Shades of Brexit in brilliant drama

‘The Favourite’ is shaken, ripped and served for today’s audiences

LAST weekend, The Favourite scooped seven awards at the Baftas – including Outstanding British Film, Original Screenplay (Deborah Davis, Tony McNamara), Leading Actress (Olivia Colman), Supporting Actress (Rachel Weisz) and Cinematography (Robbie Ryan).

It is an astounding film: a thrilling take on royal period drama: shaken, ripped and served up for contemporary audiences.

Set in the early 18th century, The

Favourite tracks the real-life interactions between cousins Sarah (Rachel Weisz) and Abigail (Emma Stone), who compete to be besties of Queen Anne.

Anne was queen of England, Ireland and Scotland between March 1702 and May 1707.

In May 1707, two of her realms, England and Scotland, united and became Great Britain. She remained as queen of Great Britain and Ireland until her death in 1714.

Shades of Brexit: the game of politics, as we see factions sparring in the film.

The film is inspired by history but writers Davis and McNamara have fictionalised aspects – with breathtaking effect. Sarah and Anne were lifelong friends and confidants. In the film, they are depicted as being sexually involved, as is the interloper, Abigail, who woos Anne to become her favourite. It is doubtful that there was a lesbian relationship in the triangle, but that is immaterial. The sexual relationship in the film heightens the intimacy between them.

A quirky fiction is the portrayal of 17 rabbits which belong to the queen. These are proxies for the 17 children she lost in childbirth.

In the hands of director Yorgos Lanthimos, we are presented with a comedy of politics – royal and country, sex, money and relationships.

The script is brilliant – dripping with rapier-sharp riposte, caustic, in-yer-face Aussie repartee mashed up with English sensibility. I am not a fan of period dramas, I tend to find them stuffy, tedious. The Favourite is none of that. It is a ripper of a relationship story, a thriller with a superb script, character-infused performances, superlative cinematography, costumes and design.

The film was shot at Hatfield House in Hertfordshire and at Hampton Court Palace. Cinematographer Ryan has used wide-angle lenses, shooting from below for a sense of the architecture bearing down on the protagonists – particularly Anne. She is baffled (by the politics and treachery and everyone around her). Bloated, physically and emotionally, she is very tired.

The camera work amplifies her state of mind. It is almost as if Ryan has used techniques from smart phones,stitching scenes together so they line up and give us an intensified view – an altered reality. Natural light was used and Ryan strapped cameras to his body.

For example, when a wagon overturns, the camera mirrors the tumbling. This is a fairground where everything becomes topsy-turvy and jittery.

The design is stripped-down opulence. The palace walls are adorned but there are huge expanses of wood floors and panelling. It is as if the residents are moving and most of the furniture has been removed but the decoration remains. Stark but opulent.

As action and tension accelerate, Sarah (Weisz) becomes increasingly warrior-like as she fights for country and to remain the fave of the queen. Her costumes become androgynous.

The motif of the female warrior pinged for me against the film Black

Panther, directed by Ryan Coogler, which also won at the Baftas and is up for Oscar awards (to be announced on February 24). For me, it is the image of the female warrior in The Favourite which invites a conversation with the American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics franchise.

I reckon these two films could be screened as companion pieces: African super warrior women intersect with an English monarchist warrior woman.

The African warriors are way nicer and more evolved than the ruthless Sarah, but they are spurred on to chart their own destinies.

The Favourite is on general circuit and at The Labia. Bookings advised at Webtickets for the Labia, as it has been playing to sold-out houses.

SUPPLIED THE Favouritehas won seven awards at the Baftas.|