Favorite: A Competition For Power

Greek filmmaker Yorgos Lanthimos’ latest film, A Favorita (2018), is full of palatial intrigue, power and a powerful female presence. The opulence and excesses of 18th century royalty are perfectly combined with 21st century language. A trip to the past to tell the story to your liking.

Far from other period films with a serious tone – almost moldy – Lanthimos dares with a different film, satirical and not free from anachronisms broken by the clavichord soundtrack to take us back to the palatial environment.

Abigail (Emma Stone), Sarah (Rachel Weisz) and Queen Anne (Olivia Colman) make up the central triangle on which the plot is based. Three perfectly designed, detailed and immersive characters, embodied by three actresses who not only measure up, but also shine in a special way.

Queen Anne maintained a special friendship with Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough. The Duchess became the Queen’s right hand and gained great political importance, but the Queen and Sarah were much more than good friends, they were lovers. Or at least they were lovers until Sarah’s cousin Abigail Masham, in a desperate attempt to restore her social standing, took Sarah’s place.

Based on this story based on real facts, Lanthimos builds A Favorita imagining what life in the palace would be like and the rivalry of these two cousins ​​fighting for the heart – or favors – of the queen. We see a mockery of old values, a spicy satire that dares to speak out and let the imagination fly.

The director of Dente Canino (2009) has already made it clear that he likes to play with strangeness and even annoy the viewer. In A Favorita there are no endearing characters, nor characters we can grow fond of. There are passions, envy, lies and a lot of ambition.

A Favorita , a caricature of the palace

Images are a strong narrative charge in A Favorita . The fisheye partly deforms spaces and, consequently, reality. At the same time, it allows us to have a broader view of these ostentatious and over-the-top salons.

Costumes and makeup play another key role in visual terms. The contrasts between the clothes and rooms of servants and royalty serve to reaffirm inequalities and help us understand the motivations of their protagonists.

Abigail was a lady, but she lost everything. So he goes to the palace to seek help from his cousin Sarah. She’ll start at the very bottom and end up getting pretty close to Queen Anne.

Favorita says a lot with its aesthetics, everything works perfectly together. The script and the light plays are supported, in turn, by music that intensifies the moments of tension, accompanying at all times what we see on the screen.

An aesthetic delight that, in some ways, is profoundly reminiscent of the mythical Stanley Kubrick and, especially, films such as Barry Lyndon (Kubrick, 1975). Everything is measured in detail, from photography to makeup, all elements are a strong narrative support.

A Favorita is not limited to the purely visual, as the characters were endowed with great depth and interpretations to match their complexity.

In the midst of a plot of power and ambition, which is being built in the context of certain political conflicts, A Favorita also presents us with a comedy. A subtle but blunt comedy that satirizes royalty and that frivolous and excessive image of the 18th century.

Absolutely useless and boring monarchs whose only entertainment is watching a duck race or throwing fruit at a naked man. Men, unlike other period films, are relegated to the background and are presented as quite useless beings who live on appearances.

The point is that the artifice of the time is undeniable. Quite ridiculous clothes and makeup and absolutely excessive decorations remind us, several times, who is in charge of that place. Palace life attracted artists of all kinds who composed works – music, painting or theater – with the sole purpose of delighting royalty, leaving art confined to the palace. The Favorite makes fun of everything and uses sarcasm to ridicule monarchies.

the struggle for power

The love triangle that brings the film to life also represents an arduous and vile struggle for power. A power that falls into the hands of women who do not conform to the role assigned to them. A story about morality and corruption in which Lanthimos builds and destroys the image we have of the characters. You don’t like any of them, but you don’t hate them either.

Queen Anne may seem like the personification of despotism, but over time we find that she is immersed in a deep depression. Not even power and luxuries could make Ana happy. We see a sick woman whose sanity is falling apart. She is extremely childish and doesn’t have an ounce of self-esteem.

The tragedy struck Ana’s life on many occasions and, somehow, we can understand her attitude – although it is of a questionable morality.

Sarah is introduced as the absolute antagonist, the character we have had to hate from the start. She’s self-interested and free-rider, absolutely manipulative, but little by little, we start to feel sorry for her.

The opposite happens with young Abigail who, having lost everything, knows the lowest level on the scale of power. We feel sorry for you and want your plans to move forward, we understand that your situation is unfair, until we discover the depth of your intentions.

Does power corrupt? How far are human beings able to reach their goals? Favorite does not allow us to position ourselves. When we seem to like a character, we’re introduced to a less-than-pleasant face of the character. Because, in the end, in a world of inequality, everyone wants to be on top. It doesn’t matter if you’re male or female, the only thing that seems to matter is power, control.

Lanthimos takes his characters to the extreme, to unexpected limits… The spectator has all the keys, as he gets to know the palace’s secrets in detail, discovering all the hypocrisy that moves through its rooms.

Metaphors take over the scene, everything is perfectly measured and calculated, from rabbits to horses. All so that, in the end, through a powerful scene, A Favorita reminds us that there will always be someone above us. In the world of power, there is no place for morality and there will always be someone to step on.

While a war is brewing beyond the borders, within the palace walls a real power struggle takes place. A war of passions and lies. A Favorita triumphed at the Venice Film Festival and, with 10 Oscar nominations, earned its position as one of the greatest films of 2018.

Olivia Colman, Rachel Weisz and Emma Stone are magnificent in this competition for the power and favor of the queen, without undermining male interpretations. In short, an exhibition of ostentation, satire and manipulation that makes up a film that holds us, ridicules everything and shows the worst of humanity.