The Favorite

The Favorite

This movie is described as a drama/comedy. Since this is a British film drama beats out comedy. This is a period piece during the reign of Queen Anne in  17^th century England. Queen Anne played by Olivia Colman is in a feeble state  manipulated by her ladies in waiting and ministers petitioning her for their  rival campaigns. In her bedchamber the Queen keeps  17 rabbits in memory of the seventeen children she lost.

I do not know Olivia Colman. She appears in British television and film. She played Queen Anne as an insecure easily manipulated person, but when  angered or hurt turns forceful and absolute. She could be a fawning person cuddling bunnies and the help. There are many layers to the queen, for the most part she is manipulated and disinterested. She is the antithesis of Elizabeth I.

The real action is between Abigail Masham, Emma Stone, and Sarah Churchill, Rachel Weisz. They are battling vipers. Sarah Churchill  was the favorite of the Queen and used her position to manipulate her. Weisz played role with absolute confidence and resolve; crushing anyone in her way. Abigail Masham is her rival, they are cousins. Abigale fell on hard times when her father lost his fortune and gambled her away in a card game to a German (enter English humor). These two were having so much fun playing their roles they should fortieth their salary. The rivalry escalates to dangerous levels while see sawing for the Queen’s affection.  What they do to win her over would make Machiavelli blush.

Nicholas Hault (“About a Boy”) played the 1^st Earl of Oxford. He was always wearing a wig and had make up and enjoyed it (more British humor). He uses Abigale to win over the Queen . He played the aristocratic snob well.

This being a period piece the costumes were flamboyant. I think I saw RuPaul in the credits. With the puffed wigs and high heels, the men grew about eight inches in height. Their makeup was like pancake and their moles moved to different positions. It would be great to speak to a dance historian because the dances in the movie were outrages and kinetic. It was not your usual starchy curtsy and bow you see in British film.

 One thing I never saw before in a film is the extreme wide angle lens shots. Straight doorways were curved, hallways bent around themselves. Sometimes a shot will be at an angle to emphasis evil or foreboding, but here I did not understand the shots.

There is much I am not saying for fear of backlash. If you like the hilarity of Downton Abby, this is your movie.

  

Green Book

The Green Book

A fabulous movie. This film is more than road trip/buddy movie. There are revelations from both sides of the racial divide. The Green Book  refers to “The Negro Motorist Green Book”, a guidebook for African-American travelers to help them find motels and restaurants in the south that accept them. Tony Lip (a.k.a.-Tony Vallelonga), Viggo Mortensen, is the driver and bodyguard hired by Dr. Don Shirly, Mahersharla Ali, accompanying him on his two month piano recital tour in the deep south.

Viggo Mortensen inhabits his character. He gains copious amounts of weight. For all of Tony’s faults and crudeness he is  sincere and loyal. He says what he means and means what he says. Viggo plays the role confidently and with ease. However, when some one has to have their face busted Tony does a good job. He is a prodigious eater. In one scene Tony folds up an entire pizza and chomps down it. I never saw no one on Mulberry street eat a whole pizza like that… maybe half.

Ali plays Dr. Shirly (PhD)  a person deeply uncomfortable in his own skin. He is highly educated, a virtuoso and eccentric. His world is insulated. He knows Chopin and Liszt, but never heard of Little Richard. His performance is tense and has an unsettled persona. He initially disdains  Tony’s manner and petty larceny. Their relationship evolves from employer/employee to two guys on the road. For all his refinement  Dr. Shirly lacks a sureness that comes naturally to Tony. In one scene they stop on the highway and across the road share croppers are tending the field. The share croppers incredulously  stare at Dr. Shirly, a black man in a suit driven by a white man. Shirly is transfixed but he cannot relate; he does not want to relate. The share croppers  are a lineage he disdains. Dr. Shirly has his demons which are tamed  nightly drinking a bottle of Cutty Sark.

This is basically a two character movie, which makes it great. The magic of the film is that during their journey these two polar opposites come to respect and care for each other. Both have their faults. Given Tony’s working class background and his association with the “Boys” he harbors  prejudices accepted by his class. With Dr. Shelby’s lofty position it is natural for him to look down at his lessors. Overcoming these limitations is the heat of the film.

p.s. The movie is a dramatization of actual people.