Lady Gaga wears Christian Dior couture paired with engagement ring at Joker: Folie a Deux premiere in Venice
There are still a couple more days left of the Venice Film Festival but the Joker sequel was the last big premiere of this year’s line-up, effectively marking the end of the glitzy A-lister affair.
Lady Gaga, Joaquin Phoenix and director Todd Phillips walked down the red carpet into the Sala Grande theatre where their Joker: Folie a Deux was greeted with an 11-minute standing ovation at the end of the screening.
Gaga arrived at the premiere in an extravagant Christian Dior haute couture gown and Philip Treacy headpiece. But it was earlier in the day at the photo call and press conference that Gaga’s latest accessory that caught the most attention - an enormous engagement ring from fiancé Michael Polansky.
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She, in a velvet Dior dress, and Phoenix was a study in contrasts. He wore a simple white T-shirt, black jeans and scuffed Chuck Taylors.
The Joker sequel finds the character of Arthur Fleck/Joker institutionalised at Arkham Asylum awaiting trial for his crimes in the first movie. There he meets Harley Quinn and together they embark on a grand romance.
The film features several musical numbers involving song and dance. Phoenix told the press conference he was initially horrified about singing live on set.
Gaga added that Joker: Folie a Deux isn’t necessarily a musical. She said, “It’s very different. The way that music is used is to really give the characters a way to express what they needed to say because saying it is not enough.”
She also said she had to unlearn some of her own musical habits so she could more authentically inhabit her character. “We all really thrived in the moment and in the chaos of it all,” she explained. “We had to find it every day. What was the truth of the scene, what was the honest moment?”
The first Joker premiered in Venice in 2019, where it took home the festival’s top prize, the Golden Lion. Phillips said he felt more nervous this time.
“It feels right, it feels correct to be back in Venice,” he said.
“It felt like the logical launching off point for us. On this one, I’m a little more nervous. It’s a lot easier to come into something as the insurgent rather than the incumbent.”
The first Joker earned $US1 billion at the box office but had mixed critical reviews. Memorably, out of Venice in 2019, Time’s Stephanie Zacharek wrote in her review that the character could “easily be adopted as the patron saint of incels”.
Early reviews for the sequel are equally divisive. The BBC called it “dreary, underwhelming” while Empire said it was “beguiling”. Many have pointed to Lady Gaga being underused.
Doing promotions for Joker: Folie a Deux has meant Phoenix was unable to avoid questions about his recent decision to drop out of Todd Haynes’ movie about a gay romance in which he was signed to star.
Phoenix walked away from the project only days out from filming. The production had already built sets and crews were contracted. It effectively killed the movie.
When asked at the press conference, he sidestepped an answer. He said, “If I do (explain), I’ll just be sharing my opinion from my perspective, and the other creatives aren’t here to say their piece, and it just doesn’t feel like that would be right. I am not sure how that would be helpful. I don’t think I will.”
This year’s Venice Film Festival was an unusually star-studded event with huge names in attendance including Brad Pitt, George Clooney, Cate Blanchett, Angelina Jolie, Daniel Craig, Michael Keaton and Tilda Swinton.
August, September and October is a busy time on the festival circuit, which studios have traditionally used as a launching pad for their award-season contenders.
The Toronto International Film Festival started yesterday.
