The upcoming comic book caper, Birds of Prey, will be the first time that the superhero team has appeared on the big screen. Told from Harley Quinn’s point of view, it was important for the story that she be free, single and separate from her overbearing on-again-off-again paramour, The Joker.
During CCXP, the Joker and Harley break-up scene was shown off to the crowd. Now, the movie’s producer and star, Margot Robbie, has opened up about why the character needed to ditch the Clown Prince of Crime.
“Something I explored a lot in Suicide Squad, the first film, was Harley’s co-dependence with The Joker, and obviously he has a huge influence on her. But obviously she was very much in a relationship with him when we first saw Harley on screen in Suicide Squad. I did want to explore what is the version of Harley out of a relationship, and whether she’s out of relationship on her own accord, or if he kind of kicked her to the curb. It still affects her, but in a very different way, and I thought we’d see a very different facet of her personalities. ‘Personalities’ I would say, cause I think she has multiple.”
Aside from confirming again that The Joker’s presence in the movie will be largely absent, the actress asserts the sheer craziness of Harley by addressing her multiple personalities. Robbie then went on to explain how Harley will be different away from her beloved Mr. J, and that not only will her look be very different, but her behaviour and outlook too.
“I’d say her aesthetic is kind of dictated on her relationship status and whether she’s in a relationship with Joker, which, you’re gonna get the version of Harley that you see in Suicide Squad, and then this version, where she’s clearly not with the Joker and it is erratic and it’s different. But also the world in general, and therefore everyone else’s kind of looks for the film, was created by women.”
Continuing on the subject of the movie’s aesthetics, Robbie shed a light on her conversations with costume designer Erin Benach, and how they decided on a heightened visual pallette, whilst still trying to keep everything grounded. You can see some of this work in the recent Birds of Prey CCXP posters released over the weekend.
“When we first spoke, a lot of her inspiration were films that feel like a heightened version of reality, but can also exist in a world that isn’t too jarring, that you disassociate with immediately. Like, Fight Club, for example, is something that she mentioned, where you’re like, ‘Oh, I’m pretty sure that they all dress normal’ and then you look at a snapshot of Fight Club and you’re like, Brad Pitt’s wearing a flowery pink bath robe and it is quite out there and bright and colorful and strange, but it does feel grounded at the same time.”
During the same discussion, director Cathy Yan also stressed the importance of Harley being by herself, away from the toxic relationship with The Joker, and how current events seeped into her approach when pitching and making the movie.
“I very much have gone through that arc myself, and I’ve seen it with especially, I think, set against the backdrop of Me Too, and what has been happening in our industry in the last few years. So that definitely infiltrated its way into my pitch as well. For me this film was so much more than a superhero film about the first girl or any of that. It really has a compelling narrative and theme to it that is very, very personal to me.”
It won’t be long before audiences get to see an untethered Harley Quinn and her Birds of Prey pals as the film is scheduled for release on February 7, 2020. Cinemablend.
