ARTNEWSPRESS : Acclaimed actor Joaquin Phoenix is set to be recognized for his contributions to the film industry on Monday, September 9 at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival. As a part of the annual gala event, Toronto Film Festival co-heads Joana Vicente and Cameron Bailey have announced that Phoenix will be the recipient of a TIFF Tribut Actor Award. The award serves as a way of honoring Phoenix’s 35-year career, during which time the actor has delivered knock-out performances in films such as Ridley Scott’s GLADIATOR, James Mangold’s Johnny Cash biopic WALK THE LINE, and THE MASTER, among many others.
This year, TIFF will play host to the premiere of Todd Phillips’ JOKER, a different kind of superhero film in which Phoenix plays Arthur Fleck, who after a lifetime of hard lessons reluctantly learned, transforms into the iconic DC villain known to all as The Joker. Early word pertaining to Phillips’ film hails it as “a cinematic achievement on a high level,” with Phoenix at the center of its greatness. JOKER also stars Robert De Niro, Zazie Beetz, Brian Tyree Henry, and Frances Conroy, who will each serve to bring Arthur’s tragic downward spiral to the big screen this fall.
“Displaying both raw instinct and consummate technical skill, Joaquin Phoenix is the complete actor, and one of the finest in contemporary cinema,” said Bailey. “Over three decades, he has brought a piercing truth to each groundbreaking role. TIFF is thrilled to be celebrating an artist of his calibre with this inaugural award. We can’t wait for Festival audiences to experience his electric turn in Joker.”
Could it be that Phillips’ JOKER is a prime candidate for multiple noms come Awards season? Will Phoenix’s performance as one of the most notorious madmen of DC’s Batverse become the stuff of legend? We’ll have to wait until October to find out for ourselves, though we should have a better idea as to the film’s quality once it makes its TIFF premiere in early September.
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Steve Seigh
