Todd Phillips Breaks Into Best Director Race, Reacts to Four ‘Joker’ Golden Globe Noms

Joker may have only won two of the 11 Oscars it was nominated for, but they were big ones: Best Actor for Joaquin Phoenix and Best Original Score for Hildur Guðnadóttir, making her the fourth female composer to win overall and the first to win for a dramatic score. All the awards affirmation Phoenix and Guðnadóttir were also victorious at the Golden Globes has Joker director and co-writer Todd Phillips in a nostalgic mood, as he shared some behind-the-scenes photos from the final day of shooting on Instagram.

“All of these were taken on our last day of shooting. It was bittersweet for sure — while it felt great to be done, we also had such an intense and unique experience — and then suddenly it just ends,” he wrote. “What a ride this film has been and it all culminated with watching Joaquin walk up on that stage this weekend. Thanks again to the entire cast and crew. And especially the fans, for seeing through all the noise and showing up.” Phillips also added the hashtag “#illtellyouwhatyouget,” a nod to what Arthur Fleck tells Murray Franklin before shooting and killing him “You get what you fuckin' deserve!.

The photos, all of which were taken from the Arkham State Hospital set, show an emotional Phoenix dancing, hugging, smoking, and looking generally menacing. Hopefully he turns down that intensity for his next project: Mike Mills' C'mon C'mon, where he reportedly plays an “artist left to take care of his precocious young nephew as they forge an unexpected bond over a cross country trip.” Look for it this year or 2021.

In what felt like a statement against criticisms of the embittered French film academy, controversy magnet Roman Polanski won the Best Director prize at the 2020 César Awards in Paris on Friday for his Dreyfus Affair drama “An Officer and a Spy.” He beat out fellow nominees including Ladj Ly, whose “Les Misérables” ultimately won Best Film, and Céline Sciamma, whose wildly acclaimed “Portrait of a Lady on Fire” went home with just one award, for Best Cinematography. Polanski’s win did not sit well with “Portrait of a Lady on Fire” star Adèle Haenel, who could be seen in the telecast walking out of the ceremony at the Salle Pleyel when the award was announced. Watch below.

Haenel has been an active voice in the #MeToo movement which, as she outlined in a recent New York Times interview, she believes has failed in France. That claim appeared to resonate at the Césars — France’s equivalent to the Academy Awards — when Polanski, a convicted sex offender, won the top directing prize. In fall 2018, Haenel spoke about her own experience with sexual harassment while working with “The Devils” director Christophe Ruggia. Haenel was up for Best Actress at the French awards this year, but lost to Anaïs Demoustier for “Alice and the Mayor.”

Polanski was a no-show at the ceremony, as were his “Officer and a Spy” team members, all of whom boycotted the ceremony earlier this week.

“Activists are threatening me with a public lynching. Some have called for demonstrations, others are planning to make it a platform,” he told Agence France Presse earlier this week. “This promises to look more like a symposium than a celebration of cinema designed to reward its greatest talents.”

Polanski, a convicted sex offender, has lived in exile in France since fleeing the United States in 1978. In France, his continuing body of work is well-received. Along with three César trophies for “An Officer and a Spy” on Friday night — directing, adapted screenplay, and costumes — the annual awards have past feted Polanski with Best Director in 2014 for “Venus in Fur,” Best Adapted Screenplay for “Carnage” in 2012, along with multiple prizes each for “The Ghost Writer,” “The Pianist,” and “Tess.”

As the César Awards were underway on Friday, women’s activist groups outside the venue protested Polanski’s inclusion among the nominees.

Adèle forever. pic.twitter.com/Fhe9xSLxCK

— Portrait of a Lady on Fire @Portrait_Movie February 28, 2020

Source: Indiewire

With large swathes of the population sitting at home, audiences have a chance to catch up on films that were released years ago and find new insights into their narrative. Recently, a fan who had been watching Suicide Squad with his family reached out to the film's director David Ayer to ask about the meaning behind the scene where the Joker is lying in the middle of a room lined with a circle of knives, guns, and baby clothes. Denying that the baby onesies were trophies after an infanticide spree on the part of the cackling psychopath, Ayer provided the following explanation for the scene instead.

'No it's more innocent. Harley wanted a normal family with Joker hence the baby in her vision. I figured she would have endlessly pestered Mr. J about having a kid. So he had Mr. Frost buy some onesies. The circle represents how he sees Harley.'

The scene under discussion comes up early in the story. Harley Quinn, played by Margot Robbie, is locked up in Arkham, and we see Joker, played by Jared Leto, in his mansion mourning her absence. He has also shown to have drawn a grin across his face using a sharpie, which according to David Ayer, is because...

'He was having a hard time smiling without Harley so gave himself some help with a sharpie.'

This introduction sets up the fact that this Joker is unlike any other live-action portrayal of the supervillain as a man who is missing his demon lover. The onesies we see lined up on the floor next to the Joker later make an appearance in the scene where the Enchantress offers Harley her heart's desire, and she imagines a life of domestic bliss with her beloved Mistah J, with their babies wearing the onesies.

How the circle of knives represents Harley in the mind of the Joker is up for debate. Perhaps he fears that his affection for Harley makes her dangerous to him, and thus views her as a circle of knives drawing closer, threatening to destroy him.

This sentiment of Joker being attracted towards Harley and simultaneously hating the fact that she has made him care for her is also played out in the scene where Harley willingly throws herself into a pit of acid on Joker's command. After trying to walk away from the whole thing, Joker almost unwillingly jumps in after her and rescues her, proving that she means more to him than he can bring himself to admit.

From his explanation, it is clear that Ayer had a solid backstory and reasoning behind the script for Suicide Squad, which unfortunately did not translate very well to the big screen. But now that James Gunn has taken over directorial duties on the sequel, there is a chance to see a Suicide Squad film that gets critical acclaim in addition to minting money at the box office. David Ayer on Twitter brings us this news.

Source: Movieweb