The whole bru-ha-ha and self-congratulating of the Oscars® are over but never the usual finger pointing via identity politics in which the biggest question of “is this movie any good?” gets skipped since it lacked [insert in the blank]. The people who do the voting have terrible memories. They only recall what was released between Thanksgiving and Valentine’s Day.
Regardless, I very much enjoyed this fictional squabble involving two women fighting over who is to be the queen’s favorite assistant/confidante. Today we call it high school or being a personal assistant to a no-talent actress/pop star. People suck whenever money, power or whatever is at stake. It’s even more distressing when the person holding the reins isn’t exactly a well-adjusted person as Queen Anne proves to be. Many would follow her footsteps: Elvis, Michael Jackson, Trump, any Kardashian, etc. I will look into the historical record another day but in short, most Historians said Queen Anne was neither into homosexuality (quite the opposite) and not a completely helpless decision maker.
Much of The Favourite focuses on Abigail. She’s a young, down-on-her-luck former aristocrat who lost her privilege and inheritance through an alcoholic father. Abigail decides collect on a favor from Lady Marlborough, the queen’s current major domo, and it results in a lowly spot as a maid in the manor. Beats living on the streets but not by much given the sleeping accommodations. When Abigail sees how nasty the queen’s gout is, she treats it with a remedy she learned from her childhood. In return Abigail is punished by Marlborough for overstepping her role. Queen Anne intervenes by giving Abigail her own bedroom in the palace. Abigail’s entire takeaway from this incident is that if she wants to survive, she will need to be an equally amoral, cunning person. Then the movie kicks into higher gear to see who will come out on top.
I am more biased toward enjoying period pieces, especially if they appear to be done well and with Europeans. Here Hollywood couldn’t save its collective life without “sexing it up.” For once I’m grateful to the mostly English crew executing this with a Greek director and one of our better American co-stars. Anne is not a sympathetic ruler. She’s a spoiled brat who is a terrible queen. The only reason why she’s not completely sidelined by Lord Harley (leader of the Tories) and Lord Godolphin (leader of the Whigs) is Lady Marlborough. Neither faction leader is keen on either woman’s participation in matters of state but then again, they don’t have a choice. So The Favourite is a true Battle Royale Abigail must navigate. At times the movie is funny, then gross (they didn’t believe in plumbing), back to funny and then sinister. I highly recommend this and I am looking forward to watching Lanthimos’ odd Sci-Fi flick The Lobster.
Alamo Extras: Trailers for Barry Lyndon, All About Eve and The Draftsman Contract; acrobats in powered wigs; UK Newsreel covering manners; people 18th Century dress dancing to Twenties jazz; French person singing about Montmartre; brief history on costume designs in film; a small orchestra performing 17th-18 Century music in powered wigs and appropriate attire; Three portrayals of Queen Anne in popular culture: Yellowbeard (I’ve seen that movie a ton and never knew who it was supposed to be), an episode of Highlander and a Soviet era film called Stakan vody; Lastly, Queen Anne spent much of her time at Hatfield House which was used for all these movies:
- Wayne Manor in the Burton Batman films
- All the Money in the World
- Lara Croft (before the reboot)
- Sherlock Holmes (with Robert Downey Jr.)
- Wonder Woman
- V for Vendetta
- The Crown
- Graystoke, the Legend of Tarzan
- Orlando
- Elizabeth the Golden Age
- Shakespeare in Love
- Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (the terrible remake)