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Why Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker is going to clean up at the Oscars

By South China Morning Post 11 October, 2019
joker

Following in the footsteps of Heath Ledger’s iconic turn in The Dark Knight, and inspired by the success of Marvel’s Black Panther, Todd Phillips’ Golden Lion-winning Batman spin-off looks set to break the comic book-shutout at the next Academy Awards

joker
Joaquin Phoenix’s portrayal of the Joker, in the film of the same name, is tipped to clean up come awards season

Ever since Joker stunned critics by winning the Golden Lion award at the Venice Film Festival – a move that puts it in the same league as Akira Kurosawa’s Rashomon, Alfonso Cuarón’s Roma and Hou Hsiao-hsien’s A City of Sadness  talk has been building about whether the movie, starring Joaquin Phoenix as the eponymous Joker, can repeat the success at the Oscars in February.

Here are five reasons we think it can.

History repeats itself

Although winning the Golden Lion isn’t everything, such victors – at least those made in America – often go on to receive further accolades come Oscars time. Last year’s winner in Venice, Roma, nabbed three awards, including Best Director, at the last Academy Awards. Recent American successes in Venice such as The Shape of Water and Brokeback Mountain also picked up a clutch of awards. So if history is anything to go by, Joker ought to be adding to that list.