The newest film from Warner Brothers and DC has been filled with controversy.
Joker was lambasted for glorifying anarchy and inspiring violence in others.
Joaquin Phoenix's performance has been applauded but rumours have spread insinuating that he
less than easy to work with.
All of this coupled with the awkward interviews surrounding the film in regards to press and
the films promotion, have led to many having conflicted opinions on the film.
The ending leaves viewers with more questions than answers an apparent 30 minutes of additional
footage was cut from the film causing many to speculate on the different versions that
could have existed.
Today however we'll be taking a lighter look at the film as we try to find punchline in
the dark and twisted joke that is the film, Joker by counting down the top 10 Joker bloopers
and funny behind the scenes.
And be sure to stick around to the end of this video where we will have some bonus content
coming at you.
10 Bank Scene
While much of the unused footage has been kept under wraps for Joker as director Todd
Phillips has spoken out against giving access to deleted scenes, saying that the theatrical
release should suffice and is the only director's cut that audience will need, the original
script has been leaked for the film which has had many talking about scenes that were
cut or changed.
One such scene that many believe was cut involved Sophie and Arthur in the bank where Sophie
works.
Arthur comes in and jokes with Sophie while she is working, pretending that he wants to
open an account.
The scene is interrupted by Sophie's boss whom Arthur notices puts his hand on Sophie's
back and causes her to flinch.
It is possible that the scene was cut because of changes made to Sophie's character.
Originally it was Arthur's cat that was supposed to be made to seem like a delusion and not
his relationship with Sophie.
But changes were made to instead make the relationship appear to simply have been completely
imagined by Fleck.
9 Phoenix's Favourite Take
The speech that Arthur gives near the end of the film while on the Murray Franklin show
is a powerful one and was apparently shot many times in very different styles.
In one take he was crying, in another he would crack jokes, one was filled with sarcasm and
dry wit and another still was fuelled by anger and outrage.
When asked about the scene in an interview, Joaquin confessed that in fact his favourite
take of the speech was not even the one used in the film.
So we'll never get to know what that take was like and probably won't ever even get
to know why it was Phoenix's favourite.
Phoenix went on to say that although the take used was not his personal favourite he felt
it was the best one to use given the context and was the best one in terms of suiting the
story.
8 Got Your Nose Scene
Some behind the scenes footage alludes to a full length scene between Arthur and Randall
in Randall, played by Glenn Fleshler, chases after Arthur, presumably after he has cleared
out his locker at his workplace.
It's unclear from the footage but apparently this scene involves Randall confronting Arthur
about the murders, implying that he suspects Arthur to have been involved.
He tells Arthur that the police are looking for him and that he doesn't like that Arthur
mentioned that Randall had supplied him with the gun.
Arthur denies any involvement in the killings though Randall also mentions that there are
now masks being sold that were inspired by the Joker's makeup and that some people seem
to see the murders in a more positive light, as vigilante justice.
Arthur removes Randall's clown nose and throws it, sending him off running after it as it
continues to roll down the street.
7 The Laugh
Arthur Fleck has 3 very different and distinct laughs in the film depending on the scenario
he is in.
And this wasn't just an arbitrary decision of Joaquin's.
These laughs were actually curated by Phoenix and Phillips themselves for the purpose of
the film and for different moments and reactions of Arthur's.
One particular type of laugh the Phoenix had a hard time was what Phillips refers to as
the affliction laugh.
Phillips had shown him footage of pathological laughter, which can sometimes occur in trauma
patients.
Phoenix thought it seemed really interesting but didn't feel he had quite nailed it so
he actually invited Phillips over to audition different versions of the laugh for him.
In an interview Phoenix confessed to Phillips, "you came into my house, and I was really
uncomfortable.
I sat there five minutes trying to work it up, and finally you said, 'You don't have
to do this.'
And I said, 'No, I have to do this.
Because if I don't do this now, if I can't force myself to find it now, then forever
I'm going to fucking pussy out.'"
Can you imagine auditioning just a laugh?
Phoenix did confess despite the challenge of the role that every day on set was filled
with genuine laughter and somewhat disappointingly that the role did not seem to torture him
and that he honestly had a great time shooting the film.
6 Slapstick Humour
There is also behind the scenes footage of a scene showing Arthur being thrown out of
the Wayne Manor.
He hams up the drama of them throwing him up skillfully and intentionally tumbling down
the stairs in a clown-like fashion.
He then quickly hops to his feet and takes a deep bow as crowds cheer him on and applaud
him.
Classic slapstick.
Apparently in the film Joaquin Phoenix was reported to have performed a lot of his own
stunts, impressing many on the set with his willingness to be thrown around and perform
stunt falls as well as fight choreo.
5 Mystery Scene
There is a favourite scene that both Todd and Joaquin refer to as being one of their
favourites but that ultimately had to be cut to improve the flow of the overall story.
While often they don't touch on the subject matter of said scene, we did find an interview
with Collider where Arthur spoke with his coworker Randall a second time in the stairwell.
The scene was apparently one of Joaquin's favourites and although it had to be cut,
a scene still remains in the film that refers back to it involving Arthur writing on a sign
leading down to that stairwell.
4 The Stair Scene
The famous scene with Joker dancing on the steps was apparently a challenging one to
shoot for many reasons.
For one Phoenix had only practice the choreo on a flat surface and had to impromptu adjust
to on the steep steps.
The steps were also apparently quite narrow which made performing the dancing even more
treacherous.
But beyond that Phoenix also had to put up with critics heckling him in the form of teenagers.
The stairs were between two apartments and apparently there were tons of teenagers in
the apartments above Phoenix who started calling out to him.
Phoenix delved into the hilariously awkward filming of the scene in an interview, discussing
the heckling and saying, "[they] were banging on the window being like, 'Fuck you, Phoenix!'
And that was unexpected.
I was like, 'This is bullshit!'
And then whenever that happens, I think of like, I go like, 'That just doesn't seem right.'
And then I think about professional athletes, where it's like 0.2 seconds left, and you
have a free throw?
And people are waving behind you being like, 'You suck!'
And I'm like, 'Oh, that's what it is to be professional.'
Like, under the best circumstances, anybody can act.
Um, but when you just want to fucking run away because there's cruel teenagers [heckling
you]...
3 Sad Clown
Some behind the scene's footage reveals a sad but hilarious look at a scene involving
Arthur Fleck in a phone booth, dressed up as a clown.
We see him talking on the pay phone hurriedly until his face changes and he drops the phone.
She then stares downward before slowly leaning forward to press his headpiece up against
the glass box, slowing sliding his head downward.
My description doesn't do it justice.
But if you watch it without the sound, and without proper in film framing, it's actually
pretty funny in an awwww way and falls in line with classic physical or slapstick humour.
2 The Blooper
Recently Joaquin Phoenix appeared on Jimmy Kimmel's talk show where Kimmel surprised
him with an outtake from the film that he said Todd Phillips sent over for them to share
on the show.
The outtake showed Joaquin in makeup, trying to get into a character and chastising and
swearing at cinematographer Lawrence "Larry" Sher for whispering and making fun of him.
The outtake and interview are funny in a kind of awkward way.
After the outtake was shown, Phoenix appeared shocked and embarrassed.
He apologized to the audience and to Larry and said that he would have his publicist
release a public statement tomorrow.
Many people criticized Phoenix for his behaviour on set while even more criticized Kimmel for
playing the clip and for not doing a great job at interviewing Phoenix.
However it was later revealed that all of this was a joke and a kind of publicity stunt
which everyone was in on.
Phoenix and Kimmel had even planned out the whole thing beforehand apparently.
It's hard to tell for sure as though Joaquin's reaction appeared legitimate, his sense of
humour tends to come across as dry and sarcastic.
And even Larry has told reporters that he was in on it.
So it's more likely that it was all in effect just a bad joke.
1 The Best Blooper We'll Never See
Many takes were also done in the Murray Franklin show scene of Joker's entrance.
Phillips confessed they did a ton of takes and that in everyone Phoenix was brilliant.
He shared, "while I don't like deleted scenes, we did cut this fun thing together of all
the times of [Joaquin] walking out on Murray Franklin because every time the guy would
go, Murray would stand and go, 'Please welcome Joker,' and the curtains would open and he
comes out and does something different every time."
Apparently the little reel was quite funny but odds are good that we'll never get to
see it.
Even when Phillips has discussed releasing outtakes, bloopers or deleted scenes in interviews,
he has quickly followed up with the fact that he's joking.
What a cruel cruel joke indeed.
Thank you so much for watching, nerd squad.
I hope you enjoyed this list and found some of these outtakes, bloopers and behind the
scenes both entertaining and interesting.
To me it's unsurprising that everyone seemed to have so much fun on such a dark set.
I personally find when filming darker films myself that everyone tends to be even more
jovial in comparison to other types of films.
Have you seen Joker yet?
Did you love it?
Hate it?
What do you think of the controversy behind the film and of the Joaquin Phoenix's performance
as Joker?
Let us know in the comments below.
And while you are on your way