Review Detail

At the beginning of the 2nd Act, the opening titles that remain (because that scene is at the start of the original film) are a bit weird and out-of-place, but they would be hard to remove without destroying that important section. Also, a couple of audio edits were a bit too obvious, maybe they were intentional but still seemed a tiny bit too much.

Now the (many) good parts. The non-linearity here works wonders, because the viewer experiences a portion of what’s happening inside Arthur’s head.

Joaquin Phoenix’s performance is a tour de force and I believe that is even more highlighted by the new four-Act structure. The narrative flow is now brilliant. It’s a different film, a different story and that births several different new perspectives on an insanely complex personality. Also, excluding Sophie was absolutely the right choice.

What an experience of cinema this edit has created; it morphed from an original film that didn’t really click for me (something seemed wrong about the pacing…) to a display of good narrative structure and storytelling.

Many thanks!