after excellent FavoriteGreek director Yorgos Lanthimos (killing the lobster, sacred deer) Reuniting with Emma Stone for her new movie, poor creaturesA surreal ode to freedom, on display through January 17.
More than a movie, a masterpiece, presented as a story that pays no respect to our greatest joys, as brilliant as it is political, as brilliant as it is zany. , is as funny as it is scandalous, that distinctly offbeat tone allows the filmmaker to tackle very contemporary and universal themes at the same time, and position himself among the favorites for the next Oscar. Which will be awarded on March 10th.
Bella (Emma Stone) is a young woman who is brought back to life by the brilliant and unconventional Dr. Godwin Baxter (Willem Dafoe). Under his tutelage he is eager to learn. Eager to discover a world she knows nothing about, she runs away with Duncan Wedderburn (Mark Ruffalo), a shrewd and debauched lawyer, and sets out on a whirlwind journey across continents. Unconcerned by the prejudices of her time, Bella is determined to defy the principles of equality and liberation.
In the world of cinema, Yorgos Lanthimos is one of those brilliant directors, non-conformist and full of audacity and creativity.
A “retro-futuristic” world
Thus if poor creatures One of a kind, yet we can think of Jeunet, Anderson, del Toro or Burton, who can easily play on the Gothic and dreamy color palette. Based on the novel of the same name by Scottish novelist Alasdair Gray, published in 1992, poor creatures It is not only the director’s best work to date, but also his most extraordinary, incorporating the fantastic and surreal fantasy of the Victorian era we know from our history books… Lanthimos is here to create a world retro- Futurist inventions which, although very marked, are of astonishing beauty, timelessness and universality.
Through all these visual and narrative extravagances, we find Bella, played by the extraordinary Emma Stone, wide-eyed and innocent, a blank human slate who learns the ways and tricks of the world and, often unknowingly, manages it to her advantage. Does it. If Doctor Godwin Baxter’s residence is not actually Eden, although the garden outside and
We can imagine this from the animals we encounter there, bella reminds me of eve, created by God himself… this first woman, who innocently discovers life and who allows herself to be tempted by the thirst for knowledge and freedom. There is no snake here, but this Bella is accompanied by a cunning, cunning and sexually hungry man, with whom she will eventually fall madly (in the literal sense of the word) in love, to the extent of becoming a goat…
Lanthimos skillfully mixes the bizarre and the macabre (I’m thinking of Godwin’s surgical scenes here) with very funny passages where Bella develops outside social conventions. There’s also a tenderness to the father/daughter relationship, especially between Bella and Godwin. Perhaps one of the most emotional moments is when Godwin tells Bella that she is the only person who looks at him with love rather than disgust at his disfigured face.
In fact, there’s a lot to continually surprise over the course of its 2 hours and 21 minutes, but ultimately, it’s Bella’s journey of self-discovery that makes the film even stronger. A discovery that gives the filmmaker the distinction of better probing our neuroses with his scalpel camera and subtly addressing several ultra-modern and universal themes at the same time.
It is all the violence of our world, in all its forms, with its economic and social contradictions, that confronts the gaze and body of this woman-child becoming woman.
A question mark on the social system by Bela
The feminist dimension also effectively has its place, sometimes not without humor, but without excess and above all with great intelligence in Bella’s questioning of the social system, male dominance, victimization and injustice in all genders. It’s also a question of trauma with its inherent consequences, particularly through Dafoe’s character, quite remarkable as a brilliant surgeon, this man who became a monster himself because of his terrible childhood. We are of course talking about love, which must be seen in the plural because it is not always the same and is often painful, even destructive. The film at times takes on the dimension of a true philosophical pamphlet which dissects our society with such clarity and seriousness. It is also a way of getting us to think about our condition as poor human beings.
How can we not recognize him from an artistic point of view poor creatures Is this really one of the most imaginative and brilliant films of recent years? It would be a shame if this film doesn’t win an Oscar for its stunning cinematography (Robbie Ryan), dazzling costumes (Holly Waddington) and stellar production (Shona Heath, James Price). Ryan makes excellent use of wide-angle and fish-eye lenses, making the world seem even more real and unique. The ceremony’s winners will likely also include Emma Stone because of her impressive performance. She’s so sweet from start to finish, and the way she uses her body to show Bella’s growth is amazing.
Hats off also to the venerable Willem Dafoe, who has never given a half-hearted performance throughout his illustrious career, as evidenced again last year with the film. Inside, The story of her character here is almost as interesting and touching as that of Bela.
So, okay, this film won’t please everyone, however, Lanthimos pushes the boundaries with his style of narration without any taboos. But for those who have a strong nature and like to look beyond and allow themselves to be “touched” in a different way, poor creatures Will bring complete joy, hypnotic and magnetic.