(Emma
Stone, Olivia Colman & Rachel Weisz)
Yorgos Lanthimos has created a scabrous,
wonderfully designed and acted black comedy set in the early 18th century court
of Queen Anne when the monarch was still very much the boss. Reviewed by
Patrick Compton (9/10)
A comedy doesn’t have to be soft-centred;
this one has a heart of flint. The barbs are cruel, the emotions wintry and the
ambitions utterly self-seeking, often concealed behind masks of smiles, wigs
and gushing words of flattery.
As one perceptive critic has already said, The Favourite is set in what seems like
a playground that turns into a battleground that soon becomes a prison.
The moment is shortly after the beginning
of the 18th century, almost nine decades before the onset of the French
Revolution. This is a time when the English monarch still hung on to a degree
of power that would be unimaginable now.
Queen Anne (Olivia Colman) is, at heart, a
lonely petulant child, in poor health, albeit worthy of sympathy as she has
given birth, unsuccessfully, to 17 children. In their place are pet rabbits
that gambol around her chambers.
She has to be humoured, petted, flattered,
nursed and pleasured. Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough (Rachel Weisz),
does that, and more. A political manipulator of note, she is the effective
power behind the throne while her military genius of a husband, John Duke of
Marlborough, fights abroad in the War of Spanish Succession.
This film is about how that balance of
power shifts when Sarah’s impecunious, unheralded and much-abused cousin,
Abigail (Emma Stone), arrives at court and begs for a position so that she can
begin a new life.
Sarah is dominating, blunt and scathing
while Abigail is flattering, subtle and retiring. Both, however, are very
palpably out for number one, although the respective prices they have to pay
are considerable.
This is a wonderful film, partly because of
the scintillating original script by Deborah Davis (polished up by Tony
McNamara); partly for cinematographer Robbie Ryan’s stunning images, using a
lot of wide-angled shots that create a feeling of claustrophobia; partly for
the baroque music and sound design and partly for the brilliant direction of
Lanthimos.
But the acclamation has to be loudest for
the tremendous performances of the three women at the venomous heart of this
movie. Colman, Weisz and Stone are perfect pieces in this regency jigsaw. It’s
so hard to separate them, but Colman is the central figure, around whom the two
other women circle like moths.
It’s worth mentioning that in this time of
#MeToo consciousness, in which the so-called male gaze is being increasingly
questioned, this is a film about three fully realised female characters,
grasping for power. Not one of them is particularly sympathetic, but they are
all recognisably real and fascinating.
By comparison, the men are nowhere.
The
Favourite, nominated for 10 Oscars, opened in
Durban on February 1, 2019. – Patrick Compton
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