Court Intrigue

Movies: The Favourite

Director Yorgos Lanthimos continues to intrigue me with the range in his filmmaking. Last year, his film The Killing of a Sacred Deer was my personal "worst of the year". I found it pretentious and annoying to the point where I was laughing at it (and not with it) in the theatre. But in 2016, his film The Lobster was my *favorite* film of the year! I found it both heartfelt and bizarre in a "if Wes Anderson directed a horror movie" kind of way.

Lanthimos is back with another winner, perhaps not to the caliber of The Lobster, but still very strong with The Favourite. Taking place in Queen Anne's court in 1708 during the War of Spanish Succession, The Favourite focuses on a war of a different kind: the war for the queen's (played with a beautiful lack of vanity by Olivia Colman) affections by cousins Sarah Churchill and Abigail Hill. Sarah (played by the captivating Rachel Weisz) is a Duchess who was also childhood friends with the queen. She is fiercely intelligent and capable and is all but running the country behind the throne. But when Abigail (Emma Stone, playing up her wide-eyed innocence), once a highborn lady but fallen into disgrace who also happens to be Sarah's cousin, arrives on the scene, Sarah's place as the queen's favorite is no longer secure.

Abigail proves to be an amoral schemer who slowly but surely usurps Sarah's place as Queen Anne's confidant...as well as Sarah's place in the queen's bed.

According to a Google search for "queen anne lesbian?", it was rumored that the queen had lesbian affairs, though never substantiated. The Favourite puts lesbian love center stage, for better or worse, and it works because it reveals the depth of love between Anne and Sarah, as well as the false flattery Abigail pays the queen for her own personal gain.

But the gender politics don't end there. The Favourite has been noted to be a unique film in that the women are front and center while the male characters are relegated to the sidelines. They still play a role, but it's what we would normally see as "the girlfriend" role or "the bitch from the office role". They also look like fops in their early 18th century wigs, makeup, and heels. Two male roles stand out: Nicholas Hoult as Robert Harley, a scheming member of Parliament who forges a "friendship" with Abigail in exchange for political information, and Joe Alwyn as Samuel Masham, a Baron who falls for Abigail. It's clear though that these men only serve to further the women's stories...and that is quite refreshing.

I didn't like The Favourite as much as I thought I would, but I liked it a lot. It's funny, it's dark, it's beautifully filmed and wonderfully acted. It's a period film with zero stuffiness that shows what disgustingly indulgent lives royals lived long ago. Hell, you can even read parallels to modern politics into the film with the way Queen Anne is portrayed: lazy, incompetent, and bought and sold with flattery (although apparently she was actually a much stronger leader than Lanthimos gives her credit for). But even when she is brought low by heartbreak, tragedy, and a stroke to boot, she's still 100 times better than--to use a word bandied about quite a bit in this film--the cunt currently in charge.

Grade: A-

Ladies Heist

Movies: Widows

This review is wayyyy overdue (I saw Widows on Nov. 17th), and I think that's because, for better or worse, I found Widows to be an ok movie rather than a great one, so I didn't have a burning desire to share my opinion with the world as quickly as I did with, say, Border.

That said, Widows has its charms. It certainly has pedigree: directed by Steve McQueen, whose last film 12 Years a Slave rightfully won Best Picture in 2014; adapted for the screen by McQueen and Gillian Flynn, author of Gone Girl and Sharp Objects; starring a women-and-POC-led cast including Viola Davis, Brian Tyree Henry, Liam Neeson, Michelle Rodriguez, Elizabeth Debicki, Colin Farrell, Cynthia Erivo, and Daniel Kaluuya.

The cast and crew elevates Widows above a mediocre genre flick, but not quite enough for my taste. I can't help but compare it to Gone Girl, which was just so acidic and sadistic and tense and rewatchable. Widows is...ok. Like, it was entertaining while I was watching it, but now I can barely remember it and very few moments stand out to me as thrilling or surprising or scary.

Davis plays Veronica Rawlings, the pampered--but smart and tough--wife of Liam Neeson's career criminal, Harry. After a heist turns deadly, Veronica finds herself widowed along with the wives of the men who worked under Harry. It turns out that Harry and his crew robbed another crime boss, Jamal Manning (Brian Tyree Henry in an understated and terrifying performance), of 2 million dollars. Manning wants that money back, as he is running for the position of alderman in the South Side of Chicago against strong front-runner Jack Mulligan (Colin Farrell).


What exactly is an "alderman" you ask? Good question. The movie never really explains it, but Wikipedia defines it as "a member of a municipal assembly or council..the title is derived from the Old English title of ealdorman, literally meaning 'elder man', and was used by the chief nobles presiding over shires." I find this definition intriguing since the gender and racial dynamics of the film are complex. Mulligan is a wealthy white man who is basically inheriting this job (that he sorta doesn't want) from his racist old bastard of a father (Robert Duvall). He's up against Manning, a black man from the South Side of Chicago who wields his own power--through threats and violence instead of inherited money and privilege. But both of these men are about to be challenged and taken down by a group of women--mostly nonwhite and mostly in dire financial straits. More than anything else, Widows is about power: forms that power can take (money, sexuality, violence, blood ties), who has it, who wields it, and how they wield it. By carrying out a heist their husbands planned before their deaths, the titular widows of the film take back power from men who did hurt them (in the case of Debicki's abusive husband) or will hurt them (as with Veronica, who faces an upsetting late-night visit from Manning where he aggressively picks up Veronica's little dog by the scruff of its neck in the movie's most tense scene).

Widows has twists and turns galore, as well as shocking violence, vans full of money, car chases, and more. Fans of heist films will likely enjoy this elegant take on a genre that is so often paint-by-numbers. For me personally, I don't care for heist films and though Widows is by far one of the best I've seen...well, it's still a heist film. But that's just me. Your mileage may vary!

Grade: B-

Life of Grime

Movies: Can You Ever Forgive Me?

Directed by Marielle Heller and starring Melissa McCarthy in rare dramatic role (and one of her best performances yet), Can You Ever Forgive Me? is a movie not afraid to focus on people who are unattractive and unpleasant, inside and out.

Based on true events, Melissa McCarthy plays writer Lee Israel, a biographer of women such as Estee Lauder and Fanny Brice. Struggling financially because no one wants to buy her biographies, Lee begins to forge private letters written by famous folks such as Noel Coward and Dorothy Parker and sell them to collectors for outrageous sums. It's clear that Lee is a clever writer, and she feels she's finally found her niche in faking these droll and gossipy missives.

Her bad behavior is spurred on by an old friend who pops back into her life (and onto the barstool next to her at the dive they frequent to drink their troubles away). Richard E. Grant is hilarious as Jack Hock, playing the drunk devil on Lee's shoulder and quickly becoming her partner in crime when rare bookstores and collectors catch on to Lee's forgeries.

You would think that Can You Ever Forgive Me? would be a depressing and unpleasant film, given that the main characters are depressed and unpleasant. But the film is surprisingly forgiving and understanding of its misfit protagonists. It reminded me a bit of Sideways, in which Paul Giamati's grumpy, arrogant oenophile and Thomas Haden Church's adulterous horndog groom-to-be won our hearts despite engaging in embarrassing and bad behavior. Likewise, you can't help but root--on some level, at least--for McCarthy's nasty loner Lee and Grant's lascivious, ne'er-do-well Jack.

When the two are finally caught (Jack cooperates with the FBI and testifies against Lee in exchange for a lighter sentence), it's a relief that Lee is only sentenced to probation and house arrest (especially since house arrest is barely a punishment for a woman who only leaves her house to go a bars). She gets a measure of redemption and, we hope, a kick in the butt to take control of her life (I mean, she wrote the memoir this movie is based on, so that's pretty cool).

Another thing that's really cool about Can You Ever Forgive Me? is that's it's very queer without being about being queer. Jack Hock is gay and flirts openly with young, attractive men but that's only part of his character, not his defining trait. Likewise, Lee casually mentions a woman she used to live with, but who dumped her when Lee wouldn't open up emotionally. At the end of the film, it's clear that Jack is suffering from AIDS, although the word is never mentioned (context clues and the time period let the viewer know). I just find this really revolutionary because usually films where the main characters are gay tend to be all about being gay rather than about the people's lives outside of (or in addition to) their sexuality.

But that's the thing about Can You Ever Forgive Me? --it's, in a word, low-key. It's honestly a great film that never feels like it's rubbing its greatness in your face, and that's what I liked about it. Unlike so many movies that come out the gate begging for an Oscar, Can You Ever Forgive Me? feels like it couldn't care less if it won any awards or not. Like that well-worn brown sweater in your closet, Can You Ever Forgive Me? is unpretentious, unglamorous, yet comfortable as hell and oddly soothing.

Grade: A

Of Monsters and Men

Movies: Border

Ok, I am waaayyy behind in my reviews, but I'm pushing this review to the top of my list because it's a film that is unlike anything I've seen before. I'm honestly not sure I'd recommend going in knowing nothing about it because it might freak some viewers out. I'll write a quick, relatively spoiler-free synopsis for those who want a basic summary and the a more detailed review below for those who want to know what the fuck this movie it actually about.

So, Border is a Swedish film directed by Ali Abbasi and written by John Ajvide Lindqvist who also wrote Let the Right One In and Let Me In. The film centers on Tina (Eva Melander), a security guard who works at the Swedish border agency. Tina has an unusually strong sense of smell--she can literally sniff out guilt and shame--which helps her detect contraband. Tina also has facial deformities which give her a heavy brow and rough, masculine features. Despite this, she is respected at her job, has a live-in boyfriend (whom she doesn't have sex with and who is kind of a deadbeat, but keeps her company) and has a good relationship with her father, whom appears to be in the early stages of Alzheimers. In short, life is ok, though not great, for Tina.

But then one day and man passes through customs who has the exact same facial features as Tina--she is shocked and fascinated to meet a person who looks like her. He introduces himself as Vore (played by Eero Milonoff) and is amused by Tina's shock. Vore reveals that he is a traveler staying at a nearby hostel, and Tina invites him to stay at her guesthouse (much to the chagrin of her boyfriend). Vore and Tina grow closer and discover similarities beyond their facial features...

Now, if you want to go in with a relatively blank slate, stop reading now! But please be aware that there is VERY explicit sexual content in this film, so don't bring Grandma to see it, mmmkay?

***

Spoilers ahead!


***

Ok, so Vore reveals to Tina that they are not human, but in fact belong to a nearly extinct race of trolls. Yup, trolls. Like, the kind that live under bridges. In the world of Border, trolls have heavy facial features, eat insects, love the outdoors, are born with tails, and attract lightning (both Vore and Tina have been struck by lightning as children and have scars on their lower backs where their tails have been removed). Tina is, of course, shocked and incredibly upset. After all, her father never told her this information. She was raised to believe that she had a chromosomal issue, which also meant she could never have children.

Uh, turns out, she can...just not in the way you would expect. In an earlier scene at customs, Tina tells a fellow security guard that Vore is definitely hiding something. After he examines Vore privately, the security guard tells Tina that *she* should have been the one to examine Vore, as he has a vagina instead of a penis. Well, during the inevitable love scene between Vore and Tina, more secrets about her body are revealed: it turns out that when she is aroused, she grows a penis (and we get to see this happen in full, technicolor glory. There was an elderly woman sitting in front of me in the theatre who couldn't stop laughing during this scene). We learn more about the reproductive lives of trolls when Vore births what appears to be a troll baby, but is actually an unfertilized egg that just *looks* like a troll baby.

Now, if all this makes you think "this movie sounds terrible and ridiculous", you'd be 100% WRONG. Border is...well, is it a great movie? I don't know. It has a very upsetting and triggering subplot involving a child pornography bust that Tina is working on at her job. Vore also hides things from Tina and manipulates her, so this isn't exactly an ugly ducklings find true love story either. In fact, Border manages to upend your expectations at every turn. Wherever you think it's going, it's not. And that can be upsetting when you think it's going in one direction and then veers sharply in another direction.

But the sheer creativity and fantasy of Border, as well as the devastating, but beautiful arc of Tina's self-discovery, pushes the film into the realm of remarkable, at least for me. The film is about an "ugly" woman who finds out that not only is she not a freak, she's in fact something stronger and "better" (as Vore states) than human. But that doesn't make life any easier for her. Rare is it to see a film where an ugly duckling doesn't transform into a beautiful swan, but instead finds a sense of dignity and self-acceptance right where she is. Is Border a love story? Yes--but not between Vore and Tina. It's a love story between an empathic, open-minded viewer and Tina, and one of the best of the year so far.

Grade: A