‘The Favourite’ has a distinctive look
In creating the visual world of “The Favourite,” production designer Fiona Crombie wanted to emphasize spaces that felt like real people lived in them day to day. Queen Anne’s palace, meant to be the historic St. James Palace, is less of a showpiece and more of a genuine home, one that reflects the quirks and emotional states of its inhabitants. In each room, especially the queen’s bedroom, the furniture was allowed to shift based on what was happening — which was an early note from director Yorgos Lanthimos.
“We liked the idea that these rooms were lived in,” says Crombie, sitting down to discuss the film in London. “They’re not presentational. They change a lot depend- ing on what’s happening or the choreography or even how well someone is. You want to have a sense of character and life in those spaces. There’s something really good about an unkempt room, and it can reflect where that person is and what’s happening with her. We charted a little graph of the queen’s mental health and well-being and how it’s reflected in the state of her bed or what’s on the floor. Even the floral arrangements go through a mood shift.”
Most of the palace was created in Hatfield House, a Jacobean house outside London in Hertfordshire. The property has been used frequently for filming, including on “Wonder Woman,” “The Crown” and “Shakespeare in Love,” and