Joker: Folie à Deux's Look Is Inspired By One Of Francis Ford Coppola's Most Beautiful Films

Few films have set the internet on fire like "Joker" did back in 2019. First, there was the hand-wringing over its potential to inspire real-world violence — thankfully, there was none. Then there was the divisive reception, with some heralding the film as a bleak, violent masterpiece. Others saw it as a wannabe serious character study more focused on seeming important than actually having anything of value to say. The only thing everyone agreed on? "Joker" didn't borrow from Martin Scorsese's "Taxi Driver" and "The King of Comedy" so much as it stole the pants right off them.

In the end, director Todd Phillips got the last laugh (pun not intended so much as unavoidable). "Joker" grossed over a billion dollars, took home Oscars for Joaquin Phoenix's performance and Hildur Guðnadóttir's score, and is now getting a sequel titled "Joker: Folie à Deux." Once again directed by Phillips from a script he wrote with "Joker" scribe Scott Silver, the film casts Lady Gaga as Harley Quinn — the Joker's psychiatrist-turned-paramour who often finds herself the target of his vindictive, abusive whims. Phillips is also developing the film as a musical, so it's a safe bet he's going to borrow heavily from Scorsese's own musical drama about a volatile, toxic romance: 1977's "New York, New York."

It turns out, that's not the only musical about a tumultuous relationship that's inspiring "Folie à Deux." In an interview with YouTuber Matti Haapoja, the film's cinematographer Lawrence Sher (who previously shot "Joker") said he spent a lot of time looking at "One From the Heart" while working out its aesthetics. Never heard of "One From the Heart?" Well, there's a reason for that.

"One From the Heart" is the film that forever changed the trajectory of Francis Ford Coppola's career. The filmmaker was coming off four all-time classics back-to-back ("The Godfather," "The Conversation," "The Godfather Part II," "Apocalypse Now") when he decided to make a lavishing musical — one which he financed through his own Zoetrope Studios — about a pair of lovers residing in Las Vegas who call it quits after five years and set out to enjoy a wild Fourth of July with their potential new partners. 

Like many of Coppola's more ambitious undertakings, "One From the Heart" proved to be way more expensive and labor-intensive to realize than originally expected. It was also a major box office flop, forcing Coppola to spend years getting by as a glorified director-for-hire just to pull himself out of debt. All the same, it's one of the most incredible-looking films of his career and a fitting influence for "Joker: Folie à Deux," given their similarities. 

According to Lawrence Sher, the images in Coppola's musical "became a conversation starter for me and Mark Friedberg the production designer and Todd [Phillips] as we scouted in those early days." He added:

"Even if it's not a reference that you're going to take on set and say 'I want it to look like that,' it's like brain food. It's dream food."

Personally, I wasn't that high on "Joker." It's brutal and disturbing, sure, but much like the Joker himself, it doesn't believe in anything. You could reasonably argue that's the point, but Phillips sure seems to think he's saying something profound as you watch it. Still, these specific musical influences have me curious to see how "Folie à Deux" shakes out, if perhaps against my better judgment. 

"Joker: Folie à Deux" dances its way down a flight of stairs and into theaters on October 4, 2024.