Cover From left: Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga in ‘Joker: Folie à Deux’ (Image: Instagram/@jokermovie)
From left: Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga in ‘Joker: Folie à Deux’ (Image: Instagram/@jokermovie)
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Fans of DC Comics and musicals alike are debating whether ‘Joker: Folie à Deux’, starring Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga, is a musical. Here's what you need to know about the music in the film—including what the director and stars of the movie are saying about it
Todd Phillips’s Joker: Folie à Deux, released in September, stands out as DC Comics’ first music-oriented movie—with Joaquin Phoenix, cast as Joker, and Lady Gaga, who plays Lee Quinn, singing originals alongside covers such as Fly Me to the Moon, If You Go Away and Close to You.
A sequel to the 2019 film Joker, the film tells the love story of failed comedian Arthur Fleck, whose stage name is Joker, and psychiatrist Lee Quinn. The film is set in the fictional city of Gotham in 1985. As Fleck struggles to cope with his traumatic past, he bonds with Quinn, who seems to give him hope about life—until her identity grows suspicious.
Joker: Folie à Deux has been promoted as a musical, despite the director later denying it is one. The topic has set social media ablaze with debates, especially among fans of DC Comics and musicals: Phoenix, who isn’t a professional singer, is said to have delivered the songs in a way that’s unconventional of Broadway musical singing.
Here's what you need to know about the music in the film—including what the director and stars of the movie are saying about it.
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Why did the director make a music-oriented Joker movie?
Above From left: Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga in ‘Joker: Folie à Deux’ (Image: Instagram/@jokermovie)
From left: Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga in ‘Joker: Folie à Deux’ (Image: Instagram/@jokermovie)
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In the movie, Joker and Quinn burst into song whenever they slip into imagination and escape from their brutal reality. These dreams are often presented in a colourful setup that references Golden Age Hollywood musicals, which are a contrast against the grim backdrop and disturbing, lingering cello notes.
Director Phillips told Variety that “most of the music in the movie is really just dialogue. It’s just Arthur not having the words to say what he wants to say, so he sings them instead.”
So is it a musical?
In the same interview, Phillips denied that his film is a musical. “I just don’t want people to think that it’s like In the Heights, where the lady in the bodega starts to sing and they take it out into the street, and the police are dancing,” he said, referencing the 2021 movie musical. “No disrespect, because I loved In the Heights.”
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An unconventional singing style
Above Joaquin Phoenix in ‘Joker: Folie à Deux’ (Image: Instagram/@jokermovie)
Joaquin Phoenix in ‘Joker: Folie à Deux’ (Image: Instagram/@jokermovie)
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Phoenix isn’t a professional singer, and in the movie, he sang in a raw, sometimes hoarse voice.
Meanwhile, Lady Gaga, being Lady Gaga, demonstrated her great vocal techniques—but she also dialled back her powerful singing in some of the scenes.
“Neither Arthur nor Lee are professional singers, and they shouldn’t sound like they are,” said Lady Gaga in the Variety interview.
What songs are featured in the movie?
Above Lady Gaga and Joaquin Phoenix (Image: Instagram/@jokermovie)
Lady Gaga and Joaquin Phoenix (Image: Instagram/@jokermovie)
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The movie features 15 American classics: The Carpenters’ Close to You (1970), The Temptations’ For Once in My Life (1967) and Bee Gees’ To Love Somebody (1967) are among them.
Icelandic composer Hildur Guðnadóttir also wrote 19 original songs for the film, which centre on Joker’s emotions and experiences.
The movie’s companion album
Above Lady Gaga in ‘Joker: Folie à Deux’ (Image: Instagram/@jokermovie)
Lady Gaga in ‘Joker: Folie à Deux’ (Image: Instagram/@jokermovie)
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Lady Gaga was so inspired by her character that she released a new album titled Harlequin on September 27 through Interscope Records. It features numbers used in the film—and a few that aren’t. Unlike her signature pop tunes, this album blends early American music, jazz, funk and blues and also draws on vintage and modern pop styles.
Zabrina is the Senior Editor, Arts and Culture of Tatler Hong Kong. She specialises in performing arts, visual art and film. Her wanderlust was first fuelled by the Mighty Rovers Antarctica Expedition 2010. Over the years, she has interviewed A-list artists and filmmakers, including Oscar winners Chlóe Zhao and Tim Yip, Golden Horse winner Sylvia Chang, In the Mood for Love cinematographer Christopher Doyle, Pachinko author Min Jin Lee, and Coachella’s first Chinese solo singer Jackson Wang. She won gold at the WAN-IFRA Asian Media Awards for her 2021 feature on the waves of hate crimes targeting Asian Americans.
