I just came back from the Venice Film Festival and had my first glimpse of some of the most anticipated movies of the year. Here are my thoughts on some of the Golden Lion nominees.
Poor Things
Poor Things, the latest black comedy by Yorgos Lanthamos, became the 66th film to receive the prestigious Golden Lion award. Set in a surreal steampunk universe, we follow the eccentric Dr Baxter (Willem Defoe) as he creates and studies chimeric monsters in his lab. One of these creations is Bella (Emma Stone), who was brought to life when Baxter revived a half-dead woman with the brain of her unborn child.
As Bella’s mental age grows, so does the attention of men and her sexual desire. This is where the film strays uncomfortably close to “Born Sexy Yesterday” – a problematic trope where the mind of a naive girl is placed in the body of a mature, highly sexualised woman, creating unbalanced and exploitative relationship dynamics. But, rather than being easily controlled by the men around her, Bella instead manages to always get what she wants, maddening Duncan Wedderburn (Mark Ruffalo), the womanising Lawyer that she runs off with. Part of Bella’s power comes from her ignorance towards “polite society”, and her challenging of Victorian social conventions is hilarious to watch. Flipping the Born Sexy Yesterday trope on its head, Poor Things is as much biting social satire as it is thoroughly entertaining.
Priscilla
An antidote to Baz Luhrman’s pulse-pounding biopic, Sofia Coppola’s Priscilla is a slow, intimate look at what it was like being married to the King of Rock & Roll. We meet Priscilla (Cailee Spaeny) when she is introduced to Elvis (Jacob Elordi) at the age of 14 and follow her as she’s dragged into the dizzying depths of 1960s show business, only to be cast aside once her partner’s notorious affairs gather pace.
It’s an interesting perspective that allows the audience to feel Elvis’ immense seductive power. But Priscilla’s character seems oddly underdeveloped, as we see her fall immediately into his shadow. What’s left is a dreary look into her life as she lopes around the house while her husband is on tour. Maybe that’s the point, but ultimately we end up learning far more about Elvis and his problematic attitude towards women than the person the film is actually about. Nonetheless Spaeny is able to conjure a fantastic performance despite the script, making her a worthy recipient of the festival’s best actress award.
Maestro
In Maestro, Bradley Cooper throws himself into the role of musical polymath Leanard Bernstein as he writes, directs and performs the lead role. It is a mammoth biopic, covering the majority of Bernstein’s 72 year life, as well as his complex relationship with his wife, his numerous affairs with both men and women, and his far-reaching musical career.
At first, it seems like he’s uprooting the established formula of the Hollywood biopic as he experiments with surreal transitions that blur time and space, but ultimately he falls back into classical norms as Bernstein gets older – a missed opportunity. Cooper also decides to focus more on his marriage to Felicia Montealegre (Carey Mulligan) than his work. This is a shame as it would have been interesting to see more about the making of his classic musicals like West Side Story. Nonetheless, the tale of a marriage crushed under the weight of Bernstein’s egotistic talent hits the mark thanks in no small part to Carey’s breathtaking portrayal of Felicia.
The Killer
In The Killer, a highly trained hitman (Michael Fassbender) misses his shot during a high-profile job and is forced to clean up his tracks to protect his family. With David Fincher’s distinctive slow-building tension overlayed with an American Psycho-style monologue, the stage is set for a classic action thriller.
Yet Fincher twists this formula by focussing on the methodical, practical side of the assassination business; the planning, the preparation, the waiting. The film’s initial injection of imperfection builds into an all-out deconstruction of the killer’s pristine pre-kill mantra, somehow bringing humanity to the most inhumane profession. With only one major action sequence, Fincher somehow manages to engage, thrill and say a lot with few cinematic ingredients.
That said, the plot isn’t nearly as adventurous as some of Fincher’s other work. It is a solid, yet safe film that will probably get good reviews but isn’t likely to spark wild fan theories or a cult following.
The Beast
The Beast, directed by Bertrand Bonell is a timely tale of AI anxiety. Set in a Black Mirror-esque near future, Gabrielle (Léa Seydoux) sets out to purify herself of all emotion in an AI-led world that has deemed any feeling as a threat. It’s a fascinating premise that launches both Gabrielle and Louis (George Mackay) into two separate “purification” simulations, set in Paris 1910 and LA 2014, in an apparent attempt to purge their emotions.
Though these settings are definitely interesting, they drag with bloated, often tedious, dialogue which makes the important plot points hard to follow. It would have been good to see more of the framing narrative set in 2044, as these offer the most grounding parts of the film. Nonetheless, this structure does lead to a refreshing psychological thriller that sidesteps a potentially mind-numbing lecture on AI to explore very real human anxieties about the future.
Evil Does Not Exist
Winning the Silver Grand Jury prize was Evil Does Not Exist (Ryûsuke Hamaguchi), a film that slowly introduces us to the serene village of Harasawa, where a Tokyo-based company is planning to build a glamping site. Foreseeing the dire environmental consequences, single-parent Takumi along with his fellow villagers are strongly opposed to the project.
Long takes of Harasawa’s idyllic surroundings build on this uneasy tension, subverting the impression of tranquillity to reveal a dark thriller that is far more complicated than the simple set up would suggest. A film that I’ll definitely be wanting to re-watch and analyse.
In part 2 of this series, I’ll be sharing my thoughts on some of the more indie films from the festival that aren’t in competition for the Golden Lion.
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