The Favourite

[peter]

Yorgos Lanthimos' period drama The Favourite is an odd one and despite it's having won plaudits across the board and multiple nominations for the forthcoming Academy Awards was not entirely to my taste.

I don't know how much truth there is, either in the story as it is presented or in the coarse and vulgar manner in which all members of the court from the queen herself down seemed to conduct themselves, but if there is, then I'm not sure any of it was worth recording at all. The characters were notable in their unlikableness across the board, with not one redeeming personage to be found amongst them. When not scheming to destroy each other they were apparently to a man (and woman) allowing free reign to whatever their basest of instincts led them to perform without let or hindrance and if this was indeed the order of the day then very glad I am that it has passed.

All of this said, there can be no denying the films strong points; without exception the leads rise to the nasty requirements of their roles with convincing performances, notable among which is of course Olivia Coleman as the eccentric - nay, half mad - Queen Anne, who spends most of her time racing ducks and fawning over her (lost) children substitutes in the form of a collection of 17 indoor kept rabbits. Rachael Wise and Emma Stone also excel as the two vying courtiers whose nastyness is only matched by their foul mouthed brutality. Be warned - do not see this film with your grandmother! The star of this film however for me was the setting. The house in which the film was shot was beautiful in an overindulgent manner I don't think I've ever seen equalled; to my shame and against every minimalistic grain of aestheticism I've ever cultivated, I loved it and want to move in there today!

So, see this film - indulge yourself in it, but don't expect (as I alas did and perhaps this is where the problem lies) to emerge from it with your faith in humanity restored or your soul cleansed by the experience. This, for all its sumptuousness, is not a nice film and there's no point pretending it is; the richness of the setting is more than balanced by the spiritual poverty of the players who are without exception unpleasant, and this in itself provides a problem. There is simply no place to hang your sustained interest in the piece.