5 reasons why Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker is going to clean up at the Oscars

Oct 8 , 2019

Joaquin Phoenix’s portrayal of the Joker, in the film of the same name, is tipped to clean up come awards season.

Following in the footsteps of Heath Ledger’s iconic turn in The Dark Knight, and inspired by the success of Marvel’s Black Panther, Todd Phillips’ Golden Lion-winning Batman spin-off looks set to break the comic book-shutout at the 2020 Academy Awards

Ever since Joker stunned critics by winning the Golden Lion award at the prestigious Venice Film Festival – a move that puts it in the same elite art house company as Akira Kurosawa's Rashomon, Alfonso Cuarón's Roma, Ang Lee's Lust, Caution and Hou Hsiao-hsien's A City of Sadness – talk has been building about whether the movie, starring Joaquin Phoenix as the eponymous Joker, can repeat the success at the Oscars in February.

Here are five reasons we think it can.

Suddenly, there seems to be an acceptance that superhero movies might just be worthy of critical recognition. The shift comes at a perfect time for Joker

History repeats

Although winning the Golden Lion isn’t everything, such victors – at least those made in America – often go on to receive further accolades come Oscars time. Last year’s winner in Venice, Roma, nabbed three awards, including Best Director, at the last Academy Awards. Recent American successes in Venice such as The Shape of Water and Brokeback Mountain also picked up a clutch of awards. So if history is anything to go by, Joker ought to be adding to that list.

Joaquin Phoenix delivers

The South China Morning Post described Phoenix’s portrayal of the Joker as ‘utterly compelling’.

After Heath Ledger’s iconic and Oscar-winning turn as the Joker in The Dark Knight, few thought his portrayal of Batman’s nemesis could be bettered. Jared Leto’s subsequent version in Suicide Squad received lukewarm praise in comparison – The Hollywood Reporter commenting, that his portrayal “doesn’t threaten the big-screen hold on the public imagination that Jack Nicholson and then Heath Ledger established”.

By comparison, Phoenix’s acting in this film has been highly lauded, with film magazine Empire calling it an “astonishing” performance and the South China Morning Post describing him as “utterly compelling”. Phoenix already has significant competition in the Best Actor category as both Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio put in strong performances in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, but for now, the 45-year-old seems to be leading the pack.

Black Panther has led the way