In a pretty shocking move, the Venice Film Festival’s top award—the Golden Lion—went to directorTodd Phillips’ already polarizing DC Comics adaptationJoker. The film is loosely based on the DC villain of the same name, with theHangoverandWar Dogsdirector crafting an original origin story about an aspiring (yet failed) stand-up comedian named Arthur Fleck.Joaquin Phoenixhas drawn raves for his performance, but the first reviews out of Venice were divisive to say the least, with some going so far as to say the film itselfis literally dangerous.
Lest you think Venice is a film festival known for its oddball awards prizes, last year’s winner of the Golden Lion wasRomaand the year before that it was eventual Best Picture-winnerThe Shape of Water, soJokeris in distinguished company. Other past winners includeBrokeback Mountain,The Wrestler, andLust, Caution.
The runner-up Grand Jury Prize went to controversial filmmakerRoman Polanski’sAn Officer and a Spy, while Best Director went toRoy AnderssonforAbout Endlessnessand the acting prizes were awarded toGloria Mundi’sAriane AscarideandMartin Eden’sLuca Marinelli.Yonfanwon Best Screenplay forNo. 7 Cherry Lane.
Some sawJoker’s addition to the fall film festival circuit as a bit of a surprise, but Phillips has remained vocally confident in the movie’s quality, and clearly the move paid off. The Warner Bros. picture next plays at the Toronto International Film Festival on Monday night, where even more critics will get a chance to weigh in with their thoughts on the movie. But now, months after Marvel Studios’Black Pantherbecame the first superhero movie nominated for Best Picture, it appears thatJokeris indeed very much a potential Oscar play.
Stay tuned for Collider’s own awards analysis onJokerfrom TIFF early next week, andclick here to watch our video review. The film hits theaters on October 4th.
Hold on to your butts, folks. This is gonna be a wild Oscar season.
