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Family members of those killed while watching a screening of The Dark Knight Rises in 2012 have said they are “horrified” by the forthcoming Joker
An open letter published in Variety
Warner Bros said Joker is not an endorsement of real-life violence.
Twelve people were killed and 70 injured after James Holmes opened fire at a cinema screening of The Dark Knight Rises – the final instalment of Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy starring Christian Bale – in Aurora, Colorado on 20 July 2012.
The letter, which is addressed to Warner Bros, is signed by Sandy and Lonnie Phillips, whose daughter Jessica Ghawi, 24, died in the shooting; Tiina Coon, whose son witnessed the attack; Theresa Hoover, who lost her 18-year-old son AJ Boik; and Heather Dearman, whose cousin Ashley Moser lost her six-year-old daughter Veronica Moser-Sullivan.
Warner Bros said the film is not an endorsement of real-world violence.
“When we learned that Warner Bros was releasing a movie called Joker that presents the character as a protagonist with a sympathetic origin story, it gave us pause,” the letter reads.
“We want to be clear that we support your right to free speech and free expression. But as anyone who has ever seen a comic book movie can tell you: with great power comes great responsibility.
“That’s why we’re calling on you to use your massive platform and influence to join us in our fight to build safer communities with fewer guns.”
Show all 20 1 /20Cannes 2019: What the critics are saying Cannes 2019: What the critics are saying The Dead Don't Die Jim Jarmusch's The Dead Don't Die opened Cannes Film Festival to mixed reviews. The Independent's Geoffrey Macnab wrote that the cast – including Bill Murray, Adam Driver and Steve Buscemi – gave "strangely listless and deadpan performances". The two-star review continued: "Tilda Swinton brings some comic vim to her role as a samurai-like undertaker with a broad Scottish accent while Caleb Landry Jones and Danny Glover are good value as they take a stand against the undead in the local convenience store, but neither the satire nor the slapstick here are as sharp as you would like them to be."
AP
Cannes 2019: What the critics are saying Rocketman Dexter Fletcher’s Elton John biopic Rocketman had its world premiere at Cannes. While The Telegraph awarded the film with five stars, most other publications were more muted. The Independent's Geoffrey Macnab called the film "a rousing and emotional affair with an operatic sweep". However, he added: "At times, Rocketman risks turning into a chronicle of woe. Much of the film focuses on the years when Elton was abusing alcohol and drugs. He was miserable in his own life and took out his unhappiness on those closest to him. This doesn’t make him very good company. It can become tiresome to hear him say yet again how much he hates himself. However, Fletcher films even the darkest scenes in a very flamboyant fashion and manages to leaven matters with some ironic humour."
Paramount
Cannes 2019: What the critics are saying Sorry We Missed You Ken Loach, two-time winner of the Palme d'Or, returned to the festival with Sorry We Missed You. "Late in his career, Loach retains the ability to make heart-wrenching and very topical dramas that expose the grimmer aspects of contemporary British society," wrote Geoffrey Macnab in a five-star review for The Independent. "Scripted by his regular collaborator Paul Laverty, this is another of Loach’s films about decent people trying to do the best for themselves but being defeated by a system in which 'everything is out of whack.'" Other publications were equally positive about the film.
Sixteen Films
Cannes 2019: What the critics are saying Pain and Glory Geoffrey Macnab described Pedro Almodóvar's Pain and Glory as "the kind of indulgent and self-absorbed film that only a director with such a glittering career behind him would be allowed to get away with". The four-star review continued: "It’s about a filmmaker looking back on his past, mulling over his life and relationships. Imagine a Spanish version of a Bergman or Woody Allen film about love and loss and you will come close to its essence. It’s a wonderfully evocative affair with a subtle, soulful performance from Antonio Banderas."
Sony Pictures
Cannes 2019: What the critics are saying Once Upon a Time in Hollywood Probably the biggest film of the festival, Quentin Tarantino's Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood, was met with almost unanimous praise. "Quite simply, I just defy anyone with red blood in their veins not to respond to the crazy bravura of Tarantino’s film-making, not to be bounced around the auditorium at the moment-by-moment enjoyment that this movie delivers – and conversely, of course, to shudder at the horror and cruelty and its hallucinatory aftermath," wrote Peter Bradshaw in The Guardian, awarding the film full marks. Variety was slightly more damning, with Owen Gleiberman writing: "By the end, Tarantino has done something that’s quintessentially Tarantino, but that no longer feels even vaguely revolutionary. He has reduced the story he’s telling to pulp."
Sony
Cannes 2019: What the critics are saying The Lighthouse Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattinson star in Robert Eggers's follow-up to The Witch. Titled The Lighthouse, the two-header won over critics, with both The Telegraph and Guardian awarding the film five stars. "The film is shot in inky black and white, on grainy 35mm film, and presented in a series of rigorously composed square frames," wrote Kevin Maher in The Times. "It has the feel of a newly discovered artefact from FW Murnau (Nosferatu) and is certainly one of the most beautiful-looking movies at the festival. If it has a palpable flaw, it’s that the style sometimes overwhelms. More head than heart. The final image is so breathtaking, however, that you can forgive even this."
Erik Chakeen
Cannes 2019: What the critics are saying Parasite Bong Joon-ho was last at Cannes with the Netflix film Okja. His return with Parasite was met with critical acclaim. Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian described the film as "a luxuriously watchable and satirical suspense drama". He added: "It runs as purringly smooth as the Mercedes driven by the lead character, played by Korean star Song Kang-ho. Parasite is a bizarre black comedy about social status, aspiration, materialism and the patriarchal family unit, and people who accept the idea of having (or leasing) a servant class."
CJ Entertainment
Cannes 2019: What the critics are saying Les Misérables Director Ladj Ly's debut turned heads at Cannes. Nicholas Barber of the BBC wrote that the "racially charged urban drama about the hostility between police and civilians" is "impressive" but lost momentum in the middle. However, Barber concluded: "Just when you think that the story is drifting towards an obvious ending, there is an explosion of savage action which, although highly implausible, is so shocking, exciting and politically fascinating that it blasts the film into a different level."
BAC Films
Cannes 2019: What the critics are saying Portrait of a Lady on Fire Few films received praise equal to Portrait of a Lady on Fire. The film website IndieWire awarded French filmmaker Céline Sciamma's film an "A" grade. Critic David Ehrlich wrote: “Portrait of a Lady on Fire is a profoundly tender story about the process of self-discovery and becoming... The film is paced at the speed of a world that’s lit by candlelight, the sex is sensual without being provocative, and the third act will frustrate anyone hoping for a more radical takedown of heteronormative structures."
Pyramide Films
Cannes 2019: What the critics are saying Beanpole Russian talent Kantemir Balagov may be just 27 years old, but the director has already won over critics from across the world. "The first sounds, over the black of the opening titles, are of tiny, gasping breaths catching in a throat," wrote Variety's Jessica Kiang of Balagov's second feature film. "It could be a death rattle or an asthma attack or the last throes of a strangulation, but it is undoubtedly a human in distress. And it’s a very close analogy for how Beanpole, the slow, ferocious, and extraordinary film from Balagov, can make you feel. You quite often have to remind yourself to breathe."
Non-Stop Production
Cannes 2019: What the critics are saying Atlantics French-Senegalese director Mati Diop was the first black female director to ever compete for the Palme d’Or. Her film, Atlantics, won positive reviews, with Screenrant's Allan Hunter writing: "Constantly intriguing, Atlantics successfully blends its disparate elements of love story, ghost story and female empowerment into a distinctive, involving drama."
Cannal Plus interactions
Cannes 2019: What the critics are saying Port Authority Danielle Lessovitz's Port Authority went down well with audiences. The Hollywood Reporter described the film as "a boy-meets-trans girl romance about identity and belonging around the New York underground ballroom scene". Their critic David Rooney wrote of the film: "There's a disarming gentleness to Port Authority, echoed in composer Matthew Herbert's subtle score, that makes this story of love, family and self-discovery quite satisfying."
Cannes Film Festival handout
Cannes 2019: What the critics are saying The Wild Goose Lake Diao Yinan's first film since Black Coal, which won the Golden Bear at Berlin Film Festical in 2014, received mixed reviews. Peter Bradshaw wrote in the Guardian that The Wild Goose Lake is "a movie showcasing similar flourishes of brilliance, violent impacts and setpiece bravura – but also some of the same slightly stolid, opaque style that made me a little agnostic about that 2014 hit". One fan was Tarantino himself who is reported to have "cried" at the film's premiere.
Bai Linghai
Cannes 2019: What the critics are saying Adam Another directing debut, this one from French actor and screenwriter Maryam Touzani. The Hollywood Reporter's Deborah Young described Adam as "a bright addition to Cannes' Un Certain Regard section". She added: "With great delicacy, Touzani shows how Moroccan society censures a woman who gives birth outside marriage — not a terribly original theme, but here it is made heartrending by the superb performances of Lubna Azabal and Nisrin Erradi in the lead roles."
Cannes Film Festival handout
Cannes 2019: What the critics are saying The Climb Michael Angelo Covino's debut The Climb, described as depicting a "bromance" by numerous outlets, was met by rave reviews. "The Climb is a fantastic film about frenemies, bringing craft and intelligence to what easily could have been a hackneyed, boring bit of cringe comedy," wrote Jason Gorber for SlashFilm. "Instead there’s genuine heart at the connection between these two, foolish and friendly and flawed in equal measure. With bravura cinematic flourishes that never get in the way of the character moments, this remarkable film clambers its way into your heart as you find yourself rooting even for these decidedly awkward individuals."
Cannes Film Festival handout
Cannes 2019: What the critics are saying The Whistlers Corneliu Porumboiu's noir suspense thriller The Whistlers was compared to Neil Jordan’s Mona Lisa and Orson Welles’ The Lady from Shanghai by The Guardian's Peter Bradshaw. "Porumboiu gives us a knotty, twisty, nifty plot that’s quite involved but hangs together well, and there’s an amusing juxtaposition of gloomy, rainy Bucharest and the sunny terrain of La Gomera," he continued. "We also get a neat and unexpected coda. An elegant and stylishly crafted piece of entertainment."
Vlad Cioplea
Cannes 2019: What the critics are saying Joan of Arc (Jeanne) Bruno Dumont's sequel to Jeannette: The Childhood of Joan of Arc, simply titled Joan of Arc, received equally as negative reviews as its 2017 predecessor. "Enthusiasts of the prolific Dumont will surely get something out of this latest effort — as perhaps will Joan of Arc movie adaptation completists," wrote Jordan Mintzer in The Hollywood Reporter. "But beyond that niche, many will find watching the 137-minute movie akin to being burnt at the stake."
Cannes Film Festival handout
Cannes 2019: What the critics are saying Young Ahmed The Dardenne brothers' latest effort, "a taut study of a devout 13-year-old Muslim", marked a rare misfire for the directing duo. On the aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes, the film sits – following the festival screening – as their lowest rated work yet. Charles Bramesco of Little White Lies wrote: "The Dardennes have often settled on not-knowing in their work, only here, that acceptance of uncertainty plays like a concession that they're in over their heads."
Cannes Film Festival handout
Cannes 2019: What the critics are saying Frankie Despite starring Isabelle Huppert, Ira Sachs' Frankie has divided critics like no other film at the festival. Whereas The Guardian awarded the film a squalid one star, The Hollywood Reporter called Huppert "magnetic" in the starring role. IndieWire concluded: "It's like an elegant bracelet that's modest enough to go unnoticed, but nevertheless reveals a quietly exquisite beauty to those who are willing to lean in and look closer (even if they have to squint)."
Cannes Film Festival handout
Cannes 2019: What the critics are saying A Hidden Life Terrence Malick made his return to Cannes with A Hidden Life. While critics have been harsh on the director's more recent works, he's impressed many with his latest effort. "It may not have the stellar Hollywood casts of his last couple of films, but it has the driving sense of purpose," wrote Nicholas Barber for the BBC. "It even has a proper screenplay, instead of hours of sleepy improvisation. The fact that it is gorgeous to look at is a bonus."
Cannes Film Festival handout
The letter adds: “Since the federal government has failed to pass reforms that raise the standard for gun ownership in America, large companies like Warner Brothers have a responsibility to act. We certainly hope that you do.”
Ms Phillips later told BBC News : “When I first saw the trailers of the movie, I was absolutely horrified. And when I dug a little deeper and found out that it had such unnecessary violence in the movie, it just chilled me to my bones.
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Try for free “It makes me angry that a major motion picture company isn’t taking responsibility and doesn’t have the concern of the public at all.”
In its response, Warner Bros said it has a “long history of donating to victims of violence”, including the Dark Knight Rises shooting.
“Make no mistake: neither the fictional character Joker, nor the film, is an endorsement of real-world violence of any kind. It is not the intention of the film, the filmmakers or the studio to hold this character up as a hero.”
Joker , which will be released on 4 October to the public, has been met with mixed reactions so far.
The film earned an eight-minute standing ovation during its premiere at the Venice Film Festival. However, Time film critic Stephanie Zacharek (a 2015 Pulitzer Prize finalist) said Phoenix’s character “could easily be adopted as the patron saint of incels “ and said the film was guilty of “aggressive and possibly irresponsible idiocy”.
Variety’s reviewer Owen Gleiberman said the film “does something that flirts with danger – it gives evil a clown-mask makeover, turning it into the sickest possible form of cool”.
Phoenix temporarily left an interview with The Telegraph
He later returned and told film critic Robbie Collin that he had been thrown by the question, because the issue hadn’t crossed his mind.
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