CHOOSING A ‘FAVOURITE’ AMONG ROYAL COSTUME DRAMAS

Emma Stone and Olivia Colman in "The Favourite"

By Dominique Paul Noth

Two lavish bewigged and begowned costume dramas, both steeped in British royal history, vied for movie eyeballs as 2018 closed out and their takes may be similar in their ominous foreboding but quite different in up close versus long distance conflict. 

The costumes and settings are feasts for the eyes.  Yet as cinema I much prefer the macabre and comedic yet deadly court intrigue of “The Favourite” to the somewhat heavy breathing feminist overwriting of “Mary Queen of Scots.”

“Mary” is blessed in the costumes of Alexandra Byrne and strong leading actors in Saoirse Ronan as Mary and Margot Robbie as Queen Elizabeth I, actors forced to pontificate too much on their plight, which includes being pawns in the machinations of men (which they were) and fabricating queenly philosophy at a manufactured meeting (which they didn’t). 

Both films may send patrons scurrying to the  history books to see how much of the happenings are invented or historically acceptable, and the simple answer is, in both,  basically dialog and events are developed around real characters in eras when court intrigue was the name of the game.  The history is not accurate, the outcomes are at the service of the screenwriters,  but passing attention is paid to the times.

“Mary” is freer with the facts since the basic conflict between two queens separated by space vying for power has long been the stuff of historical speculation and literature.  Did one really try to kill the other? Or did they respect each other’s situation?

Director Josie Rourke handles excellently the production elements but feels freer to suggest the emotional conflict over the factual one, silly dialog like “Only one Queen can understand another.” Her movie succumbs to overwriting and over-explanation, forcing the actors into extended screen time when they should just hit their points and move on.

“The Favourite” in contrast relishes the clumping around of a pudgy Queen Anne with agonizing gout and flighty moods – and sudden bursts of the sad girl lost in duties beyond her abilities yet with absolute power that makes her dangerous.  Olivia Colman plays her full theatrical tilt, like Miss Piggy at the height of anger. But she makes it clear that the queen’s bursts of outrage are related to how over her head she is in the complicated Tory vs. Whigs affairs of state.  The rest of the court has become expert and vindictive in playing on her uncertainties.

Director Yorgos Lanthimos recognizes the real audience grabber in his 18th century romp is the ruthless quest for power over Anne between her ladies in waiting. Rachel Weisz is the high-born established power behind the throne.  Her role is really Sarah Churchill (to be historically accurate) whose affectionate nickname for the queen was Mrs. Morley.

Emma Stone is Abigail, the comely poor relation Sarah takes in to her everlasting regret.  The fight of these two for the queen’s favor – a sexual fight as well as social fight – takes over the film, with little surreal splashes whether gathering home remedies in the forest or splattering blood while shooting not so clay pigeons.

Rachel Weisz turns on the charm during a mud bath
in 'The Favourite'

Stone is constantly intriguing, as nasty and untrustworthy as she has ever been on screen and clearly delighted by the demands.  But the real powerhouse performance is Weisz as the striding snippy Sarah in mannish clothes and overbearing manner, yet capable of pretending sweetness when the circumstances warrant. The details of their battles – who is up, who is down and when – are something audiences should discover for themselves. The director leaves the outcome up to the uncertain manic eyes of Queen Anne herself, overrun by her pet bunnies.

There are powerful music cues as well from composer Max Richter, though he is not nominated.  He adds to traditional lilting English madrigals and chamber music sequences with repetition of a long cello note and a quick percussive tap. It’s a device that builds our tension much like that shrieking violin note in “Psycho.”

The texture of the film and its almost surreal sections -- plus some elaborate character-related dances that push the edge of courtier abilities -- provide an observant eye from the outside on all the double-dealings that pile up inside.

Other current film reviews:
Mary Poppins Returns

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

Roma

Vice 

About the author: Noth has been  a professional journalist since the 1960s, first as national, international and local news copy editor at The Milwaukee Journal, then as an editor for its original Green Sheet, also  for almost two decades the paper’s film and drama critic. He became the newspaper’s senior feature editor. He was tapped by the publishers of the combining Milwaukee Journal Sentinel for special projects and as first online news producer before voluntarily departing in the mid-1990s to run online news seminars and write on public affairs and Internet and consumer news. From 2002 to 2013 he ran the Milwaukee Labor Press as editor. It served as the Midwest’s largest home-delivered labor newspaper, with archives at milwaukeelabor.org.  In that role he won top awards yearly until the paper stopped publishing in 2013. His investigative pieces and extensive commentaries are now published by several news outlets as well as his DomsDomain dual culture and politics outlets.  He also reviews theater for Urban Milwaukee.