the favo(u)rite of the race to Oscars

Rating: 8/10 (6 February 2019)

I confess that Yorgos Lanthimos' films confuse me. Each one that I've seen approaches a well-known genre, starts from premises that seem familiar to us, as moviegoers with some experience, and gets totally elsewhere - in territories where the laws of decency or morality as we know them do not work anymore. It is obvious the director's effort to shock through the language used by his characters, but also through his own cinematic language. The result is a collection of movies that belong to the space of the bizarre, but also have obvious quality and which remain in the memory of the spectators. This is also the case with 'The Favorite', which has become an unexpected favorite (the game of words is unavoidable) in the race to the Academy Awards this year. It's a period film. A period film of a kind never made before. A period film by Yorgos Lanthimos.
Queen Anne does not have a great name in England's history. She was eclipsed by other queens named Elizabeth or Mary, but the historical period and her historical role are not to be missed. She was the last queen of the of the House of Stuart (but a Protestant) and the first Queen of Great Britain. Her physical and mental health problems resemble those of her successors to the throne from the House of Hanover. Visually, the costumes and sets created for Yorgos Lanthimos' film reconstruct the atmosphere of the palaces and the royal court at the beginning of the 18th century with an accuracy and care to details worthy of the best films of the British studios or of the BBC. The characters that populate the film, or rather the Lanthimos version of the historical characters, are however far from being conventional representations. One might say that this is a strong feminist vision. The court and the political intrigues are dominated by women, but those are women who have suffered the traumas of persistent sexual harassment and rape since their teenage years, and who take their harsh revenge on the world of men. The sickly queen (played by Olivia Colman) reigns as the absolute sovereign playing as her mind or moods dictate with the matters of state and with the prime ministers and the Parliament, with the help of her favorite Lady Sarah (Rachel Weisz) and of the newly arrived Abigail (Emma Stone). The main thread of the action is the conflict that opposes the current favorite to the younger woman, who will have to overcome the differences in social status and the hostility of the queen's councilor in order to take her place in the queen's circle and even closer to her.
'The Favorite' has many qualities. The acting of the triplet of actresses is phenomenal, and the relationships of this 'triangle' dominate the story, evolving gradually and convincingly. Some of the scenes and some dialogues have formidable humorous sparkles. I've already mentioned about decors and costumes. Lanthimos's spices however add nothing meaningful and interesting, on the contrary, they appear to be forced and obviously inserted to attract attention. I did not think the film needed those. If showing lesbian ties may be considered as an original perspective on the queen's personality and the relationships the the royal court, the avalanche of profanities does not serve anything. Not only is it not plausible that the ladies at the court of the Great Britain in the 18th century have so often spoken words such as 'f ...', but this adds nothing to the characters or to the historical vision. I'm far from being pudic, but I think Lanthimos's vulgar insertions here are devoid of logic. The result is that 'The Favorite' is a movie with many good parts, but which does intend to be liked. I appreciated parts of it but I did not like it. It will be interesting to see if the Academy, with a renewed participation, will reward boldness, or rather pursue its Puritan reflexes and punish the film despite the high number of nominations.