy populism of the film and the incomprehensible political and social dimensions of its eponymous character, saw the film as a sufficient explanation which corrects its possible flaws.

At the official premiere, the audience rewarded the film with an 11-minute standing ovation, but some journalists were sharp in their reviews calling it “disappointing, tedious and repetitive”.

As for the plot, half the film takes place in Gotham’s Arkham Asylum, where the emaciated Arthur Fleck spends his lifeless incarceration, and the other half in the city’s central courtroom, where the hero’s sanity is judged by judges and juries, while his lawyer tries to convince them that Joker and Fleck are two different personalities. At a music therapy class at ‘Akram, Arthur meets Lee (played by Lady Gaga), a fan who encourages Fleck to stop being an obedient inmate and start being his glamorous alter ego again.

“We had to come back here”

“We love the Venice festival very much and have the sweetest memories, not only because we won the grand prize in 2019 but because of the way it treated us. Here was the starting point of a long course of the film that gave us a lot of joy. So I felt that we had to go back to Venice and present the continuation of the first film” said at the press conference Todd Phillips.

The protagonist of the film, Joaquin Phoenix he said it all started from a dream: “I dreamed that I was performing jazz pieces dressed as the Joker. I called Todd and asked him if he thought there was a movie idea behind it all.” Speaking about Joker’s relationship with music, he mentioned that it is a vehicle that helps him express himself. “And in the first film Arthur is constantly dancing for any occasion. It’s a way for him to control his anxiety, to connect. So we wanted to continue to explore that relationship. In fact, first we chose the songs that can tell our story and then we wrote the scenes” he added.

Regarding Lady Gaga’s participation in the film, the director and star said that “she was our first and only choice. When he accepted, our joy was indescribable.”

As the American actor mentioned, the biggest challenge for him was to interpret these tunes in the special way that his hero could do it. “Stefani (Lady Gaga) helped me in this because she led me towards the impossible. Pretty early on he suggested we sing the songs live on every set and I declined. Finally we did it and I realized that this was the only way to get something real. We were working with an orchestra on set, nothing was recorded. Each take was also a different version of the songs and this made the scenes have energy and life. It was a very powerful experience.”

Lady Gaga admitted that she was deeply moved by Joaquin’s performance in the first film. “I think it set the bar very high and I wanted to be part of a story like that,” he said. For the film itself, it is not a simple musical: “The pianist was constantly by our side during the shooting, like a “secret” actor. For me it was a process where I tried to forget what I knew. Not to use my techniques, to remind myself that it’s not me singing but my heroine.”

As for whether the Joker story could have a sequel, Todd Phillips said: “I think everything that needs to be said has been said with these two films. Besides, for me everything has to do with the protagonist. Who could replace Joaquin in this role?”