April 25, 2024
FILM: THE PEOPLE’S JOKER
DIRECTED BY: VERA DREW
STARRING: VERA DREW, GRIFFIN KRAMER, LYNN DOWNEY
RATING: 3 ½ out 4 stars
By Dan Pal
The People’s Joker is a dazzling kaleidoscope of visually striking colors and images that take the queer coming of age story in a completely new and original direction. Vera Drew wrote, directed, edited, and stars in the film as a transgender woman attempting a career in the world of comedy as “Joker, the Harlequin.” In interviews, the filmmaker has talked about her obsession with comic books and Batman growing up. As such, the film is filled with iconography and characters borrowed from the Gotham City universe, including comedians dressed as the Penguin and the Riddler. There’s also more than one Joker in the film as the protagonist falls for a transgender man costumed curiously like Jared Leto’s version of the Joker. It’s a wild ride filled with animation, found footage, and computer generated visual imagery.
When the film was first given a slot at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2022, it was met with rapturous reviews. However, Warner Brothers, which owns the rights to all things Batman scared the filmmakers with possible legal action for copyright infringement. The festival run was pulled until the following year and now finally the film is getting a theatrical release (whether legal action is still imminent is uncertain at the moment.)
So, is the film worthy of all this media attention and hype? It definitely is. This is a highly accomplished work of art by a filmmaker who has had a very successful career in Hollywood as an editor. Those talents are certainly on display in this very fast paced mosaic of images, sounds, and music. It’s a film that could not have been at any other time but now. The finely sharpened editing tools that Vera Drew employs make for an explosion of visual ideas.
If that’s all the film was though, it might be an empty experience. What Drew accomplishes is much more ambitious than that. First off, relating the transgender coming out process to the comic book world of Batman is pretty ingenious. She addresses her own childhood in “Smallville” and her move to a big metropolis (a combination of New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles) as Gotham City ripe with superhero-esque action-oriented confrontations. But the film also has a lot of heart as Vera Drew’s character must contend with an argumentative mother, an abusive boyfriend, and a comedy community that has its own set of rules which might not exactly be welcoming for a transgender comic. On that note, even Saturday Night Live and Lorne Michaels are not spared some criticism for its casting process.
In the end, we just want to see Drew’s character find some happiness in life, both personally and professionally. She is far from a doormat though and fights everyone along the way. Yet she is also very endearing and relatable as a character. Vera Drew is playing a variation of herself and comes across as generally down to earth and possessing of the same needs as everyone else.
There’s no question that the collision of images, storylines, and high energy here might lead to some confusion on the part of some audience members, particularly if they are not a Millennial or younger. This is definitely a post-modern 21st Century work. Yet it is also an awakening for queer artists who don’t have to create within the confines of some antiquated Hollywood or even indie world set of rules and aesthetics. Vera Drew creates a fierce and powerful character that may have some flaws but is ready to fight off the enemies much like those powerful figures in Batman’s world.
The People’s Joker opens this week. Vera Drew will be present for a post-screening Q & A at the Music Box Theater in Chicago on 6/26 & 6/27.
FILM: THE PEOPLE’S JOKER
DIRECTED BY: VERA DREW
STARRING: VERA DREW, GRIFFIN KRAMER, LYNN DOWNEY
RATING: 3 ½ out 4 stars
By Dan Pal
The People’s Joker is a dazzling kaleidoscope of visually striking colors and images that take the queer coming of age story in a completely new and original direction. Vera Drew wrote, directed, edited, and stars in the film as a transgender woman attempting a career in the world of comedy as “Joker, the Harlequin.” In interviews, the filmmaker has talked about her obsession with comic books and Batman growing up. As such, the film is filled with iconography and characters borrowed from the Gotham City universe, including comedians dressed as the Penguin and the Riddler. There’s also more than one Joker in the film as the protagonist falls for a transgender man costumed curiously like Jared Leto’s version of the Joker. It’s a wild ride filled with animation, found footage, and computer generated visual imagery.
When the film was first given a slot at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2022, it was met with rapturous reviews. However, Warner Brothers, which owns the rights to all things Batman scared the filmmakers with possible legal action for copyright infringement. The festival run was pulled until the following year and now finally the film is getting a theatrical release (whether legal action is still imminent is uncertain at the moment.)
So, is the film worthy of all this media attention and hype? It definitely is. This is a highly accomplished work of art by a filmmaker who has had a very successful career in Hollywood as an editor. Those talents are certainly on display in this very fast paced mosaic of images, sounds, and music. It’s a film that could not have been at any other time but now. The finely sharpened editing tools that Vera Drew employs make for an explosion of visual ideas.
If that’s all the film was though, it might be an empty experience. What Drew accomplishes is much more ambitious than that. First off, relating the transgender coming out process to the comic book world of Batman is pretty ingenious. She addresses her own childhood in “Smallville” and her move to a big metropolis (a combination of New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles) as Gotham City ripe with superhero-esque action-oriented confrontations. But the film also has a lot of heart as Vera Drew’s character must contend with an argumentative mother, an abusive boyfriend, and a comedy community that has its own set of rules which might not exactly be welcoming for a transgender comic. On that note, even Saturday Night Live and Lorne Michaels are not spared some criticism for its casting process.
In the end, we just want to see Drew’s character find some happiness in life, both personally and professionally. She is far from a doormat though and fights everyone along the way. Yet she is also very endearing and relatable as a character. Vera Drew is playing a variation of herself and comes across as generally down to earth and possessing of the same needs as everyone else.
There’s no question that the collision of images, storylines, and high energy here might lead to some confusion on the part of some audience members, particularly if they are not a Millennial or younger. This is definitely a post-modern 21st Century work. Yet it is also an awakening for queer artists who don’t have to create within the confines of some antiquated Hollywood or even indie world set of rules and aesthetics. Vera Drew creates a fierce and powerful character that may have some flaws but is ready to fight off the enemies much like those powerful figures in Batman’s world.
The People’s Joker opens this week. Vera Drew will be present for a post-screening Q & A at the Music Box Theater in Chicago on 6/26 & 6/27.