When Todd Phillips’ film, “Joker,” debuted at Venice in 2019, the film would earn immediate acclaim and went on to win the top prize, the Golden Lion. But once the film made its debut around the world, the general public seemed to have a mixed reaction. Sure, the film was making a ton of money at the box office (eventually earning more than $1 billion), but there were many that thought the film was trying a bit too hard to be edgy and could actually be seen as a way to inspire future violence by its viewers. So, in retrospect, would “Joker” still have taken home the top prize at Venice? Jury President and filmmaker, Lucrecia Martel, definitely still thinks the film is worthy, even if the film wasn’t her top choice that year.
Speaking with The Film Stage, Lucrecia Martel was asked about the choice of “Joker” as the Golden Lion winner at the 2019 Venice Film Festival. Martel defended “Joker,” and said, “‘Joker’ is incredible for that particular group of films. But my favorite was the Chinese film, an animated film.”
Of course, the Chinese film she is talking about is “No.7 Cherry Lane,” which she would have picked as her favorite. However, as we know, jury’s are a democracy and the group’s majority supported “Joker.”
Martel added, “Yes, ‘No.7 Cherry Lane.’ When the vote was cast it was ‘Joker,’ but I liked that Chinese film enormously. You could see figures of a man and a woman, but it was clear to me it was two men. It’s a love story. So I was looking at it but I perceived something different. I really loved that movie.”
Regardless of whether or not “Joker” would take home the same awards it did after its debut (it would also go on to win various other awards, including the Best Actor Oscar trophy), it’s clear Warner Bros. was very pleased with the end result. The film made an absolute ton of money and the studio quickly got to work on developing a sequel. Now, we’re all expecting “Joker: Folie a Deux” to arrive in theaters in October 2024.