Ok, so I haven’t been the quickest off the mark to go and see The Favourite and obviously saw that Olivia Coleman had won the Oscar for her role as Queen Anne.
I do however, with regards to cinema, like to let all the fuss die down before going on a quieter afternoon to allow myself to fully enjoy ( or not) whatever film it is at the time, without all the residual underlying noise of a full cinema……yes I’m one of those people! There are only a few films I will book to see on the opening weekends for fear of spoilers hitting me from Twitter and elsewhere.
So, let’s get the obvious out of the way now……………Olivia Coleman is outstanding ( no shit Sherlock!) and she is compelling to watch. She’s always been pretty underrated for my liking ( I feel the same about James McAvoy just so you know) she has a total naturalness about her in any role she plays, but it’s so much more obvious in this film. It never seemed forced in any way from her throughout.
In fact, all 3 main females are strong in this film. That said I felt that Rachel Weisz the absolute glue that stuck the film together, she was sharp, ruthless and able to switch temperaments in a split second for full effect of her character. Her character was menacing but without force, just a slight change in the tone here and there and you literally didn’t know how far she’d actually go. The director Yorgos Lanthimos has a feel for showing the strong power dynamics of relationships and I loved that all 3 characters were entangled showing the underlying skulduggery that was typically present in those times in order to keep favour in court.
As for ‘THE’ sex scene, I’m not sure what I was expecting but certainly it wasn’t as shocking as it had been made out. It was perfect for the story, cleverly done and kind of subtle- again I think this benefited from Coleman’s overall naturalness. I was also prepped for the ‘C’ bomb being branded about, it was almost with spitting force here and there and again it wasn’t out of place in the way it was used, but I guess if you’re easily offended then overall it probably wouldn’t be the film for you.
The costumes were absolutely magnificent, and as a very novice sewer I can fully appreciate the work that went into making them. Having been filmed at Hatfield House along with Hampton Court Palace you can imagine the sets were stunning and beautiful which only added to the quirkiness of what was actually happening inside.
But I must say Downton Abbey IT IS NOT! So if you love your typical period dramas, full of stuffiness and polite wordy exchanges this is probably NOT FOR YOU. In fact. I chuckled to myself in the bathrooms afterwards when an elderly lady ( clearly there with her daughter) stated………. ‘ I can’t say I disliked it………but it was a bit odd!’
I didn’t dislike it- I liked it very much. I loved the fact it was ‘off kilter’ from the start and throughout, I loved that it caught me off guard occasionally and the characters and story had me hooked from those early minutes. I loved the unconventional camera angles in some scenes along with the stark unforgiving lighting, and even though some of the music was grating on me, with it’s harshness in a couple of scenes, it worked and only enhanced what was happening at the time. I can see why Olivia Coleman won the Oscar for her role and I’m glad at least that Rachel Weisz was recognised with a nomination for Best Actress in a Supporting role.
Have you seen it and what did you think?
