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| An oppressive, greyish beige color background instills a sense of gloom on this heavily costumed poster for Yorgos Lanthimos' The Favourite |
Early in the 18th century, Queen Anne of England begins to change favorites in her court, as the assertive, manipulative Sarah Churchill loses her grip on the queen's decisions - involving war with France and other matters of state - to an equally manipulative maid by the name of Abigail.
The Favourite is written by Deborah Davis and Tony McNamara (Love My Way (2004-07)), based on the actual Queen Anne (1665-1714) and her strange and difficult life, and directed by Greek master filmmaker Yorgos Lanthimos (Dogtooth/Kynodontas (2009)).
The film is not a comedic scream such as Lanthimos' best film in my opinion, the fiercely original and grotesque masterpiece The Lobster (2015), - but there is fun to be had for sure, and The Favourite effectively relocates us to a very different time, age and milieu, which is fascinating and highly ponderous. The costumes, hair and makeup are superb.
Rachel Weisz (Death Machine (1994)) and Emma Stone (La La Land (2016)) are both good as the scheming women; one inevitably outshines the other in unsympathetic imperialism. But Olivia Colman (Tyrannosaur (2011)) is outstanding as the poor center of the film; powerful as few but mired in painful ailments and grief. Her husband is non-existing in the film, and so she appears very much alone, SPOILER caught between a dominating acquaintance and a subservient one, - both insincere. The film has a couple of closeups of Colman's face, which become iconic for this wretch of a woman character, and which are among the film's best and most piercing moments.
The film is unusual because it is a plot triangle between three decisive women, a film without any male characters of note; the men in The Favourite strike one as impotent, inconsequential and ridiculous. SPOILER They are occupied by duck-racing, orange-throwing, makeup and whigs, while the women have overtaken hunting, policy-dictating - and lovemaking, although the film holds an alienated, physically-oriented view of sex. The familiar alienation that Lanthimos establishes makes the oppressive story somewhat thought-provoking; SPOILER its implications of human relationships' unbecoming similarities as roles of instructing and serving the other to the simple lives of rabbits are what it leaves us with.
Related posts:
Yorgos Lanthimos: The Killing of a Sacred Deer (2017) - Lanthimos' psycho-thriller turns out a twisted Greek tragedy
2015 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
The Lobster (2015) - Lantimos' absurd, hilarious, out of this world relationship fantasy
Dogtooth/Κυνόδοντας (Kynodontas) (2009) - Lanthimos establishes himself internationally with an unsettling family portrait
Watch a trailer for the film here
Cost: 15 mil. $
Box office: 76.7 mil. $ and counting
= Big hit (returned in 5.11 times its cost)
[The Favourite premiered 30 August (Venice Film Festival, Italy) and runs 120 minutes. The script was first written in 1998 by Davis, whose only produced screenplay it is. Facts on the life of Queen Anne can be read here. SPOILER: Concerning its accuracy: Queen Anne did lose 17 children; she did not replace them with rabbits; she was married to a Danish prince; and the sexual relationships depicted in the film between her and the two women is speculation. Shooting took place in England from March - May 2017. The wigs in the film reportedly had a trailer of their own. The film opened #19 to a 422k $ first weekend in 4 theaters in North America, - the year's highest per-theater average, - and peaked at #11 and in 1,540 theaters (different weeks) having grossed 31.3 mil. $ there to date. The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets have been the UK with 19.4 mil. $ (25.3 %) and Australia with 3.5 mil. $ (4.6 %). The film has yet to open in India, where it premieres 1 March. It is nominated for 10 Oscars: Best Screenplay, Production Design, Costume Design, Picture, Directing, Lead Actress, Supporting Actress (both Weisz and Stone), Cinematography (Robbie Ryan (Catch Me Daddy (2014))) and Editing. It won 1/5 Golden Globe nominations, 7/12 BAFTAs, an AFI award, 10/13 British Independent Film awards, is nominated for an Independent Spirit award, won 2 awards at the Venice Film Festival, and many other honors. Lanthimos has not announced his next film yet. Colman returned with 5 TV and short credits prior to theatrically in Them That Follow (2019), Weisz has not announced her next role yet, and Stone returned in Maniac (2018, TV-series), Paul McCartney: Who Cares (2018, music video) and theatrically likely first in Zombieland: Double Tap (2019). The Favourite is certified fresh at 94 % with an 8.5/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]
What do you think of The Favourite?
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