(into phone)
*
Yes.
*
Joker looks down at the cat purring at his feet, and kicks it *
away.
*
SHOW BOOKER (OVER PHONE)
*
Hi Arthur. Well, as I was saying--
*
we've gotten a lot of calls about
*
your clip, amazing responses. And,
*
Murray asked if I would reach out
*
to see if you would come on as his
*
guest. Can we set up a day?
*
PUSH IN ON JOKER'S FACE, as it sinks in.
*
JOKER
*
(into phone)
*
Murray wants me to come on the
*
show?
*
SHOW BOOKER (OVER PHONE)
*
Yes. Isn't that great? He'd love to
*
talk to you, maybe do some of your
*
act. Does that sound good to you?
*
85.
As the PUSH IN ON JOKER finishes.
*
Hold.
*
84
INT. CITY HOSPITAL, HOSPITAL ROOM (SHARED) - MORNING
84
JOKER WALKS INTO HIS MOTHER'S SHARED HOSPITAL ROOM, passing
an elderly wheezing woman in the bed closest to the door.
Sees his mom in her bed by the window.
He pulls the blue curtain separating the beds, giving him and
his mother some privacy. Sits down on the edge of her bed.
She smiles when she sees him. Still fairly incapacitated.
He leans down close to her. Speaks softly, but filled with
rage--
JOKER
Ma, remember how you used to tell
me that God gave me this laugh for
a reason. That I had a purpose. To
bring laughter and joy into this
fucked up world,--
She looks at him confused.
*
JOKER
HA! It wasn't God, it was you or,
*
or one of your boyfriends,-- how
*
could you let that happen? What
kind of woman are you? What kind of
mother are you?
She looks away.
JOKER
What's my real name?
Her whole body is shaking, overwhelmed with emotion.
JOKER
C'mon, Ma, I know I was adopted.
What's my name? Who am I really?
She looks back him, struggles to speak--
MOM
H-h-happ--
JOKER
(interrupting, snaps at
her) (MORE)
86.
JOKER (CONT’D)
Happy?! I'm not happy. I haven’t
been happy for one minute of my
entire fucking life.
He reaches behind her, grabs one of her pillows--
JOKER
But you know what's funny? You know
what really makes me laugh?
Leans down closer, face-to-face with her--
JOKER
I used to think my life was nothing
but a tragedy, but now, now I
realize it's all just a fucking
*
comedy.
85
INT. BLUE CURTAIN, HOSPITAL ROOM (SHARED) - CONTINUOUS
85
Other side of the blue divider curtain. We see Joker's feet
shifting a little.
SLOWLY WE PULL OUT, backing out of the room. Leaving behind
whatever Joker's doing to his mother on the other side of the
curtain. And we HEAR applause...
*
86
INT. MOM'S APARTMENT, LIVING ROOM - NIGHT
86
*
JOKER'S STUDYING VHS TAPES OF "MURRAY FRANKLIN LIVE!", studio *
audience applauding Murray... He jots down notes in his worn
*
notebook... Watches the guests come out... how they cross the *
stage... how they greet Murray... how they sit down... if
*
they cross their legs or not... studying how he should act,
*
how to be a person like other people.
*
His cat sits on top of the TV watching him the whole time,
*
never taking her eyes off him.
JUMP CUT:
Practicing. Joker walks across the living room like he's on
the show, smiling, waving to the "audience"... He mimes shaking Murray's hand... Mimes unbuttoning his jacket and
sits down. He smiles and pulls out his worn notebook from his *
pocket--
*
JOKER
*
You wanna hear a joke, Murray?
*
He "waits" for Murray to answer. Then Joker nods okay and
*
opens his notebook--
*
87.
JOKER
*
(reading)
*
Knock-knock.
*
His cat still watching him, now at his feet. Joker crosses
and uncrosses his legs... Looks uncomfortable.
He glances down at his cat. It's as if he can hear the cat
talking to him.
JOKER
(nods; frustrated)
Yeah, I don't know if I should
cross or uncross 'em. Both feel
completely unnatural.
Joker gets up off the couch and walks back across the living
*
room. Waves to the "audience"... Mimes shaking Murray's hand... Mimes unbuttoning his coat and sits down... Crosses
his legs.
JOKER
Thanks for having me on, Murray. I
*
can't tell you how much this means
*
to me, it's been a life long dream.
*
I have a joke for you--
*
Joker stands back up.
Looks down at the cat again.
JOKER
You're right. You're right,
uncrossed is better.
Joker sits back down... Doesn't cross his legs this time.
CUT TO:
87
EXT. POTTER'S FIELD CEMETERY - DUSK
87
WIDE SHOT, a lone figure in a vast sea of mass graves, grey
*
headstones. This is where they bury the poor and the
unclaimed dead.
Joker stands by his mother's grave. His head bowed, face in
his hands, his body convulsing. He's dressed in an ill-
fitting faded rust colored suit, almost shiny from all the
wear. Behind him in the distance, the TWO DETECTIVES stand by
their parked car on the cemetery roadway. Sun dying in the
sky.
88.
CLOSE ON JOKER'S FACE BURIED IN HIS HANDS, see he's laughing--
impossible to tell if he's laughing because of his condition
or laughing for real.
88
EXT. ROADWAY, POTTER'S FIELD CEMETERY - DUSK
88
Joker walking away from his mother's grave, goes to the two
detectives -- GARRITY and BURKE -- waiting for him by their
unmarked car. His face is still red, tears in his eyes from
laughing.
JOKER
(wiping his eyes;
restrained anger)
You shouldn't be here. It's not
right.
DET. GARRITY
We ju
st came to pay our respects.
Sorry about your mother.
DET. BURKE
Yeah, it's too bad.
Joker just stares at the two detectives.
Awkward beat.
DET. BURKE
Where is everybody?
JOKER
It's always been just me and her.
Joker pauses for a moment, then starts to walk away.
DET. BURKE
(calls out)
We saw you on Murray Franklin.
Joker turns back to them.
JOKER
You saw that?
DET. GARRITY
Yeah. Heard you were on, so we got
a videotape.
DET. BURKE
I just couldn't tell if you were
actually trying to be funny or not.
89.
JOKER
Yeah, well I guess you didn't get
the joke.
DET. GARRITY
Listen, we need to clear a few
things up, we spoke to the hospital
administrator--
JOKER
(interrupting)
Which hospital?
DET. BURKE
The Children's Hospital.
(reminding)
The night you were fired. He said
it didn't look like a prop gun, it
was heavy, like a real one. We have
some more questions for you.
JOKER
I just buried my mother.
The detectives share a look. Garrity pulls out a card. Hands
it to Joker.
DET. GARRITY
We can do it tomorrow. But you need
to come down to the precinct--
first thing in the morning.
JOKER
(looks down, reading the
card)
Right. Thanks for coming.
DET. BURKE
Of course.
Joker looks back up.
JOKER
That was a joke.
We hear applause followed by the familiar opening riff to
ELTON JOHN'S "Bennie & the Jets".
89
INT. MOM'S APARTMENT, BATHROOM - NEXT AFTERNOON
89
*
JOKER'S LEANING OVER THE BATHROOM SINK, water running. He's
wearing rust colored pants and a white "beater" T-shirt.
90.
A "Joker" clown mask hangs off the dirty mirror by its elastic band. "Bennie & the Jets" blaring from a transistor radio turned all the way up.
Joker lifts his head up. He's dyed his hair green like his
old "Mr. Jingles" clown wig-- but he's missed spots. Some of his hair is still its original color, sticking out all helter-skelter.
JUMP CUT:
Now he's smearing white grease-paint all over his face.
He's dancing along to the music, gyrating and thrusting his
hips to the beat, as he glances at the mask hanging from the
mirror, trying to copy how it looks... A copy of a copy of
himself.
He barely hears someone banging on the front door over the
loud music--
Doesn't answer. Joker just keeps putting on his make-up,
dancing provocatively to the music.
More banging on the front door.
Joker casually opens the medicine cabinet. Finds some old
rusty scissors and turns the radio off--
90
INT. FRONT DOOR, MOM'S APARTMENT - AFTERNOON
90
*
Joker unlocks the locks, keeping the security chain latched,
*
and cracks open the door,-- Sees Randall. Looks down, and
*
sees Gary next to him. Undoes the chain and opens the door
*
for them--
*
Randall and Gary get a look at Joker's face, his dyed green
*
hair still wet, streaking white grease-paint smeared over
*
part of his face--
*
GARY
(re: his look)
Hey Arthur, how's it going? You get
a new gig?
Joker shakes his head no, steps aside so they can come in,
*
palming the scissors in his hand--
RANDALL
You must be goin' down to that
rally at City Hall. Right? I hear
it's gonna be nuts.
91.
JOKER
Is that today?
Randall looks at him and laughs--
RANDALL
Yeah. What's with the clown-face
then?
Joker shuts the door behind them. Locks the chain-lock.
JOKER
My mom died.
RANDALL
*
(nodding)
*
Yeah we heard. That's why we're
*
here. Figured you might wanna go
*
out, get a drink or something?
*
Joker doesn't answer.
*
Awkward beat.
*
GARY
*
We don't wanna bother you. Randall
*
just thought we should come and pay
*
our respects.
*
RANDALL
*
Yeah, we're family. We gotta stick
*
together.
*
Joker stares at Randall.
*
JOKER
*
(beat)
*
It's not a good time. I'm in the
*
middle of something here.
*
GARY
*
Of course. No problem. Another
*
time.
*
Gary turns to go. Randall pauses for a moment, has something
*
else to say before he leaves--
*
RANDALL
*
Yeah. Another time, then. Oh hey,--
*
one other thing--
*
He takes a step closer to Joker--
*
92.
RANDALL
*
Listen, the cops have been poking
*
around the shop, they're talking to
*
all the clowns about those subway
*
murders and--
*
GARY
*
(interrupting)
*
They didn't talk to me.
*
RANDALL
*
(snaps at Gary)
*
That's because the suspect was a
*
regular-sized person. If it was a
*
fucking midget you'd be in jail
*
right now.
*
(turns back to Joker)
*
Anyway, Hoyt said they were looking
*
for me, and, and I just wanna see
*
what you said. You know, make sure
*
our stories line up, bein' that
*
you're my boy and--
*
AND JOKER STABS THE SCISSORS AS DEEP AS HE CAN into Randall's *
neck. Blood spurts. Randall screams. Gary stumbles back in
*
shock--
*
GARY
(screaming)
What the fuck what the fuck WHAT
THE FUCK--
Joker pulls them out and jams them into Randall's eye before
background--
Randall blindly fights back, screaming in pain, flailing his
arms, his own blood blinding him--
Joker grabs Randall by the head -- all of his pent up rage
and frustration pouring out of him -- AND SLAMS HIS HEAD
AGAINST THE WALL.
AGAIN. And AGAIN. And AGAIN.
Joker lets go of Randall's head, and Randall drops to the
ground. Joker leans back against the wall, out of breath,
kind of slides down the wall to the floor--
Sees Gary huddled in the corner, trembling with fear--
93.
JOKER
(catching his breath)
I'm gonna be on TV tonight. Can you
believe it?
Gary doesn't answer. Doesn't move--
JOKER
It's okay, Gary. You can go.
Gary backs away toward the door. Joker sits there for a
moment, breathing heavy, wipes Randall's blood off his face--
GARY (OS)
Hey, Art?
Joker turns, sees Gary at the front door. He points up high
to the chain-lock. He can't reach it.
Joker just shakes his head to himself and gets up to unlock
the door.
He walks past Gary who's still trembling almost too afraid to
look up at him. Joker leans over him and undoes the chain,
opens the door. Gary bolts, running down the hallway as fast
as he can--
CUT TO:
91
INT. MOM'S BEDROOM, APARTMENT - LATE AFTERNOON
91
*
(Over the following, we don't see Joker's face. We don't
reveal his finished "look" just yet.)
CLOSE PICKING UP HIS NOTEBOOK, fanning through the pages--
*
Pausing at the BLACK & WHITE RIPPED PHOTO OF BRUCE WAYNE for a moment. Continues, stopping at the same entry from the
opening scene--
CLOSE ON WORDS, "I just hope my death make more sense than my life."
92
INT. LIVING ROOM, MOM'S APARTMENT - LATE AFTERNOON
92
*
CLOSE ON TAKING RANDALL'S WALLET OUT OF HIS BLOOD SOAKED
*
PANTS, pocketing all the cash.
CLOSE ON BUTT OF A GUN STICKING OUT OF RANDALL'S WAISTBAND,
*
glimpse Joker's hand reaching for it--
*
94.
93
INT. KITCHEN, MOM'S APARTMENT - LATE AFTERNOON
93
*
JOKER'S P.O.V. FINISHING WRITING A NOTE, "On Murray Franklin
*
Tonight -- Please Watch!"
*
CLOSE ON STUFFING THE NOTE AND ALL OF RANDALL'S MONEY into an *
envelope--
*
TURNING ENVELOPE OVER, WRITING "SOPHIE" on the front.
*
94
INT. LIVING ROOM WINDOW, MOM'S APARTMENT - LATE AFTERNOON 94
*
CLOSE ON THE ORANGE CAT AT THE WINDOW, and maybe if we're
looking close enough we notice something strange... the cat
has no reflection.
ANGLE OVER JOKER'S SHOULDER OPENING THE WINDOW, shooing the
*
cat out onto the fire escape, out into the dying day--
*
JOKER (OS)
Go on. Go. You're free.
The Joker (2019) Script Page 9