The King of Comedy (1982) and Other Cinematic Influences

[Silver Nemesis]

The first connection to highlight between The King of Comedy and Joker is the involvement of Martin Scorsese in both films. Scorsese directed TKOC and was at one point attached to produce Joker before eventually departing from the project. The influence of his work, and particularly TKOC, is plainly visible in the finished product.

Both films are set against a grounded urban backdrop during the early 1980s. The main character in both movies is an aspiring comic who lives with his mother (in the case of TKOC, his mother might be a figment of his imagination). Both characters wear a red suit when they appear on television towards the end of the film.

Rupert Pupkin, like Arthur Fleck, is obsessed with a late night talk show host: Jerry Langford/Murray Franklin.

Pupkin in TKOC is portrayed by Robert De Niro, who also plays Murray in Joker. Rupert/Arthur fantasises about interacting with Jerry/Murray, and we see these delusions play out on screen. The line between fantasy and reality is blurred in both films.

Rupert/Arthur even role-plays imaginary interviews with his idol in the privacy of his home.

At one point Rupert/Arthur performs his stand-up routine, but his words are drowned out with non-diegetic audio so we don't get to hear his act.

Rupert/Arthur falls in love with an attractive woman and ends up drawing her into his fantasies. She eventually realises how deluded he is and is freaked out by his behaviour.

Both films contain a memorable scene where the main character makes a work-related call from a public telephone. Neither call ends well for the protagonist.

Arthur's obsession with Thomas Wayne also has parallels with Rupert's obsession with Jerry in TKOC. At one point Rupert/Arthur makes an uninvited visit to the home of Jerry/Thomas and interacts with his butler.

In another scene Rupert/Arthur tries confronting Jerry/Thomas at a public venue and ends up being forcibly ejected from the premises by security. The scene of Arthur being thrown out of the cinema by security is absent from the theatrical cut of Joker, but was included in the trailer.

Arthur/Rupert ultimately resorts to extreme measures that entail confronting his idol with a pistol. Rupert merely kidnaps Jerry at gunpoint, while Arthur goes so far as to shoot Murray in the head.

Rupert and Arthur both achieve their dream of appearing on their idol's TV show towards the end of the film, though in doing so both perpetrate a crime that results in their incarceration. Both characters also use aliases that correspond with playing cards: Rupert uses the alias 'King' after kidnapping Jerry, while Arthur asks Murray to introduce him as 'Joker' when he appears on his show.

The final shot of the film where Joker is being chased back and forth by the Arkham staff evokes a scene in the middle of TKOC where Rupert is being chased by the security guards at Jerry's office. In both scenes we have a static shot of a hallway as the characters run in and out of shot in a comical fashion.

I'll quickly note some possible references to other films.

The scene where Arthur is posturing with the gun in his apartment has obvious similarities with the famous "You talking to me?" scene from Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver (1976). Both films focus on a mentally-unstable loner whose obsessive behaviour includes stalking and ultimately leads to violence.

Some of the visuals in Joker are indebted to Paul Leni's The Man Who Laughs (1928), such as the scenes of Arthur applying his makeup in front of a mirror, or the scenes where he's simultaneously laughing and crying.

There are some notable similarities between Arthur Fleck and Norman Bates in Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho (1960). Both are shy, isolated and sexually unfulfilled men who are loyally devoted to their mother until they snap and commit matricide. Both have previously spent time in a mental institute, having suffered abuse at the hands of their mother, and both become fixated on a young woman whom they eventually kill (or so it's implied in Joker). Arthur discovers that Penny is not his biological mother but instead someone who adopted him at a young age. Norman discovers the same thing in Richard Franklin's Psycho II (1983) when his biological mother shows up and tells him the truth about the woman who raised him. After learning the truth, Norman and Arthur both proceed to murder their mothers in cold blood.

William Friedkin's The French Connection (1971) has been cited as another cinematic influence. The sequence in Friedkin's film where Charnier eludes his police tail by boarding a train foreshadows a similar scene in Joker where Arthur boards a train to escape the police officers who are following him.

Sidney Lumet's Dog Day Afternoon (1975) has also been cited as an influence on Joker. In both films, the criminal acts of the main protagonist inadvertently inspire the sympathies of the public to an extent that crowds assemble on the streets to cheer them on.

Another Sidney Lumet film, Network (1976), ends with one of the main characters, a provocative television personality, being shot dead in front of a live audience while recording his TV show. The film then cuts to a bank of television screens showing different channels as the news of his assassination is reported, exactly like Joker does after Murray's death.

I'm sure there are other films referenced in Joker. If anyone can think of any, add them to this thread.

[The Joker]

Well done, SN. Well done.

[thecolorsblend]

Why oh why please tell me why did I never comment on this?

Great job, SN. I went on a minor Scorsese deep dive around the time JOKER started shooting. TKOC was an early standout in no small part because of how underrated it is. As it happens, TKOC is the most obvious influence on JOKER in my mind so unfortunately I have nothing else to add. But thx for sending the rest of us to school in any case.

[thecolorsblend]

From the movie's wiki page:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joker_(2019_film)

One of the most important inspiration affected behavior of Arthur is Little Tramp in Modern Times. Phillips confirmed that his ridiculous movement was referred from Charlie Chaplin, in commentary video of Vanity Fair.

https://www.insider.com/joker-dc-references-easter-eggs-breakdown-2019-10

Phoenix revealed that Arthur's dance was inspired by that of Ray Bolger, while the gesture making smile by two fingers was from scarecrow in The Wizard of Oz.

https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2019/10/joaquin-phoenix-cover-story

https://www.buzzfeed.com/crystalro/joker-behind-the-scenes-facts