The Favourite- A Complex and Compelling Masterpiece
Having high expectations can often damage your opinion of a film, hence the tremendous backlash over each Star Wars or Marvel film as people tend to play into the hype to the point they will be disappointed either way. For me, I’ve been excitingly awaiting Yorgos Lanthimos’ latest film with eager anticipation, having loved The Lobster and being a bit disappointed with Killing of a Sacred Deer I wanted to see if he could deliver with his latest film. And he really really delivers with this gorgeous, bizarre and precise film that may be one of the best directed films of recent memory.
The Favourite takes place in 18th Century England and revolves around a complex conflict between three women in power. It surprised me that Lanthimos chose to do a period piece (very) loosely based on real events, due to the often unfamiliar worlds he creates, but with The Favourite, he leans into the absurd eccentricity and fills this world to the brim with surreal unfamiliarity for some hilarious moments. This is Lanthimos’ first film where he wasn’t the screenwriter and that actually pays to his advantage, he has such a distinct and unique style with his deadpan and matter of fact writing, but with this film, he let’s loose and the script flows much better than his previous films. The Favourite has this mesmerising ability to use dialogue to take you off guard, consistently surprising you with hilarious lines and unexpected moments. This results in a film brimming with chaotic energy, every minute detail of this film overwhelms the audience to create this spectacle of filmmaking. There is, with every Lanthimos film, a third act pacing issue, the film seems to be anticipating its spectacular ending moment too much that it rushes through a few final moments, but that ending shot is incredible.
Olivia Colman has been of my favourite Actors for a while now, she’s an extremely underrated performer who has such a skill to be able to simultaneously perform in serious dramas and ridiculous comedies. This is her film. Her performance astounded me, she plays such a complex character that needs to be comedic yet create a tremendous amount pathos, and she manages to do this without her character ever feeling inconsistent. I distinctly remember several moments where she brought tears to my eyes with just a facial expression. Emma Stone and Rachel Weisz exhibit two stellar performances. Stone manages to show this excellent progression to her character as her relationship with Queen Anne develops her character goes through this incredible transformation communicates by the minute detail in Stone's performance. Weisz surprised me with a blend of distinct character traits and a surprising amount of range, she has to create this character that can easily be one-note but elevates her to becoming a complex and interesting character. The script pushes the actors a lot, Deborah Davis and Tony McNamara who wrote the screenplay, clearly rely a lot on subtext and subtlety. The number of substantial silences that have to communicate a lot are completely reliant on the performer's acting ability for it to work, and it wouldn’t work without these three stellar performances.
It takes a lot to be able to pull of a setting like this and maintain Lanthimos' tone, but the visual aesthetic of this film is revolutionary. The production design and set dressing stands out as consistently fun and has so much fun and care put into it. Each location is extravagant and just overwhelming to the eyes, sparks of incoherent colour and wealth covering every inch of certain locations. But cleverly, we see some of the poorer parts of the mansion that feel grim and open, seeming noticeably bare and claustrophobic in comparison to the lavish rooms upstairs. It’s such excellent visual storytelling to be able to subtly show a class divide through simple set design. I have very limited knowledge of fashion and costume design but this is an example of costume design that adds to the tone and story fantastically. Each costume is full of this heightened extravagance, from the politician's ridiculous wigs and comedic indulgence everything feels beautiful yet a satirical look at the time periods ideas of what power and class means.
But the films real standout element is the gorgeous cinematography from Robbie Ryan. He is primarily known for his work on British Social Realism, as the DOP of films such as Fishtank and the outstanding I, Daniel Blake. But this is his first adventure into big-budget experimental film and he really has fun with the style of the film. There is this fantastic blend of observational grand shots, where the camera lets the whole scene play out from this fixed lower point before panning and moving, tracking characters’ movements and precisely showing specific parts. I adore the way this film is shot, he experiments with a fisheye lens and utilises precise movements to his advantage. With this amazing cinematography comes with incredible editing from Yorgos Mavropsaradis who seems to know exactly what to show, when to cut to a reaction close up or when to let the shot tell its story. It’s a remarkable level of precision that makes this film look so gorgeous, there is effort put into every single moment and scene that blew me away.
Lanthimos as a filmmaker is very polarizing and I can see this film being equally polarizing. But that’s only because it feels so unique and experimental with what it shows. I loved the experience of viewing this film, I loved marvelling at the performances, I loved the hilarious absurdity, I loved the thrilling cinematography and I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it since I saw it. I would strongly recommend giving this film a go, it may not be for you, but there’s no way you can’t appreciate it.