When we know the world, the world is ours.
There is a lot to say about “Poor Things” as a movie, the impeccable production of sets, costumes, hair and makeup, writing, directing, casting, performances. If you don’t feel like keeping on reading (and you haven’t watched the movie yet), I can only tell you to go watch it, right now, and experience a truly miraculous story that completely sweeps you away. The picture as a whole is made with so much passion, creativity and freedom, but yet each little aspect carefully weighed out, that it forms a delicate balance between lunacy and theme, often going out of its way to weird you out, but in a way that will teach you something.
First of all, Yorgos Lanthimos, as we know him from masterpieces like “The Favorite”, “The Lobster” and one of my personal favorites “The Killing of a Sacred Deer”, lets himself go completely into this fantasy world and story. The story itself and the book it is based on, is filled with enough ideas, concepts and logic that didn’t need a lot of translating to the screen, yet Lanthimos insisted on playing with different camera setups, lenses, frames, different colors, sometimes vibrant, sometimes somber. It wasn’t needed to put Bella’s story on the screen, but it was absolutely necessary to impact us with everything she discovers on her adventure. The bad things that happen to her are accentuated but performed lightly, as to ease us into her pain softly, for then to shift into ninth gear and drop a load of emotions on us whenever she feels happy, or exceptionally sad or angry. Above all, the absurdity in which Lanthimos tells his intricate stories, the playfulness with all the elements he holds in his power, makes this movie and most of his other movies stand out above the competition.
To shoot such a beautiful world, it is also necessary to have an amazing cinematographer. This is Robbie Ryan’s second collaboration with Lanthimos, saying he’s “learning from him constantly”, which again pinpoints the greatness in Lanthimos’ films, showing how much of a central piece he is in the entire production of the movie; actors, film crew, set designers, writers, become better because he is involved in the project. The framing changes the way the story is perceived, sometimes opting for a fisheye lens, while often zooming in or out slowly or quickly to show shock, curiosity, interest, to put our attention to something or to distract us instead. The camera is a part of the movie as much as Emma Stone or Willem Dafoe, it moves around, sees the world through Bella’s eyes and shows emotions like wonder and confusion, sadness and anger.
