Happy


Updated: 31st October 2024

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9 / 10 (1_vote)Review to Rate 55      1 2191  1

Happy

Faneditor: MoviesRemastered  
Fanedit Type: FanFix
Fanedit Release Date: 12th October 2024
Fanedit Runtime: 2h:0m:0s
Time Cut: 0h:2m:0s
Time Added: 0h:2m:0s
Franchise: Joker
Genre: CrimeDramaThriller
Original Title: Joker (2019)   Batman (1989)   
Original Release Date: 1st January 2019
Original Runtime: 2h:2m:0s
Original Links:

Certificate: 18
Source: Blu-Ray
Resolution: 1080p
Sound Mix: 5.1. Channels
Language: English
Subtitles: No
 

Synopsis:

Arthur Fleck, a socially awkward man working as a clown-for-hire, dreams of becoming a stand-up comedian. While juggling his small advertising job, he also cares for his ailing mother, Penny Fleck. As Arthur delves deeper into his mental illness, he uncovers unsettling truths about his past. Battling constant ridicule and rejection from society, he spirals into darkness, eventually giving rise to his infamous alter ego, the "Joker."


Intentions:

While I didn’t dislike this movie when it was released, I felt it didn’t quite live up to the overwhelming hype. Arthur is portrayed as a loser too early, which sets the wrong tone for the audience from the start. In this edit, I aim to help viewers connect with Arthur on a deeper level, allowing them to experience his descent into madness more gradually, and in real time.



Change List:

• Insert MRDb Vintage Cassette Fanedit warning. • Add R rating - Violence notice. • Fade in new ominous score at the start. • Remove intro of Arthur at work. (Seeing Arthur as a clown too early makes him seem like a sad person, which I didn’t like as an introduction.) • Remove the attack on Arthur in the alleyway. (This scene makes the audience feel sorry for him too soon. I want viewers to understand his lifestyle first.) • Insert Arthur laughing at the therapist’s office. (Opening with this scene makes the audience feel uncomfortable, as they’re unaware of why he’s laughing unnaturally. This also allows viewers to judge Arthur based on their own personal views of therapy—some may see it as pointless, hopeless, or just sad. This new intro allows each viewer to perceive Arthur differently.) • Continue with Arthur on the bus. (We see he’s already struggling but still has a bit of spirit when the woman on the bus shouts at him. He talks back, which we don’t see him do later, as he loses confidence. This scene also shows Arthur just wants to make the child laugh, which helps the audience warm to him.) • Continue following Arthur to his apartment to see his home life. (We witness his depression grow as the story progresses, but we also sympathize with him through the way he cares for his mother.) • Transition from Arthur’s daydream about Murray hugging him into his work life. (Now we see that Arthur works as a clown and just wants to make people happy, further developing his story.) • Fade out score from the above scene into Arthur’s work scene for a seamless transition. • Add “A Movies Remastered fanedit” to the opening credits. • Add freeze-frame on Arthur lying in the alleyway. • Remove the “Joker” opening card. • Replace with “Happy” opening card. (I want to shift away from the name “Joker,” as this character isn’t the Batman Joker we expect. Using the title Happy gives a contrasting impression of a very depressing film.) • Fix audio for this edit. • Cut to Arthur aggressively stretching his clown shoe. (This shows Arthur trying to internalize his anger and hide his pain. This anger marks the beginning of his changing mindset.) • Remove the scene where Arthur’s neighbor asks if he was following her. (This scene didn’t sit well with me. In hindsight, it’s obviously in his head, but the way the relationship was introduced felt odd and pulled me out of the film.) • Fade out score from the above scene into the following shot. • Cut to Arthur in the children’s hospital. • Remove the neighbor shot at the comedy club. (Again, this felt odd, even in hindsight. I want to use her sparingly, only when Arthur is spiraling or in need of confidence. At this point, he still doesn’t realize he’s bombing on stage.) • Fix audio to hide the cut above. • Remove the neighbor kissing Arthur on the head at the hospital. (Arthur talking to her broke his delusion for me. I want her to appear only when he needs support.) • Remove the neighbor’s footsteps as she walks away. (Having no sound in the cutaway makes it jarring for the audience, revealing that she’s just in his imagination sooner than in the original. I felt this reveal was misplaced and unnecessary, giving the audience false hope for Arthur’s character.) • Fix the audio transition after removing the above scene. • Remove the scene of Arthur climbing into the refrigerator. (While this could have been an interesting scene, where Arthur tries to commit suicide in the slowest way possible, it didn’t land, as he’s completely fine in the next scene. I wish they fleshed out this idea more, or I would have kept it.) • Fix audio to transition into the next shot. • Remove flashbacks for the “bait and switch” moment with the audience. (This reveal didn’t land well and pulled me out of the movie. Revealing it earlier helps build tension and suspense around Arthur’s trespassing entrance.) • Retime Arthur pretending to blow his brains out. (Slowing this shot down not only hides the cuts above but adds more drama to the scene.) • Hard cut to black to indicate Arthur blacking out and killing his neighbors. (The blackout and fade-in happen on a natural beat, whereas the original just transitions to the next shot. This helps build suspense and leaves the audience’s imagination wandering.) • Insert walking shot from Batman (1989). • Color grade the above shot to match the film. • Fix audio for the following added shots. (This was tricky, as the main score and crowd sounds were in all channels, making it difficult to blend and isolate them.) • Insert Wayne turning around shot. • Cut to Jack shooting from Batman (1989). • Color grade the above shot to match the film. • Retime the shot of the pearls breaking. • Fix audio to blend the cuts above. • Add the shot of pearls hitting the floor from Batman (1989). • Color grade the above shot to match the film. • Add a close-up of Jack firing the gun again from Batman (1989). • Color grade the above shot to match the film. • Add a shot of young Bruce getting blood splattered on his face from the original film. • Add a shot of Jack hiding in the shadows from Batman (1989). • Color grade the above shot to match the film. • Retime Martha being shot and falling to the ground from the original. • Add Jack saying, “Ever dance with the devil by the pale moonlight?” from Batman (1989). • Color grade the above shot to match the film. • Transition the original score into Batman (1989) audio. • Add a close-up of the clown mask from the original. • Retime the above shot to mimic the slow-mo shot from Batman (1989). • Add a close-up of Jack coming out of the shadows and smiling at Bruce from Batman (1989). • Color grade the above shot to match the film. • Reverse the footage of the clown mask close-up from the original to show it retreating. • Add Jack saying, “See you around, kid!” (This now links Batman (1989) to this storyline. I understand it doesn’t fit with both movies, but I liked the idea of connecting them, especially since Joker wasn’t expected to have a sequel at the time.) • Color grade the above shot to match the film. • Add a shot of Bruce standing over his parents as the camera pulls away. • Fix the audio transition into the crowd scene. (Adding delay, reverb, and distortion to create an eerie transition.) • Remove Bruce standing over his parents, indicating this is all in Arthur’s mind and not reality. • Fix the audio for the above cut. • Add “Fanedit by Movies Remastered” to the end credits. • Add MR Vintage outro video. • Color grade the above shot to match the film’s yellow tones. • Insert MRDb Vintage Cassette.


Other Sources:

Available only on MR Discord to Initiate members who own the source material. Invite link here: https://discord.gg/EBdQVXhDUh


Reddit Post


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