This Is What An Oscar Winning Joker Scene Looks Like

I recently sat down and re-watched The Dark Knight for

what

seemed like the 500th time. But

this

time I did it with a purpose. I was looking for a moment, some call it an Oscar moment, the moment when Heath Ledger transcends the Joker character into something beyond anything else any other actor could have achieved that year. And I get to

this

moment where Joker is being interrogated at the Gotham police. And two things hit me. The first one was exactly

what

I expected, it was at that moment I thought, oh my god, he's the Joker. But I also couldn't help but feel like I had just seen this same

scene

here. - Okay, I... yeah, I'm sorry.

That these two

scene

s achieved almost the same things for the character and the actor, look, this, in my opinion, is an Oscar-

winning

Joker scene, and this, in the Academy's opinion, is too. But the question is, well, why? As? So let's break down the anatomy of these scenes. - Don't talk like one of them, you're not, even if you wanted to. I think it starts with motivation. Why are these characters here? These two scenes share many parallels in that sense. Arthur comes face to face with someone who believes he completes him in his own twisted way. He believes that he is face to face with the man he once wanted to be.

In a way, Murray is what he needed to feel complete. He needs recognition. And he is here by choice. He is here to be heard, seen. It's a moment of detour for the audience itself, but we'll get back to that. This is the moment when the film completes its journey. Arthur is ready to end it all. There is a life at stake. What we don't know is that one of the two has to leave, while the Joker faces a similar reality when he says...-I don't want to kill you. What would I do without you? Swindling mafia dealers again?

No no. No. No, you... you complete me. Batman is his motivation. Batman completes the Joker. He is the sole foundation of his anarchy. And he's here to, in an almost climactic way, make his point clear to the Bat. And he is also here by choice. And here too there is a climactic moment with two lives at stake, once again one has to go. It is also, to which we will return again, a moment of manipulation, as is Arthur's. We don't know what he does...that he wanted to get caught. And throughout these two scenes, both Joaquin and Heath articulate a single feeling: control.

In this scene, Joaquín acts with complete understanding of the moment and the character acts with complete control. Every facial movement is precise, every vocal inflection with purpose. You're horrible, Murray. - Me? I'm horrible? Oh yeah, how am I horrible? It's the moment here where we, through nothing more than the location of his gaze and the change in facial expression, begin to understand that Arthur is losing control of his emotions. But it's the way both actors say a single line that is an example of an actor taking control of a script. - I have nothing to lose.

Nothing can hurt me anymore. - You have nothing... nothing to threaten me with, nothing to do with all your... This moment... this is important... this is the moment in which both characters and actors establish their threat. Look, this isn't scary... - All that talk will hurt you. --but this-- - I have nothing more to lose. --this is. And it's all a matter of how you play. Arthur's silent admission that he no longer cares about the consequences is surprising. Joaquín

looks

at the audience, at the world, as if saying that there is nothing you can do to me now.

What had been defeating him was now at the mercy of his decisions. And Joaquin delivers the line spitefully, mockingly, and even with a small smile, suggesting that he finds it amusing to tell us, the audience, that he is now capable of anything and feels, given that unconvincing smile, as if Arthur had just was realizing. that too. And this strips away the sense of comfort of the people watching the show, Murray, and of us, the viewers. We think we know what's about to happen: Arthur is going to end his life. But Joaquín's rollercoaster of inflections, tones, and facial cues throughout this scene begins to make us feel like this shot helps, too.

In it we can no longer distinguish Arthur. It's just a blurry image of something horrible. We only see the makeup. The duality of Arthur's personality is shown in two separate shots: a coming-out party for the Joker, if you will. But the Joker here is articulating more or less the same thing, but instead of the world, or the public, he is Batman. Heath does not hide the irony of the situation. He laughs with certainty in Bruce's face, as he lets him know that, right now, he is invincible. He can't be hurt. Batman won't kill him. He is

winning

.

He is free and has a smile that never leaves his face. Once Batman picks him up off the ground, Bruce punches him, but laughs. Heath keeps a terrifying smile on his face. He shows us the pain he feels with every blow and moment of impact. But he smiles as he grimaces. And before that, throughout this entire meeting, he was convincing. He spends these 4 minutes convincing us with his expression and with one phrase: that he is in power, but it is the nuances in these performances that highlight his impact. - You're horrible, Murray. - Me? I'm horrible? - Oh yes, how am I horrible? - Play my video.

Here you see Joaquín in what I think is his best moment: he just

looks

at his glassy eyes, his jaw shaking, and this is what follows. And in 5 seconds, through nothing more than an inflection, through nothing more than his eyes, we know that he broke. And that very depressed and very angry look quickly changes to the rest of his face; That anger transforms into a sad smile. Tears fill Phoenix's eyes. We see him putting on a face, almost like makeup. And in that face we see him struggle with the decision he is about to make.

We see sadness, humanity, and it's scary because we know he just made a decision. And even he is realizing what he is about to do. But there is a separation between the performances here that is worth talking about. - Me? It was right here. Where these two performances really set themselves apart, and where both performances rise beyond traditional superhero fare, is in how these actors choose to portray stress. Heath plays the scene in its entirety knowing that the Joker has the advantage. He is cold. He takes his time. He never raises his voice even after a joke.

A smile never breaks, 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 when Bruce loses control, Heath's laugh becomes almost sarcastic (that smile appears on his face), it's almost condescending. As the situation escalates, Heath's ability to be threatening, without being manic, articulated how threatening Heath's Joker is, how premeditated this behavior is. Through nothing more than a moment in which his inflection changes and his eyebrows raise, we begin to wonder how much we and Bruce understand about what's really happening.

Throughout the entire scene, he manages to portray dominance in silence. It's Bruce who can't control himself. Arthur, Joaquín, on the other hand, greatly influences the manic nature of the character. This scene is a slow descent into madness: a microcosm of the entire film. Instead of silent dominance, Joaquin's Joker suddenly feels unheard as Murray slowly takes control of the interview. Arthur came here to be seen, and suddenly his voice is silenced, so we slowly watch as Phoenix begins to violently show his anger. And you could see it in his face. Here it is necessary to see Arthur.

And when Murray begins to dictate the interview, he no longer feels that he can do it with just a smile and a powerful statement. In the reverse of the Joker scene, Murray maintains the advantage. Murray never loses his cool, forcing Arthur to be increasingly bold, until he is forced to act before the moment slips away. Joaquín's ability to articulate every part of Arthur's personality in those 4 minutes is unreal. He is simultaneously insecure, angry, excited, joyful and evil. We see him go from Arthur Fleck to the Joker in a single scene. Look, winning an Oscar is an incredible achievement, but winning or losing is not what defines a great performance.

After all, it's just a prize. But what Joaquin Phoenix and Heath Ledger achieved 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 most villainous controlled madness versus Phoenix's deranged descent into that same reality. They are two very different people, two very different characters, but they both deserve recognition. Comic book movie or not, Hangover director or not, these performances will be looked to for direction and inspiration for years to come.

The Joker will never be forgotten and Arthur will never go unnoticed again. - Can you introduce me as Joker? That's it for this episode of Nerdstalgic, guys, but hang on for about 15 more seconds, I have a quick message for you that might really help me out. But first, if you enjoyed the video, hit the like button. If you haven't already, hit subscribe, that way you won't miss anything I post on this channel in the future. So part of what inspired me to make this video was the Batman and Psychology audiobook by Travis Langley. I listen to it on Audible.

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