Queen Anne sat on the throne of England from 1702 to 1714. Her reign most notably saw the Acts of Union that formed Great Britain and the end of the War of the Spanish Succession. She suffered numerous miscarriages before her husband died in 1708 and six years later she passed with no direct heir, resulting in the end of the House of Stuart and the succession of the German Hanoverians.
She is not one of the popular British monarchs but is an important figure nonetheless and her life was characterized by a lot of sadness and tragedy. It’s this that Greek filmmaker Yorgos Lanthimos wanted to explore in his dark comedy The Favourite, set near the end of Anne’s reign and depicting the rivalry between two women vying to be her court favourite with all the political power it entails.
Depressed and in poor health due to gout, Queen Anne (Olivia Colman) leaves the running of the kingdom more or less in the hands of her court favourite advisor and confidante Sarah Churchill Lady Marlborough (Rachel Weisz). But when Sarah’s cousin Abigail Hill (Emma Stone) arrives at court for employment, her family having lost most of its wealth, Sarah faces unlikely competition as Abigail begins to earn the Queens’ favour through flattery and kindness in opposition to Sarah’s brash honesty and intellect.
The script by Deborah Davis and Tony McNamara is packed full of really sharp wit, sarcasm, and a delightful strain of passive aggression in the dialogue that’s a lot of fun to experience. Incorporated into the posh style of diction spoken by the characters, it’s wonderfully smart and biting, at times reminding me of the brilliant writing of Blackadder. It makes the characters feel alive and fresh, which is an especially strong asset when none of them are particularly likeable. The power plays have a real energy to them and a relative frankness that doesn’t betray the tone set by the films’ mocking view of the early eighteenth century.
Working magic with the material is a trio of lead actresses each giving an utterly marvellous performance that commands your attention. Approvingly top billed and most important is Olivia Colman as a heartbreaking and bewildering Anne. Colman has been one of Britain’s best actresses for years now as anyone who’s seen Broadchurch, The Night Manager, Tyrannosaur, or even Green Wing and Peep Show can attest, and it’s wonderful to see her finally getting the international acclaim she deserves. The misery of her character and consequent naïvety comes off very profoundly, so that though she’s eccentric, pettish, and unreasonable at times it’s understandable and sympathetic. There’s a wonderful scene, her first bonding with Abigail, that details how her rabbits are each named for one of the children she lost, and it’s made very clear how those traumas as well as the weight of being Queen and the knowledge that she’s the last of her line has resulted in her present behaviour and attitude. Colman flawlessly shines in Anne’s joy, rage, and sorrow, making her the only character you truly care about.
Emma Stone is fantastic and more conniving than I’ve ever seen her as the film follows Abigail’s rise in status. She’s the Becky Sharp of the movie, and plays the part of the scheming upstart incredibly well. Yet it’s a dynamic performance too, and Stone very much seems to relish playing both the genuine-turned-masquerading innocence and cunningly manipulative nature of Abigail. Rachel Weisz is a perfect envious bitch, whose casual cruel remarks to Anne are ultimately what threaten her favour. She has an aura of power about her from the very start and is exceptionally clever, which Weisz plays with unwavering confidence. She boasts some of the movies’ greatest lines, keeping her brilliant wit even late in the film once her fortunes are falling. It’s still perhaps not as strong as Weisz’s performance is Disobedience but it is striking. Nicholas Hoult heads up the supporting cast as the charismatic bastard of an Opposition Leader Robert Harley, while Joe Alwyn plays Samuel Marsham, a git who’s attracted to Abigail, but has his advances spurned by her in increasingly comical ways. Additionally, James Smith plays Sidney Godolphin and Mark Gatiss plays Sarah’s husband and general the Duke of Marlborough. These men though are fairly useless on their own, this is a movie that delights in the women holding the power.
To convey the movies’ unusual look and feel to evoke a kind of ironically dark and dramatic scale, Lanthimos makes a number of particular stylistic choices. The story is broken up into chapters, each named for a subtly significant quote contained therein, and throughout the film there’s a grand classical score that undercuts otherwise monotonous scenes or single shots. These include excerpts of Bach, Handel, and Vivaldi and their use is very reminiscent of Kubrick. There’s a Peter Greenaway influence in the production design, tone, and editing, as well as how the backgrounds stand out against the actors, and a few sequences emphasizing the ludicrous ugly men have a definite Dreyer feel. Most notably though is the frequent use of fisheye lenses and fluid wide shots in the cinematography that keeps the world of the film off-kilter and creates a sense of space and greater isolation.
Quite possibly the greatest comedy of the year, The Favourite is an inventive, shrewd, and unconventional movie about a compelling feud of loyalty, love, and power. It’s got an Oscar-worthy screenplay, and Colman, Stone, and Weisz are each indomitable as three of the most engaging female characters ever to grace a period movie. Queen Anne has gotten a worthy film and it lives up to its title as a definitive favourite of 2018!
Letterboxd: https://letterboxd.com/jbosch/
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