The Favourite (2018)- BFI London Film Festival 2018

Review

119min

Genre:       Fact-based, Comedy, Drama

Director:    Yorgos Lanthimos

Cast:         Olivia Colman, Emma Stone, Rachel Weisz…and more

Writers:     Deborah Davis and Tony McNamara

-Synopsis-

Early 18th century England and the reign of an ailing Queen Anne, defined by increasingly bizarre behaviour and her relationship with influential confidante Duchess Sarah Churchill, whose distant cousin arrives to upset the balance at court and create a triangle of power—as singular director Yorgos Lanthimos applies his unmistakable comedic touch and subverts the British costume drama . . . and English history.

Being a true original in an era of limitless content and accessible filmmaking is no mean feat, but Lanthimos has been steadily carving his own path in the film industry for the best part of two decades—crafting deadpan, darkly comical and often confounding concoctions of a contemporary and even dystopian nature, graduating from Greek cinema and films like 2009’s ‘Dogtooth’ to global indie fare like ‘The Lobster’ and last year’s ‘The Killing of a Sacred Deer’.

Now the Greek filmmaker ups the scale with his first adaptation, tackling a project twenty years in-the-making and going period yet remaining contemporary with a female-led tale of palace intrigue and sexual politics, applying his unique comedic sensibilities and behavioural quirks to British history while delivering an opulent English costume drama and his most accessible film to date—but never losing the unmistakable Yorgos Lanthimos flavour.

Olivia Colman stars as the monarch Queen Anne of Great Britain at the start of the 1700s, alone and deteriorating physically and mentally from longstanding gout, while her close relationship with powerful confidante and ‘favourite’ the Duchess of Marlborough Sarah Churchill (Rachel Weisz) deteriorates, as the country remains embroiled in a costly war with France. Enter Churchill’s fallen distant young cousin Abigail (Emma Stone), determined to rebuild her life at court, quickly rising from maid to a rival for the queen’s attentions and affection, setting in motion a palace power struggle which engulfs potential players like ambitious government minister Robert Harley (Nicholas Hoult) and local Baron Samuel Masham (Joe Alwyn).

For what is his lightest and least provocative film in a long while, Lanthimos draws inspiration from pieces like ‘The Madness of King George’, taking historical figures in gorgeous period settings and spicing up their relationships and motivations with blunt behaviour and candid dialogue, to hilariously deadpan and occasionally cringeworthy effect—creating a female-led iconoclastic period piece for the #MeToo era but without the sense of cynical profiteering, and threatening to render all future traditional costume dramas rather dull.

The director takes full advantage of an inflated (yet still modest) budget and greater resources than he’s ever had to create a stylish and meticulously crafted period piece, making full use of some grand UK locations and filling them with top-notch production designs and resplendent costumes. Cinematographer Robbie Ryan (Slow West, American Honey) skilfully captures everything with a mixture of brilliant natural light and dim candlelight, mixing up the shots to great effect with a blend of low angle close-ups, jaunty angles and fisheye lenses.

The visuals are easily matched and complemented by the music—a mix of classical pieces with original compositions and some unexpected contemporary sounds— a superb soundtrack dominated by a violin-heavy, harpsichord-scented full orchestral sound, beginning in lofty regal fashion but becoming progressively more offbeat and grating to match the narrative . . . and the director’s style.

‘The Favourite’ is a bizarre and somewhat tragic dry comedy, a blend of blunt satire and farce but with a mean streak, while something of a parable about ambition, and very much an ensemble piece—featuring a bevy of recognisable British actors playing everything from decadent aristocrats to scheming politicians. But this show is run by a trio of formidable ladies, and they form a cinematic threesome for the ages.

Olivia Colman leads the line brilliantly as a monarch broken by personal tragedy and haunted by loss, lumbering through her opulent halls like a petulant child desperate for love. She’s flanked by the always excellent Rachel Weisz as the cold and unforgiving but realistic right-hand-woman, threatened by the new kid on the block played by totally convincing honorary Brit Emma Stone, as the ambitious new ‘favourite’. Like the rest of the cast these leading ladies are blessed with a sterling script from writers Deborah Davis and Tony McNamara, resulting in some wonderfully colourful banter which often feels like Iannucci meets Shakespeare, occasionally making light of sobering subject matter . . . and with the women more than holding their own against the men.

Despite being a comfortable and more traditional entry into Yorgos Lanthimos’ filmography, and his most palatable film to date, much like his cinematic sensibilities ‘The Favourite’ will inevitably prove an acquired taste, and if you’re looking for melodrama or historical accuracy this isn’t the period piece for you, as these are not the 18th century aristocrats you grew up with. But for those of us who are not exactly devotees to the British costume drama, this is as tasty a morsel of the genre as we could possibly expect—a satirical and farcical period piece tinged by tragedy and real edge, and a film representation of sexual politics, manipulative jostling and court power struggles we won’t soon forget.

The Bottom Line…

A dryly hilarious, wonderfully subversive and quintessentially quirky riff on the English costume drama, Yorgos Lanthimos’ singular take on 18th century palace intrigue and sexual politics breathes new life into the British period piece—relying on a stellar trio of central performances and immaculate cinematic craftsmanship to solidify the director’s reputation as one of the more unique and intriguing voices in global cinema today.

‘The Favourite’ is out on the 1st of January 2019 in UK cinemas, and out now in the US.

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