Treść książki
Przejdź do opcji czytnikaPrzejdź do nawigacjiPrzejdź do informacjiPrzejdź do stopki
16
DorotaBabilas
Thefilmwasgracedwith(atleast)threestellarperformancesbyOliviaColman
astheQueen,RachelWeiszasSarah,DuchessofMarlborough,andEmma
Stoneasheryoungercousinandrival,AbigailMashamnéeHill.Itreceived
manyaccolades,including10AcademyAwardnominations(thehighestnumber
inthatyear).Intheend,oneOscarwenttoOliviaColmanasBestActressin
aleadingrole.
TheFavouriteisLanthimos’sfirstattemptatacostumefilm.Thedirector
hashithertobeenassociatedwiththesocalled“Greekweirdwave.”Hemade
17
hisnameviaacoupleofformallyexperimentalpictures,whichincludedfantastic
themessuchashumansturningintoanimals(TheLobster,2015)ordeadly
curses(TheKillingofaSacredDeer,2017).Inaway,TheFavouritecontinues
tounderminetheaudience’sexpectationstowardsperioddramathroughvery
unusualvisualeffects-itwasfilmedinahistoricallocationofHatfieldHouse,
butitusesafisheyelens,wideandstrangeangles,dependsexclusivelyon
naturallight,featuresnon-period-specificcostumes(includingservantsdressed
inbluedenim),moderndances,andsurprisinglyanachronisticlinguistic
profanities.Theeffectisvoyeuristicandclaustrophobicatthesametime,
emphasizingthelonelinessandfearoftheprotagonists.Additionally,thereis
alotofphysicalhumour(e.g.whenallmaincharactersrepeatedlyfalldown)
andplayfulpunsthatsoundverycontemporary.
Intermsoftheplot,TheFavouriteplayslikeBarryLyndon(1975,dir.Stanley
Kubrick)combinedwithAllaboutEve(1950,dir.JosephL.Mankiewicz).Itis
ameditationonpower,genderandclassrelations,butalsothetimelessnature
oflove,ambitionandbetrayal.AbigailfollowsinthefootstepsofEveand
Barryasacleveropportunistwhomanagestoimproveherpositioninthe
world,butfeelsshenevertrulybelongs.
QueenAnneispresentedasaratherunattractivemiddle-agedwoman,
increasinglyailing,emotionallyinsecureanddependent,easilytriggered
(especiallybymusic),andlargelyself-destructivebywhatappearstobe
aseriouseatingdisorder.Atthesametimesheisgivenalotoftouching
vulnerabilityandagenuine(ifdesperate)longingforunderstandingand
affection.Asahumanbeing,shehasbeenthroughmuchgrief.“Somewounds
donotclose,”shesaysatonepoint,referringbothtoherphysicaland
emotionalsuffering.Sheistorturedbynotknowingifanyonetrulylovesher,
orwhethertheyalljustwanttouseherfortheirownbenefit.
Anne’stwofavouritesaredepictedinsharpcontrasttoeachother.Sarah,
theQueen’soldfriendand,astheviewersoonlearns,alsoherlover,is
17
RayPride.“BalanceofPower:AReviewofTheFavourite”inNewCityFilm,
22.12.2018.
