Venice Lookback: When ‘Joker’ took the festival, and skeptics, by surprise

After $1 billion at the box office, 11 Oscar nominations and two major wins, including for Joaquin Phoenix, it’s easy to forget the handwringing over “ Joker.”

In the lead up to its release in October 2019, the Todd Phillips film, a dark origin story about the mentally ill man who becomes the deranged Batman villain, hit a cultural inflection point that had divisions forming before most had even seen it. People worried “Joker” would glorify violence, that people would take the wrong message and there’d be incidents at movie theaters. Words like “dangerous,” “irresponsible” and “incel-friendly” were thrown around.

Even its inclusion in the main competition at the Venice Film Festival was enough to get people gossiping. (Its sequel, “ Joker: Folie à Deux,” will also be debuting in competition at Venice on Sept. 4.)

At the time, some assumed Phillips had called in a favor. How else could a comic book movie play alongside auteurs and Oscar-contenders? This, Phillips assured The Associated Press, was not true. But the fact that it wasn't being treated like a standard comic book movie release and instead getting the rollout of an Oscar contender was enough to send movie fans into a tizzy.

The world was further shocked when it won the festival’s top prize, the Golden Lion, which in previous years had gone to films like “The Shape of Water” and “Roma.” One article called it “insane.”

Accepting Venice's top prize from jury president Lucrecia Martel, Phillips thanked Warner Bros. and DC for “stepping out of their comfort zone and taking such a bold swing on me and this movie” and Phoenix for trusting him with his “insane talents.”

And it sent a clear message to the skeptical film world: “Joker” was not to be underestimated or dismissed. Neither was Phillips, a filmmaker whose biggest successes had at that point come from frat-bro comedies like “The Hangover” and “Old School.”

Phillips took cues from movies like Martin Scorsese’s “Taxi Driver” and “The King of Comedy” to add a disturbing realism to the story. He does not fall into a vat of acid and come out laughing, he said. Instead, it's a chilling portrait of a loner pushed over the edge.

Phoenix too underwent a drastic physical transformation, losing 52 pounds on an extremely calorie-restricted diet with the supervision of a doctor. He told the AP he expected “feelings of dissatisfaction, hunger, a certain kind of vulnerability and a weakness.” Instead, he found the emaciation led to a physical “fluidity” that he didn’t quite anticipate.

Reviews were mostly positive and even the more critical responses admired the boldness. In his review, AP Film Writer Jake Coyle wrote that “Phillips and Phoenix have made something to reckon with, certainly, and that alone makes it a bold exception in a frustratingly safe genre.”

Phillips wasn’t shy about discussing the film, his intentions and the criticisms.

“I just hope people see it and take it as a movie,” Phillips told the AP before its release. “Do I hope everyone loves it? No. We didn’t make the movie for everyone. Anytime anyone tries to make a movie for everyone it’s usually for nobody. ... You have a choice. Don’t see it is the other choice.”

The concerns continued to escalate as family members of the victims of the 2012 movie theater shooting during “The Dark Knight Rises” wrote a letter to the studio’s then CEO urging the company to advocate for gun safety.

By the time it was ready for its U.S. premieres, the studio pressed pause on interviews. The red carpets at the Hollywood and New York Film Festival premieres would be photo-only affairs.

“A lot has been said about ‘Joker,’ and we just feel it’s time for people to see the film,” a studio representative said at the time.

And people certainly saw it. It opened to nearly $100 million in Oct. 2019 and by the end of its run had grossed over $1 billion, holding the record for highest grossing R-rated film until “Deadpool & Wolverine” passed it a few weeks ago. Phillips congratulated Shawn Levy, Marvel and Disney for the feat.

Soon, he’ll be heading back to the Venice Film Festival, with Phoenix and Lady Gaga to debut “Joker: Folie à Deux." The expectations are higher. So are the stakes. It carries bigger budget than its $60 million predecessor, but Phillips told Variety that reports of it exceeding $200 million are “absurd.”

It has also already inspired a fair amount of discourse. But this time it’s not about violence: It’s about musicals.

More coverage of the 2024 Venice Film Festival: https://apnews.com/hub/venice-film-festival

This image released by Warner Bros. Pictures shows Joaquin Phoenix, left, and Lady Gaga in a scene from "Joker: Folie à Deux." (Niko Tavernise/Warner Bros. Pictures via AP)

FILE - Joaquin Phoenix, winner of the award for best performance by an actor in a leading role for "Joker", poses in the press room at the Oscars on Sunday, Feb. 9, 2020, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP, File)

FILE - Director Todd Phillips, left, holds the Golden Lion for Best Film for "Joker," joined by lead actor Joaquin Phoenix at the closing ceremony of the 76th edition of the Venice Film Festival, Venice, Italy on Sept. 7, 2019. (Photo by Joel C Ryan/Invision/AP, File)

FILE - Actor Joaquin Phoenix appears at the premiere of the film "Joker" at the 76th edition of the Venice Film Festival, Venice, Italy on Aug. 31, 2019. (Photo by Arthur Mola/Invision/AP, File)

This image released by Warner Bros. Pictures shows Joaquin Phoenix in a scene from "Joker." (Niko Tavernise/Warner Bros. Pictures via AP)

This image released by Warner Bros. Pictures shows Joaquin Phoenix in a scene from "Joker." (Niko Tavernise/Warner Bros. Pictures via AP)

TULKAREM, West Bank (AP) — An Israeli airstrike on a West Bank cafe that the military said targeted Palestinian militants also killed a family of four, including two young children, relatives told The Associated Press on Friday.

The strike slammed into a three-story building in the Tulkarem refugee camp late Thursday, setting it on fire, destroying a popular cafe and killing at least 18 Palestinians, according to the territory's Health Ministry. It was the deadliest strike in the West Bank since the start of the Israel-Hamas war nearly a year ago.

On Friday, paramedics searched the rubble inside the blasted-out coffee shop, gathering human remains into small boxes. Young boys and men walked among the ruins of the shop, with holes in the ceiling and debris blanketing the ground, digging past bloodstained furniture and dislodged iron beams for anything to salvage.

Among the dead was the Abu Zahra family: Muhammad, a bakery worker; his wife, Saja; and their two children, Sham, 8, and Karam, 6, according to the man's brother, Mustafa Abu Zahra, who said the family lived above the coffee shop. He added that one of Muhammad’s brothers-in-law was also in the apartment at the time and was killed.

The Israeli military said the strike killed at least nine militants who were gathering to plan an attack against Israel, including Hamas’ leader in the camp, whom it accused without providing evidence of taking part in multiple attacks against Israeli civilians. It also said a “key operative” of Islamic Jihad, another Palestinian militant group, was killed in the strike. Tulkarem, known to be a hotbed of Palestinian militancy, is a frequent target of Israeli military raids.

Hundreds of mourners packed the streets of the camp Friday during a mass funeral for the 18 killed, some brandishing Hamas flags. Hamas did not immediately claim any of the dead as its fighters but released a statement condemning the strike and calling for Palestinians in Tulkarem to rise up.

Israel has carried out several large-scale raids in the West Bank since the start of the war in Gaza, ignited by Hamas' Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel. While airstrikes used to be rare in the Palestinian territory, they have grown more common since the outbreak of war as Israeli forces clamp down, saying they aim to prevent attacks on their citizens.

Israeli fire has killed at least 722 Palestinians in the West Bank since Oct. 7, Palestinian health officials say. In that time, Palestinian militants have launched a number of attacks on soldiers at checkpoints and within Israel.

A shooting attack in Tel Aviv earlier this week that Israeli police said was carried out by Palestinians from the West Bank left at least six people dead.

Nimer Fayat, the owner of Dr. Coffee, said the cafe was full of “regular customers coming to eat and drink” when the strike occurred around 10:15 p.m.

“What happened was a very strong blow, the likes of which we had not seen in the past since the Al-Aqsa Intifada,” he said, using a Palestinian term for the second intifada, or uprising, in the early 2000s.

Paramedics rushing to the area encountered a ghastly scene, with body parts flung onto power lines by the force of the blast, said Nebal Farsakh, a spokesperson for the Palestinian Red Crescent, whose teams brought nine dead to the hospital.

A full list of the dead and wounded was not immediately released by the Palestinian Health Ministry.

Yasser Jibra, another relative of the Abu Zahras, said the strike was “like a lightning bolt.”

“Look around, the destruction is so obvious," he said, adding that it was difficult to identify the bodies of his loved ones.

The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment on civilian deaths in the strike. Israel says it takes care to guard against such deaths.

But to Jibra, that means little.

“This is the work of the criminal occupation, which does not take into account the presence of a child or a woman, or an elderly or young person," he said, as he stood inside the blasted-out cafe. "Everything is permissible for them.”

Associated Press reporter Julia Frankel and producer Ibrahim Hazboun contributed to this report from Jerusalem.

Palestinians examine the damage following an Israeli airstrike in the West Bank city of Tulkarem, which Palestinian health officials say killed 18 people and the Israeli military says took out a Hamas leader, on Friday, Oct. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser)

Palestinians examine the damage following an Israeli airstrike in the West Bank city of Tulkarem, which Palestinian health officials say killed 18 people and the Israeli military says took out a Hamas leader, on Friday, Oct. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser)

Palestinians examine the damage following an Israeli airstrike in the West Bank city of Tulkarem, which Palestinian health officials say killed 18 people and the Israeli military says took out a Hamas leader, on Friday, Oct. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser)

Palestinians examine the damage following an Israeli airstrike in the West Bank city of Tulkarem, which Palestinian health officials say killed 18 people and the Israeli military says took out a Hamas leader, on Friday, Oct. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser)

Palestinians examine the damage following an Israeli airstrike in the West Bank city of Tulkarem, which Palestinian health officials say killed 18 people and the Israeli military says took out a Hamas leader, on Friday, Oct. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser)

Palestinians examine the damage following an Israeli airstrike in the West Bank city of Tulkarem, which Palestinian health officials say killed 18 people and the Israeli military says took out a Hamas leader, on Friday, Oct. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser)