The Favourite

As much as I like Lanthimos' previous films, I can't ignore the personal problem with them that everything in them – every leaf, every hair, every cloud – is an allegory. The Favouriteis the first film he didn't write the screenplay for himself, so that previous obstacle has fallen aside. Still, it's fun to watch a basically unconscious allegory of what it's probably been like for several years now in our own Lány. Leg included. (04/22/2019)

The Greek director flew out of Greek weird cinematography as the mythical bird Phoenix and got an offer to make something bigger, European, from the life of English aristocracy. In addition, he got three experienced actresses, who show us an absolute moral bottom and since he himself is a bit strange, he made it quite opulent. Too bad the movie is so long. If it was shorter, I would maybe not have time to get bored. There are so many weird things in this film, that what you considered weird in the first five minutes will feel quite normal in the last half an hour. So normal that you will watch that scene and not even raise an eyebrow. The movie is so weird that I lost a few human emotions while watching it. I had to drink a bottle of Port wine to compose my thoughts and jump out of the world of nobility, where there are lot of disgusting things happening and everybody thinks it’s normal. However, the movie has its qualities. Apart from the emotionless performances of the actors, I was mainly amazed by the castle and its surroundings and the original camera. (02/05/2019)

I am not an expert on Lanthimos' work, so I cannot pass informed judgment on where he has advanced with his latest film and what is missing compared to his previous films. My only previous encounter, in the form of a mix of absurd drama and comedy called The Lobster, was decent, so I accepted my daughter's invitation to accompany her to the movie theater. I must admit that if it weren't for the social role of being an escort for my daughter, I would have gotten up and left the movie theater after half an hour - to that extent, Lanthimos and I did not see eye to eye this time. His strong weapon is the camera, often using the "fish-eye" method. The set and costumes are also worth mentioning, but they should actually be a given for this type of production. The music did not interest me, as it was strangely disharmonic, indulging in fluctuating intensity - almost as if the director was afraid the audience would fall asleep. According to my daughter, this is a typical characteristic of the director's work. I have a fundamental problem with the characters. They are dark caricatures controlled by basic instincts and driven by the simplest motivations and goals. It is not so much that there are practically no positive characters in the film with whom I could identify but rather, I feel that politics in the highest echelons of power could not be carried out on such a primitive basis. What was missing for me was sophistication and cleverness - both in the behavior of the film characters and in the way the story is told. By the way, open lesbian games belong to different times. The lack of discretion would have backfired on the monarch. Lanthimos intentionally holds back on the humor and puts those few scenes in the opening third of the film. The Favourite is neither a realistically told story nor a stylized absurd play - the director would have to add a significant amount of exaggeration for that. What bothered me the most was the half-heartedness in the approach to the characters. Do I want to show the "vileness" of one of the protagonists? Then I'll let her vomit into a jug in detail. I understand that Lanthimos wanted to delve into what we consider unpleasant, repulsive, unclean, obscene, deformed, and cruel, but even ugliness can have its own aesthetics and be presented in a more creative form. Lanthimos will certainly find an enthusiastic audience for this, but I will not join them. No, you did not please me, Lanthimos, and I in turn, I will not please you either. Overall impression: 40%. (01/30/2019)

Next time I need a heavy dose of the bizarre, I will just watch election campaign videos of various political parties and I might even have a good laugh. This was just 2 hours of the bizarre without the funny part and all 3 main characters were just plain unlikeable and annoying. The quality of the filmmaking and acting performances is undeniable, but I was bored throughout the whole runtime. (08/17/2022)

If you are into Lanthimos’s peculiar poetics and stylistic whims, The Favourite will very possibly be the most entertaining film of the year for you. Though the division into chapters and some of the visual deformations leave a dodgy impression, the absurdly escalating conflicts, the play with the setting and the lightning, the performances and the music are so good that the film flows as smoothly as if it had been directed by Kubrick himself. It is very nice that in the age of Hollywood feminism there are so many Oscar contenders where female characters are uneducated, indecisive or unbearably manipulative bitches. 85% (01/29/2019)