Is Joker: Folie à Deux misunderstood? Quentin Tarantino gives his thoughts on one of the biggest flops in modern blockbuster history.
It’s hard to find words about Joker: Folie à Deux that haven’t already been said. The internet tore the highly-anticipated sequel to shreds upon its release, with almost nobody able to find a redeeming quality in the myopic musical miasma. That is, except for Quentin Tarantino, who seemed to truly enjoy the controversial film for the intellectual rigor it displayed.
“I really, really liked it, really. A lot. Like, tremendously, and I went to see it expecting to be impressed by the filmmaking,” Tarantino explained during a recent appearance on The Bret Easton Ellis Podcast. “But I thought it was going to be an arms-length, intellectual exercise that ultimately I wouldn’t think worked like a movie, but that I would appreciate it for what it is. And I’m just nihilistic enough to kind of enjoy a movie that doesn’t quite work as a movie or that’s like a big, giant mess to some degree.”
“And I didn’t find it an intellectual exercise. I really got caught up into it. I really liked the musical sequences. I got really caught up. I thought the more banal the songs were, the better they were. I find myself listening to the lyrics of ‘For Once in My Life’ in a way I never have before.”
Quentin Tarantino certainly has an interesting take on the film. While he can admit where Joker: Folie à Deux doesn’t work, he does give particular praise to the musical elements of the film, which many describe as being some of the worst parts added to the sequel. It’s a quote that encapsulates that there’s truly no accounting for taste. And that’s doubly true when it comes to his opinion on director Todd Phillips.
Quentin Tarantino Defends Todd Phillips
For as much as Joker: Folie à Deux got hate upon its release, the film itself didn’t get nearly as much hate as Todd Phillips. The internet called him a hack, a phony, and plenty of other four letter words that can’t be used in polite conversation. Yet it seems Quentin Tarantino has a much more positive view of the director, claiming his exercise in making the sequel makes him more like the Joker than anyone else in the studio system.
“The Joker directed the movie. The entire concept, even him spending the studio’s money — he’s spending it like the Joker would spend it, all right? And then his big surprise gift — haha! — the jack-in-the-box, when he offers you his hand for a handshake and you get a buzzer with 10,000 volts shooting you — is the comic book geeks.”
“He’s saying f**k you to all of them. He’s saying f**k you to the movie audience. He’s saying f**k you to Hollywood. He’s saying f**k you to anybody who owns any stock at DC and Warner Brothers […] And Todd Phillips is the Joker. Un film de Joker, all right, is what it is. He is the Joker.”
It’s true that Joker: Folie à Deux at times feels like a film that only a madman could make. However, Quentin Tarantino, and plenty of others, definitely see some sort of intention in Todd Phillips to make a film that truly means something, even if many view the sequel as spitting in the fact of its preceding blockbuster hit.
Joker: Folie à Deux is now available for digital download and streaming. Stay tuned for the latest news regarding the sequel and make sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel for more content!
