Fans have been reacting to Joker: Folie à Deux director Todd Phillips’ decision to cut a scene where Lady Gaga kisses another woman.
The sequel to 2019’s Joker was released on Friday (October 4), and catches up with Joaquin Phoenix’s Arthur Fleck, aka the Joker, while he is a patient at a mental health facility after the events of the first film. He falls in love with Lady Gaga’s Harleen ‘Lee’ Quinzel, aka Harley Quinn.
And now, in a new interview with Entertainment Weekly, Phillips has given his explanation for why a scene in which Lee kisses a woman in a group of protesters outside a courthouse did not make it into the final cut.
The scene would have taken place just before one of Fleck’s court appearances, as he is being prosecuted for the crimes he committed in the original film. Phillips confirmed that Gaga improvised the kiss scene, but felt he had to leave it out to help the film’s flow.
“It had dialogue in it, and, all of a sudden, I wanted it to be more of a music and vibe moment,” Phillips said. “For that moment to have played, it needed dialogue behind it. Meaning, the woman said something, and then Gaga stopped and did this thing, and it just kind of got in the way of the moment.”
Some fans of the film are less than thrilled by Phillips’ decision, with one X user claiming it was the “worst decision he could’ve ever made”, and another labelling it a “pretty much bad decision”.
worst decision he could’ve ever made
— ً (@americanreqiuem) October 7, 2024
Pretty much bad decision 🙄
— TulasiPrasad_77 (@RoyalsTulasi) October 7, 2024
Another X user wrote: “So many unnecessary scenes in the film but let’s cut gaga trying to show us harley’s bisexuality and personality…she understands harley better than him.”
so many unnecessary scenes in the film but let’s cut gaga trying to show us harley’s bisexuality and personality… she understands harley better than himpic.twitter.com/TRt7Fcvphw
— pop culture gal (@allurequinn) October 7, 2024
I can’t believe Todd Phillips use the word vibe. This is exactly what most people are complaining about: too many vibes at not enough dialogue.
The Joker barely has any dialogue in the beginning of the film. Even when Joker is being interviewed by the psychiatrist, he says… pic.twitter.com/ILdPYPJDT5
— urban myths, legends (@urbanmyths) October 7, 2024
The film has endured a tough opening weekend at the box office, taking an estimated $40million domestically, well short of its initial projections. Warner Bros. Pictures are said to be “stunned and sorely disappointed” by the results. It has also earned a ‘D’ score on CinemaScore, the first comic book movie ever to be rated so low.
In a four-star review of Folie à Deux, NME wrote: “As with the original movie, the film looks gorgeous throughout, with cinematographer Lawrence Sher making strong use of colour and conjuring up some beautiful images – highlights include an overhead shot of some umbrellas (referencing Jacques Demy’s 1964 musical The Umbrellas Of Cherbourg) and a stunningly lit frame of Arthur lighting a cigarette in his prison cell that resembles a lovingly illustrated comic book panel.
“In short, Phillips and Silver have delivered the last thing anyone expected: a socially responsible Joker movie that finds an intriguing way to explore the consequences (both on and offscreen) of the first film. Joker fans shouldn’t cry too hard though – Warner Bros. have cleverly found a way to leave the door open a little for the franchise to continue, should the need arise.”
In August, Phillips suggested that Folie à Deux will be the final film in his Joker franchise: “It was fun to play in this sort of sandbox for two movies, but I think we’ve said what we wanted to say in this world.”
He also revealed that scenes from the film were “very often” re-written in Phoenix’s trailer at the last minute during the shooting of the film.
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