I recently sat down and
rewatched The Dark Knight for what seemed
like the 500th time. But this time, I did
so with a purpose. I was looking for a moment--
some call it an Oscar moment-- the moment where Heath Ledger
transcends the character of the Joker into
something beyond anything else any other actor could, and
had, accomplished that year. And I got to this moment
where Joker is being interrogated at Gotham PD. And two things hit me. The first was exactly
what I was hoping for, it was this moment I
thought to myself, good god, he is the Joker. But I also couldn't
shake the feeling that I had just watched
this very scene here. [VIDEO PLAYBACK] - OK, I'm-- yeah I'm sorry. [END PLAYBACK] That these two
scenes accomplished nearly the same things for the
character and the actor, see, this, in my opinion, is an
Oscar-winning Joker scene, and this, in the Academy's
opinion, is as well. But the question is, well, why? How? So let's break down the
anatomy of these scenes. [VIDEO PLAYBACK] - Don't talk like one
of them, you're not, even if you'd like to be. [END PLAYBACK] I think it starts
with motivation. Why are these characters here? These two scenes share a lot
of parallels in that regard. Arthur finds himself
face to face with someone he believes completes him
in his own twisted way. He believes he's face to
face with a man he once wanted to be. In a way, Murray's the thing
he needed to feel whole. He needs the recognition. And he's here by choice. He's here to make
himself heard, seen. It's a moment of misdirection
for the audience itself, but we'll come back to that. This is the moment that the
movie completes its journey. Arthur is ready to end it all. A life is on the line. What we don't know is
one of two has to go, whereas the Joker is facing a
similar reality as he says-- [VIDEO PLAYBACK] - I don't want to kill you. What would I do without you? Go back to ripping
off mob dealers? No, no. No. No, you-- you complete me. [END PLAYBACK] Batman is his motivation. Batman completes the Joker. He's the sole foundation
of his anarchy. And he's here to, in an
almost climactic way, to make his point to the Bat. And he's also here by choice. And here too is a
climactic moment with two lives on the
line, again, one has to go. It's also-- which, again,
we'll come back to-- is a moment of manipulation,
as is Arthur's. We don't know what he does-- that he wanted to be caught. And throughout these two
scenes, both Joaquin and Heath articulate a single feeling-- control. This scene is Joaquin acting
with a total understanding of the moment,
and the character, acting in complete control. Every facial movement is
precise, every vocal inflection with purpose [VIDEO PLAYBACK] - You're awful, Murray. - Me? I'm awful? Oh yeah, how am I awful? [END PLAYBACK] It's the moment here
where we, through nothing but the placement of
his stare and the shift in facial expression, begin
to understand that Arthur is losing control of his emotions. But it's the way
that both actors say a single line that is an
example of an actor taking control of a script. [VIDEO PLAYBACK] - I've got nothing left to lose. Nothing can hurt me anymore. [END PLAYBACK] [VIDEO PLAYBACK] - You have nothing-- nothing to threaten me with,
nothing to do with all your-- [END PLAYBACK] This moment-- this
is important-- this is the moment where both of
these characters and actors establish their menace. See, this is not scary-- [VIDEO PLAYBACK] - All of that chit-chat's
gonna get ya hurt. [END PLAYBACK] --but this-- [VIDEO PLAYBACK] - I've got nothing left to lose. [END PLAYBACK] --this is. And it's all about
how it's played. Arthur's very quiet admission
that he no longer cares about consequence is startling. Joaquin faces the
audience, the world, as if to say there's nothing
you can do to me now. The thing that had
been beating him down was now at the mercy
of his decisions. And Joaquin delivers
the line with spite, with derision, and even
with a small smile, suggesting he finds it funny
telling us, the audience, that he's now
capable of anything and it feels, given
that unconvincing smirk, like Arthur is just now
realizing that as well. And this undresses
the feeling of comfort for the people watching
the show, Murray, and us, the viewer. We think we know what's
about to happen-- Arthur's going to end his life. But Joaquin's roller
coaster of inflection, tone, and facial cues
throughout this scene begins to make us
[? uncertaint. ?] This shot also helps. In it, we can no
longer make out Arthur. It's just a blurry image
of something horrifying. We only see the makeup. The duality of
Arthur's personality displayed in two
separate shots-- a coming out party for
the Joker, if you will. But the Joker here
is articulating kind of the same thing,
but instead of the world, or to the audience,
it's to Batman. Heath doesn't hide the
irony of the situation. He laughs with certainty
in Bruce's face, as he lets him know that, in
this moment, he is invincible. He can't be hurt. Batman won't kill him. He's winning. He is free-- and to a smile
that never leaves his face. Once Batman lifts
him off the ground he takes a beating from
Bruce, but he laughs. Heath keeps a frightening
smile on his face. He shows us the pain that
he's in with every punch and moment of impact. But he smiles as he winces. And before that, throughout
this entire encounter, he was convincingly
[? certaint. ?] He spends this 4 minutes convincing us with his
expression and with one line-- that he's in power-- but it's nuance in
these performances that drive home their impact. [VIDEO PLAYBACK] - You're awful, Murray. - Me? I'm awful? - Oh yeah, how am I awful? - Play my video. [END PLAYBACK] Here you see Joaquin at
what I think is his best-- just watch his eyes
as they glaze over, his jaw trembling-- and
this is what follows. [VIDEO PLAYBACK] And in 5 seconds, through
nothing but inflection, through nothing but his
eyes, we know he snapped. And that very depressed,
very angry look shifts quickly to the
rest of his face-- that rage shifts to a sad smile. Tears fill Phoenix's eyes. We see him putting on a
face, almost like the makeup. And in that face we see him
struggle with the decision that he's about make. We see sadness, humanity,
and it's frightening because we know he's
just made up his mind. And even he's having an
upsetting realization of what he's about to do. But there's a separation
here between the performances that is worth talking about. [VIDEO PLAYBACK] - Me? I was right here. [END PLAYBACK] Where these two performances
really distinguish themselves, and where the two performances
elevate themselves beyond traditional
superhero fare, is in how these actors
choose to portray stress. Heath plays the scene in its
entirety with the knowledge that the Joker has
the upper hand. He's cold. He takes his time. He never raises his
voice even after a joke. A smile is never cracked,
at least not a real one, until Bruce loses his cool. This is a character at his most
calculated-- he wants Bruce to know that he's winning. And as Bruce does lose control,
Heath's laugh becomes almost sarcastic-- that smile
creeps up on his face-- it's almost condescending. As the situation
escalates, Heath's ability to be menacing, without
pushing towards manic, articulated just
how much of a threat Heath's Joker is--
just how [? certaint ?] and premeditated
this behavior is. Through nothing but a
moment where his inflection shifts and his
eyebrows lift, we begin to question just how
much we, and Bruce, understand about
what's really going on. Throughout the entire
scene, he manages to portray dominance quietly. It's Bruce who can't
control himself. Arthur-- Joaquin--
on the other hand plays heavily into the manic
nature of the character. This scene is a slow
descent into madness-- a microcosm of the entire film. Instead of quiet dominance,
Joaquin's Joker suddenly doesn't feel heard as
Murray slowly takes control over the interview. Arthur came here to be
seen, and suddenly his voice is being silenced, so we
slowly watch as Phoenix begins to violently display his rage. And you could see
it in his face. Here, Arthur needs to be seen. And as Murray begins to
dictate the interview, he no longer feels
he can do that with just a smile and
a shocking statement. As an inverse to
the Joker scene, Murray maintains the upper hand. Murray never loses
his cool, forcing Arthur to be
brasher and brasher, until he's forced to act
before the moment slips away. [VIDEO PLAYBACK] [GUNSHOT] [PEOPLE SCREAMING] [END PLAYBACK] Joaquin's ability to
articulate every bit of Arthur's personality in
those 4 minutes is unreal. He's at once insecure,
angry, excited, joyful, [? uncertaint, ?] and evil. We see him go from Arthur
Fleck to the Joker in just a single scene. Look, winning an Oscar is an
incredible achievement, but win or loss, it's not what
defines a great performance. It is, after all, just an award. But what Joaquin
Phoenix and Heath Ledger accomplished
individually are two of the best realizations
of a pre-existing character in modern cinema. They are not the
same performance. And there is no winner
between the two. They took very different
approaches to the Joker. Heath's more
villainous controlled insanity versus Phoenix's
unhinged descent to that very reality. They are two very different
people, two very different characters, but they both
deserve the recognition. Comic book film or not,
Hangover director or not, these performances will
be looked at for direction and inspiration for years. The Joker will
never be forgotten, and Arthur will never
go unheard again. [VIDEO PLAYBACK] - Can you introduce me as Joker? [MANIACAL LAUGHTER] [GUNSHOT] [END PLAYBACK] That is it for this episode
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I indeed saw that video! It is amazing to see them transform and be in control