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Joker Gets Eight-Minute Standing Ovation At Premiere

Joker Gets Eight-Minute Standing Ovation At Premiere

The movie hits cinemas on 4 October

Claire Reid

Claire Reid

The new Joker flick received a whopping eight-minute-long standing ovation after it was premiered at the Venice Film Festival on Saturday, according to Variety.

The movie, which stars Joaquin Phoenix as the titular character, has already been a hit with critics with some even suggesting Phoenix might earn himself an Oscar nomination.

A five-star review in Empire said the origin-story was 'bold, devastating and utterly beautiful'.

Adding: "Todd Phillips and Joaquin Phoenix have not just reimagined one of the most iconic villains in cinema history but reimagined the comic book movie itself."

Director and writer Todd Phillips told the audience: "Why can't you do a genre comic-book film like that? We thought this could be an exciting approach to this genre. I'm not sure what it means for DC or Marvel...

"It was a hard movie for us to get made, to convince DC and the studio at first, but we thought we would keep pushing because we thought it would be special."

The movie also stars Zazie Beetz and Robert De Niro.

Perhaps naturally, Pheonix's role is being compared to Heath Ledger's, but the actor has said he didn't take any inspiration from previous incarnations of the villains.

Phoenix said: "I didn't refer to any past iteration of the character. It just felt like something that was our creation in some ways."

Joaquin Phoenix and director Todd Phillips.
PA

Speaking to the Los Angeles Times, Phillips said Pheonix's commitment to the role saw him lose a whopping 52 pounds (23.5kg).

Phillips said: "We wanted to look at everything through as real and authentic a lens as possible.

"I don't believe that in the real world if you fell into a vat of acid you would turn white and have a smile and your hair would be green.

"So you start backwards-engineering these things and it becomes really interesting. 'How about if he's a clown at one of these places where you rent out entertainment?'.

"It was one of the most fun scripts to write because you were only breaking rules."

While Phoenix admitted that he didn't still fully understand the complicated character he played, saying: "There are certain areas of the character that frankly still aren't clear to me, and I'm fine with that.

"There's something enjoyable about not having to answer a lot of those questions. It requires a certain amount of participation from the audience that feels different."

Joker hits cinemas on 4 October.

Featured Image Credit: Warner Bros

Topics: TV and Film