'Poor Things': An extravagantly peculiar film
The director of "The Favourite", Yorgos Lanthimos, joins forces again with the Oscar winner Emma Stone in a witty, wondrous and wicked film "Poor Things". It is based on a book of the same name written by Alasdair Gray. The narrative refers to Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, in which Willem Dafoe plays the unconventional genius Dr Godwin Baxter, who reincarnated Bella, played by Emma, by putting her unborn child's brain inside her head. Godwin then enlists his enthusiastic pupil Max McCandles, played by Ramy Youssef, to document her rapid advancement.
With her new brain, Bella has no recollection of her prior existence and her thirst for knowledge and experience is too great to be quenched inside Godwin's estate. Seizing the chance presented by Mark Ruffalo's unchivalrous attorney Duncan Wedderburn, she goes on a series of adventures. The majority of the chapter, which takes place in Godwin's house, is in black and white. As Bella leaves, learns and grows, the movie changes to colour.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. Due to the unique surgery, Bella cannot be pressured or manipulated to do anything she does not want to do. She is immune to social norms and expectations like what constitutes as being polite or how we sometimes have to do unpleasant things to survive in this cruel world.
The scenes in Lisbon are stunning, and Bella's innocent acceptance of novel experiences is deftly contrasted with the surprising infatuation that the cad Duncan is starting to torment Bella with. Bella's increasing intelligence and charm make her new friends on the second trip on 'The Ship'. The scenes in Paris seem to just be an awkward jumble of fetishised smut and a rather shallow plot.
Bella is wise enough to comprehend socialism after her exposure to those two or three novels and the brief speech by a man on the ship explaining hardship, but she somehow doesn't comprehend the realities of prostitution. Although she actively expresses that this is neither enjoyable nor even consensual, she still chooses to do it. An unsocialised human would instinctually, run away from a negative experience that provokes disgust and pain.
However, Bella seems to succumb to those despairs almost as though she has developed Stockholm Syndrome. Or, it could also be presumed that she wanted to expand her experiences and reach the pinnacle of success before deciding if she wanted to continue or quit something. Perhaps, it could have been considered a feminist message if this were a critique of how society, particularly patriarchy, pushes women into these situations. Or, if it treated it with the seriousness that sex work deserves, including the numerous potential harms to vulnerable women. However, pregnancy, menstruation, illness, violence, or truly any feminine pleasure surprisingly never came up.
The opulent surroundings suggested that she had achieved independence and self-discovery as a result of her sex worker lifestyle. But how can that happen, especially if her boss was physically and psychologically coercing her? Can we really call this free will? It's ironic how the male screenwriters and directors would assume that a woman's unadulterated, instinctive reaction to sexual awakening would be to centre her needs and fantasies around males rather than her own. In the end, the initially intriguing idea of an unsocialised woman travelling the world unhindered by social norms turned into an exploitative exercise in the male gaze, where a woman's primal need is to engage in uncomfortable sexual relations with males. Bella is portrayed as a woman who constantly craves sex with men, regardless of the man or the circumstance. The plot is even more unsettling because Bella looks like an adult woman but has the mentality of a newborn. As the film comes to a close, she has been taken advantage of without having grown up mentally.
The period is hard to pinpoint precisely as Bella's story takes place in an era that is filled with steampunk and gothic elements, a world warped by the patriarchal power imbalances in the community. Maybe a tribute to life itself, which can have unforeseen and seemingly unrelated branches and sequels. But it can also be assumed that by not hinging on a particular period, the movie intended to critique society of both the past and the present.
Jerskin Fendrix orchestrated a beautifully eccentric score for this film. The same motif played on violin strings opens the film and returns in various incarnations throughout. The music's slow emergence of urgency and intricacy perfectly captures Bella's intellectual development.
The movie seemed to throw in every cinematic trick in the book– the black and white to colour transition, the fish eye lens, the peephole, the title cards, the hackneyed steampunk aesthetic. As an audience, I was impressed by the detail, coordination, passion and planning behind this movie – all of which made it impossible to be distracted. The surreal and vibrant world of "Poor Things" earns your attention.
Ruffalo's character is the most amusing. He's entertaining to watch, and his performance has a hint of the classic silent-era cinema villain. I think Ruffalo had one of his best performances to date in this one. He is a sleazy lawyer who became enamoured with Bella's innocent and meek demeanour. It is through him that Bella discovers the world and the duality of man. Bella is open-minded, but his expectations and viewpoints, formed throughout his life in this society, are frequently very narrow-minded.
Deeply scarred and gorgeous, Dafoe's face betrays the deeper wounds of his character's horrific upbringing. Youssef makes a beautiful love interest, offering warmth and sympathy.
Stone's virtuoso use of her body is one of the most crucial elements in our experience of Bella's journey. Even in the beginning of the film when she couldn't talk, she still had a curious and commanding presence. Stone's portrayal of Bella captures the spirit of the character with a fascinating blend of naïve impulse and wise insight.
From a reanimated girl to an educated lady, she explored her femininity without bias. Bella's hedonism and humanity serve as the anchor for the film's whimsical moments. Although Bella is a complex puzzle to those around her, Stone cleverly makes us see the world through Bella's eyes, with all of its dark and perplexing temptations.
Overall, the movie propels you to feel uncomfortable and consider your morals. Challenging and entertaining in equal measure, "Poor Things" is a profound commentary on human politics and the fluidity of personal identity, making it one of the most intriguing and memorable movies of 2023. The film has been nominated for 11 Academy Awards.
The film ends on an upbeat note and leaves the audience to decide for themselves if she is indeed liberated. Some people may argue that Bella beats the system and becomes emancipated, and other people might say that she has only been "empowered" by external incentives, not by empowerment that originates from within.
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