THE FAVOURITE
UK, 2018, 119 minutes, colour.
Olivia Coleman, Emma Stone, Rachel Weisz, Nicholas Hoult, Mark Gatiss, Joe Alwyn.
Directed by Yorgos Lanthimos.
How often have we been invited, cinematically, into the Court of Queen Anne? Into the court of the last of the Stuarts who had ruled over England and Scotland for a century, a turbulent century, especially with the execution of Charles I, the rule of Oliver Cromwell, the Restoration with Charles II, the battles in Ireland with James II, William and Mary – and Then Anne. Anne lived through 17 pregnancies but lost all her children, the end of the Stuarts, the beginning of the rulers from Hanover who became the Winsors.
If one likes costume dramas, then there is a great deal to delight the eye as we enter the palace and its sumptuous elegance – although, we might remember, that not all that far away across the Channel, everything was far more elegant, far more sumptuous in Versailles (but the English would not have been so interested at the time because they were embroiled in war with France under the Duke of Marlborough.) So, lots of lavish costumes, excessive facial make-up for men and women, large wigs galore and cinema memories of the tableau and lighting for Kubrick’s Barry Lyndon.
But, The Favourite has been described as a comedy. It is worth an exploration of the many comments on the IMDb to find that it does not fit the bill for so many correspondents and their idea of comedy. It looks as though they want ha-ha, ha-ha all the time. While there are some of these moments, this is a different kind of comedy. Sardonic is a word that immediately comes to mind. Here are comic situations which have the intrinsic capacity to be tragic. Here is very bad behaviour, even from the Queen herself (particularly so), as well as courtiers who want control and power, as well as of crafty politicians in favour of war, in favour of suing for peace with France, in favour of their own hold on power. One might note that it would be funnier if it was not so potentially disastrous!
Many who did not like the film have commented on the soundtrack, quite an extraordinary mixture of musical styles, from 18th century classic to 21st-century atmospheric, sometimes just alternating beats, subtly, and sometimes not so subtly, commenting on the behaviour and action.
So, here we are at the beginning of the 18th century, the end of the Stuart era, international warfare, fops in wigs indulging in geese racing (surely one of the slowest of sports!) or wrangling in parliament. Queen Anne is eccentric, an inheritor of the divine right of kings and sometimes exercising this on whim, exhausted by the death of her children, seeking and finding solace in women courtiers, petty, tormented by gout, not the idea of a monarch. And she is played with incisive skill by Olivia Coleman.
At the title? The first favourite is Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough (with her husband played by Mark Gatiss). She is tough minded, a lady Machiavelli, who continually tells the Queen how to act while allegedly deferring to her. She is also a sexual companion. Rachel Weisz is particularly strong – even maintaining some poise when she is poisoned and dragged miles behind a horse.
But, she hadn’t counted on the charm and wiles of her cousin, Abigail Hill, abused and impoverished, coming to court for a job – and a masterclass in ingratiating herself with the Queen, subtly ousting Sarah Churchill, self-satisfied with her position and power, but, ultimately, over-estimating herself. As an English lady, Emma Stone is excellent.
And a word for one of the male cast, Nicholas Hoult as Mr Harley, leader of the opposition, intriguing and an intriguer.
From the screenplay written by British Deborah Davis and worked on by Australian writer-director Tony McNamara?, the film is full of wit (and some unexpected blunt language) but directed in continually unexpected ways by the Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos who has spent a decade becoming more significant internationally with Dogtooth, The Lobster, Killing of a Sacred Deer. They say that this is his most accessible film and praised and award-nominated, but, it seems, not so accessible to audience who want even more accessible comedies at the multiplex.
1. British history? British royalty? The 18 century? The Stuarts? An era of transition?
2. England in the 18th century, the palace, the interiors, the grounds? The forests? The surrounding huts, homes?
3. The range of the musical score, the classical music, themes and beats and rhythms?
4. Audience knowledge of the Stuarts, the transition from the Stuarts to the house of Hanover? The film giving enough information? And a wry interpretation?
5. The tone, satire and spoof, the comedy, ironic comedy in characters, with their idiosyncrasies, the situations? The within the dialogue and its ironies?
6. Issues of power, governance, the Divine Writer of Kings, the role of Parliament? The monikers in and its dominance of Parliament? Wars, hostilities, in Europe, against France? Issues of peace negotiations?
7. An artificial era, the aristocracy, wings and powdered make up, an interior life, artificial manners, the illustration of the goose race, fops and their place in court? And the difference between upstairs/downstairs?
8. The portrait of Anne, Olivia Coleman and her rewards? Her age, her look, the abrupt manner, arrogant, the effect of the 17 pregnancies, her grief, her illnesses, suffering from gout, pain and the relief of pain, greedy with food, becoming sick? The bond with Sarah, Sarah’s favourite, but Serpent, the complexity of the bonds, Sarah ruling, making the Queen’s decisions, her influence in politics? The husband and his leading the only difference? The Queen, sexuality, the relationship with Sarah, the lesbian experiences? Her interest in Abigail, the dependence on Abigail, all the favourites?
9. Sarah Churchill, the family background, her status, married to Marlborough, the building of palaces, in western her personality, control, Marlborough going to war, his absence? Her being Machiavelli character, her power rule, peremptory, ever present to the Queen, making the decisions, the issues of political alliances, with the prime minister, antagonism towards the opposition, Torts Harley? With an, the favourite?
10. Abigail, her background, poverty, the responsibility of her father, her being prostituted, her ambitions, coming to court, cousin to Sarah, her falling in the mud, her treatment by the servants in the kitchen? Going to Sarah, Sarah advancing her, the jobs, prospects? The shrewdness, and and her gout, Abigail getting the herbs and applying them secretly? Sarah’s reaction, the Queen’s reaction, relying more and more on Abigail, her presence, friendship, Abigail infiltrating the court? The Queen depending on her? Sexually provocative, provocative?
11. The range of courtiers, their roles, the parliamentarians coming to the Court, audiences with the Queen, Harley, his manner, the clashes with the opposition? Abigail and her aligning herself with Harley, deals, suggestions, information? He is using it, and again Sarah? Growing enmity with Sarah, the rivalry, Abigail poisoning Sarah, her illness, the ride on the horse, being dragged along the countryside, her being rescued, recovering, her return to the court?
12. Abigail’s behaviour in Sarah’s absence, the courtier, the soldier, his infatuation, the sexual approaches, Abigail leading him on, permission for the marriage, the quick ceremony, Abigail and her entry into aristocracy?
13. Service return, out-of-favour, Abigail and Harley, the Queen, in parliament, painting rather than make a decision? The decision for peace, Marlborough and his return, Sarah ousted, their future?
14. Abigail, now the favourite? The future?
15. The powerful portrait of the Queen, the repercussions for understanding British history of the time?
