Precision, hate and humor rule in performances by Rachel Weisz, Emma Stone and Olivia Colman in this absurd period, royal, comedy/drama. They star in this film portraying palace intrigue at its finest, staged in the Court of Britain’s Queen Anne at the dawn of the 18th century. But Anne was actually reigned in by the other two who were vying for power for themselves.
Director Yorgos Lanthimos (The Lobster, The Killing of a Sacred Deer) deserves the praise and recognition for taking his characters on their individual journeys of pain and desperation. He then entwines them in farcical drawing room scenes that almost tip over the edge, but don’t become too shrill or silly. Lanthimos didn’t want these women to appear like so many women portrayed in movies. He was inspired by the #MeToo movement to show three strong females as “complex and wonderful and horrific as they are, like other human beings.”
The film is well-paced and the score, supervised by Sarah Giles (Disobedience, The Killing of a Sacred Deer) is as rich as this kingdom. In several scenes, hearing two notes being repeated may be the only voice in the room and it’s effective.
Lanthimos includes one very silly scene. It’s the bizarre palace ballroom dance. The choreography becomes a mix of jive meets Monty Python. It’s a spectacle, and uproarious. Then, just as it’s about to go over the top, Lanthimos abruptly stops and picks up the drama without missing a beat. It’s reminiscent of some of the tactics he used in The Lobster.
Deborah Davis and Tony McNamara’s script is the story of these three women who occupy and vie for the pinnacle of power and is mostly based on fact about an obscure Queen. Olivia Colman (The Lobster, The Iron Lady, Hyde Park on Hudson, Locke) plays Anne. Her characterization is as a woman/baby, at times hobbled by terrible pain, her face is twisted and grotesque, yet in other moments she appears sweet, tender and even charming.
The costuming and all the accoutrements, including the lush wigs for the men, were overseen with precision by Sandy Powell (Cinderella, Hugo, Shakespeare in Love). Hair and makeup becomes even more important late in the film for Colman and Weisz as part of their character’s story. Anne’s look changes, sometimes garish, sometimes tortured, and sometimes sweet. Colman shows Anne’s possible bi-polar nature well.
Shot at Hatfield House in Hertfordshire, the majestic rooms provide incredibly opulent settings, Cinematographer Robbie Ryan (Wuthering Heights, The Meyerowitz Stories) shows every inch of the the covered walls and tiled and paneled halls in exquisite detail.
imos Anne suffered from gout, obesity, and who knows what else! She had 17 miscarriages and kept a live bunny for each one, as if they were her children. This is a woman who has known ultimate grief many times over. Colman calls upon every human frailty in constructing her as a remarkable character capturing her mood swings and eccentricities with aplomb.
Often bedridden with pain, Anne allows her best friend, confidante and lover, Lady Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough (Rachel Weisz) to make decisions of State. Winston Churchill actually wrote about his relative, Sarah, and Queen Anne. Weisz plays hardball as her character; hard, cold and calculating. While her husband, the Duke of Marlborough (Mark Gatiss), is away fighting the French, Lanthimos shows that Sarah has plenty of time to keep Anne sexually satisfied and trusting enough to let her rule the roost. Even taking a steamy mud bath together.
Sarah’s sway over the Queen is upended when Abigail (Emma Stone), a poor cousin, shows up. Falling on hard times, she’s lost her stature in the aristocracy, she is forever calculating how to get it all back. Getting herself hired as a scullery maid in Queen Anne’s castle, it doesn’t take long for her to begin plotting to gain the Queen’s favor, using what she discovers in a particularly intimate scene, what Sarah has been up to. It’s fun watching what becomes a discreet and subtle royal cat fight.
Abigail figures out how to woo the Queen to get what she wants. That’s when things really gets intense. It’s all very sensual, sexual and manipulative to gain Anne’s favor. Emma Stone looks like she’s really having fun being the naughtiest one in this film.
There’s also lots of political intrigue with Whigs vs. Tories fighting over war, power and taxes. Nicholas Hoult (Mad Max: Fury Road, X-Men series, Warm Bodies) plays Harley, a landowner upset with being taxed to pay for the war. He leads the opposition party. Wait till you see him dolled up, wig and all.
This is one well crafted film containing both tension and humor. The timing of one scene where the Queen is trying to resist Sarah by keeping her out of her bedroom is a case in point. The slow pull back and pan following the Queen hobbling from one side of the room to the door trying hard not to give in to opening it, evokes the intense emotions of both women, even though Weisz isn’t even seen.
Coleman, Weisz and Stone had plenty to sink their claws into in this film. Lanthimos wanted them to appear “complex,” “wonderful” and “horrific.” And they do.
Fox Searchlight 1 hour 59 minutes R
