Dark, music-filled 'Joker' sequel brings Lady Gaga star power to Venice

Agence France-Presse

<div><br/></div><iframe class="instagram-media instagram-media-rendered" id="instagram-embed-0" src="https://www.instagram.com/p/C_df5xxPzZL/embed/?cr=1&amp;v=14&amp;wp=596&amp;rd=https%3A%2F%2Fnews-workbench-web.abs-cbn.com&amp;rp=%2F#%7B%22ci%22%3A0%2C%22os%22%3A24811489.700000048%7D" allowtransparency="true" allowfullscreen="" frameBorder="0" height="881" data-instgrm-payload-id="instagram-media-payload-0" scrolling="no" style="background:white;max-width:540px;width:calc(100% - 2px);border-radius:3px;border:1px solid rgb(219, 219, 219);box-shadow:none;display:block;margin:0px 0px 12px;min-width:326px;padding:0px"></iframe><script async="" src="//www.instagram.com/embed.js"></script><div><br/></div><p>VENICE, Italy - A dark and music-filled &quot;Joker&quot; sequel brought Lady Gaga to Venice on Wednesday, playing the star-crossed love interest of the DC Comics-inspired anti-hero in one of the year&#x27;s most anticipated films.</p><p>The megastar was the main attraction at the world premiere of &quot;Joker: Folie a Deux&quot; at the Venice Film Festival, one of 21 films vying for the top Golden Lion prize at the prestigious competition.</p><p>Todd Phillips&#x27;s 2019 film starring Joaquin Phoenix subverted the codes of superhero films in a disturbing commentary on alienation in American society, with the film going on to win at Venice that year and handing a Best Actor Academy Award to Phoenix.</p><p>On the red carpet, Lady Gaga drew screams from fans, where she showed off an elaborate mask that suggested two pointy Batman ears draped with a swathe of Venetian lace, paired with a black velvet gown with a generous taffeta skirt.</p><p>Ahead of Wednesday&#x27;s premiere, the pop star and actress confessed to having been &quot;deeply moved&quot; by the original film, in which an ignored, mocked and mentally ill stand-up comic, Arthur Fleck (Phoenix), is driven to violence.</p><p>&quot;The first film really deeply moved me, I loved it so much,&quot; Lady Gaga told a press conference, calling Phoenix&#x27;s performance one that &quot;set the bar extremely high&quot;.</p><p>&quot;I think sometimes when stories are told about people that are maybe misunderstood by society, the director gives you a chance... to really take a hard look at that world in a deeper way,&quot; Lady Gaga said.</p><p>&quot;I felt like when I watched the first film I got to understand something I may not have seen before, that&#x27;s why I did this movie.&quot;</p><p>The sequel heavily relies on musical numbers to express the inner feelings of Fleck, in dark, brooding renditions of classics such as &quot;Get Happy&quot; or &quot;For Once in my Life&quot;.</p><p>Phoenix told journalists how he &quot;had this dream that I was performing as Joker doing songs and I just called Todd because I thought there might be something there.&quot;</p><p>That idea took flight, and Lady Gaga was the next piece of the puzzle, Phillips said.</p><p>Both actors sang live on set, Phoenix said, an element that created a &quot;necessary&quot; energy.</p><p>&quot;Early on she was like &#x27;Oh, we&#x27;re going to sing live&#x27; and I was like &#x27;No, we&#x27;re not. You can sing live if you like.&#x27; And ultimately we did it and it was really the only way,&quot; Phoenix told journalists.</p><p>The film&#x27;s music was a vehicle to &quot;give characters way to express what they need to say,&quot; Lady Gaga said.</p><p>&quot;We worked really hard on the way that we sang. For me it was a lot about unlearning technique and forgetting how to breathe, allowing the song to completely come out of the character,&quot; she said.</p><p>Lady Gaga later announced on Instagram that the first single on her next album called &quot;LG7&quot; would be released in October.</p><div><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/entertainment/2024/9/4/-lg7-is-coming-lady-gaga-to-release-first-single-from-new-album-in-october-1336" id="isPasted">&#x27;LG7 is coming&#x27;: Lady Gaga to release first single from new album in October</a></div><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/cT7M4GM2tzE?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div><div><strong>- High expectations -</strong></div><p>In her return to the big screen after 2021&#x27;s &quot;House of Gucci&quot;, Lady Gaga plays Harley Quinn, the partner in crime and love interest of the Joker, with whom she becomes obsessed as he awaits trial for his murder spree.</p><p>The film -- loosely based on the DC Comics characters and set in a gritty Gotham City -- was wildly successful, grossing $1 billion at the box office but sparking criticism for its nihilistic violence.</p><p>Phillips said he was happy to return to Venice, but &quot;a little more nervous&quot; this time around.</p><p>&quot;I think it&#x27;s a lot easier to come in to something as the insurgent as opposed to coming in as the incumbent,&quot; he said.</p><p>&quot;There&#x27;s a lot more expectations on a second film so there&#x27;s definitely a sense of more nervousness than I had with the first one.&quot;</p><p>In co-writing the screenplay with Scott Silver, Phillips said he knew it would have to be as daring as the original in order for Phoenix to sign on again.</p><p>&quot;If we really were going to do it, it had to scare him in the same way the first one did. It had to feel audacious,&quot; he said.</p><p>This year&#x27;s festival has been awash in Hollywood pizzazz, with a long roster of A-listers taking a twirl on the red carpet, from Daniel Craig and Angelina Jolie to Nicole Kidman and Michael Keaton.</p><p>ams/giv/bc</p><div><strong>© Agence France-Presse</strong></div>

<p>A dark and music-filled "Joker" sequel brought Lady Gaga to Venice on Wednesday, playing the star-crossed love interest of the DC Comics-inspired anti-hero in one of the year's most anticipated films.</p>

A dark and music-filled "Joker" sequel brought Lady Gaga to Venice on Wednesday, playing the star-crossed love interest of the DC Comics-inspired anti-hero in one of the year's most anticipated films.

Dark, music-filled 'Joker' sequel brings Lady Gaga star power to Venice | ABS-CBN

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Dark, music-filled 'Joker' sequel brings Lady Gaga star power to Venice

Dark, music-filled 'Joker' sequel brings Lady Gaga star power to Venice

Agence France-Presse

Published Sep 05, 2024 06:34 AM PHT

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joker

joaquin phoenix

lady gaga

warner bros

Todd Phillips

venice film festival

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