The Favourite: a distorted historical satire of our time

Rating: 10/10 (27 December 2019)

The Favourite, a ten-time Oscar nominated film, is one of my most favourite movies of the year. The filming techniques are outstanding in serving a dark and humorous theme, while the story represents is critical of the real world and hilarious at the same time.
The story sets in 1860s English court during Queen Anne's rule. Abigail, a pauperized young lady, came to her cousin Lady Sarah Marlborough in hope for a job. Sarah has been a close friend with Queen Anne for years, and is now the lead maid in the court. She offered Abigail a job in the kitchen, but the seemingly innocent Abigail began a surreptive fight against Sarah for Queen Anne's favour at whatever cost. She gradually moves up in rank, and eventually replaces Sarah as the first maid in charge.
Techancially, the movie dazzles with creative camera angles and intricate color design. The clever use of fisheye lens stands out to me as one of the film's most distinctive visual designs. This, on first sight, may appear to be odd because the lens distorts image on both sides of the screen, but it takes in the maximum range of view and creates unparalleled depth of field. In this way, it expands space on screen and shrinks characters. With relatively small actors appearing on the screen, fisheye lens creates an emptiness that is filled with characters' loneliness: there is no friend in the court. Everyone has to fight for herself. It is a cruel world, but also a bizarre one. The employment of slow motion highlights the absurdity of 19th century court life. It both distorts the sound and offers a detailed look at characters' actions that we might have overlooked at normal speed. During the duck racing scene and the fruit throwing scene, the elongated slow-motion technique compels the audience to experience courtiers' bizarre recreational activities and feel the absurdity. In contrast with their debate in parliament, what a disaster it is that these people run the country. The consistency in color is also worth noting. The movie employs two contrasting colors, black and white: Characters are dressed in black and white; Queen Anne's rabbits are black and white; the main corridor is paved with black and white marble. This color consistency not only contributes to a coherent story, but has deeper meanings: the dual color design naturally creates two opposite stances. This corresponds with two parties in English parliament at that time: black represents the Whig party, while white represents the Tory party.This color scheme also accompanies character's change. When Abigail is loyal to Sarah, she often dresses in black, which is the color of the Sarah's Whig party. Towards the end of the film, Abigail shows up more in white as she switches side to the Tory party. Apart from the story,these creative visual design makes The Favourite a stylish film that is worthy of appreciating.
Enhanced by marvelous visual design, the story allows for different interpretations. I see a modern satire criticizing populism: the queen represents us, the regular people who make up the country. We love compliments and susceptible to others' opinions. Both Abigail and Sarah are demagogues, but they are of different kinds. Abigail represents populists: she comes from lower social status and is underestimated by her opponents, but she can cause great chaos with her patronizing words. She caters to anyone with more power than she does and turns on them for her own benefit whenever she has a chance. "I am on my side. Always" as Abigail often claims. Lady Sarah, on the other hand, is an elitist: harsh but honest. She has a vision for her country while populists like Abigail only tries to stay in her comfort zone and care only about her pleasure. In the end, Queen Anne favors Abigail over Sarah. In the real world, more and more countries elect populist leaders who feed people with illusionary visions and contradictory promises. In this regard, I believe the movie is more than a distorted history comedy, but a criticism of the real world trend. The distorted shots actually represent our distorted world. However, the movie does offer hope at the end. Even when Abigail has gained great power, she still needs to bow down to caress the Queen's leg. Through an expressionist scene that overlaps the queen, her pet rabbits and Abigail, the movie suggests that Abigail still needs to serve. She is like the queen's rabbits: no matter how much freedom and power she gets, she still needs to serve the queen. No matter how powerful a politician is, she still answers to the people.
Overall, The Favourite is such a great movie both technically and artistically that no one should miss.