Poor Things Author Was A Fan Of Yorgos Lanthimos From The Start
Yorgos Lanthimos has carved out a career as an accessible surrealist. From "Dogtooth" to "The Favourite," he's evinced a darkly comedic understanding of humanity's self-destructive preoccupations. At his best, he's both a satirist and tragedian; his characters are trapped in social constructs that will eventually grind them to dust.
This doesn't sound like much fun, but Lanthimos is a gifted visualist. His films are sumptuously designed, and expertly shot. You sink into his movies, even when you know they're driving toward a downbeat conclusion. And if the trailer is any indication, it appears he's outdone himself in the visual department with his adaptation of Alasdair Gray's "Poor Things."
The film reunites Lanthimos with Emma Stone, who was memorably subjected to the pathetic whims of Olivia Colman's Queen Anne in "The Favourite." Stone plays a woman resurrected by an ambitious scientist (Willem Dafoe), which places it squarely in the realm of Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein," but her reborn character is alive to the challenges of her new world. She yearns to live as a liberated being, to experience life with a renewed vigor that rankles the patriarchal society into which she's been thrust.
"Poor Things" looks like the most complex undertaking of Lanthimos' career, and it's one he's been working up to. It's definitely the biggest movie he's ever made, but it might mean more than the others because he received the blessing of the novel's deceased author.
Frankenstein, or the post-modern Prometheus
In an interview with Vogue, Lanthimos revealed that he traveled to Gray's home country of Scotland to ask the author for the rights to the book. The filmmaker was impressed by Gray's interest in his work and moved by his offer to show him around the city that inspired the novel. As he told Vogue:
"[H]e was very special and energetic; he was 80-something [when we met], and as soon as I got there, he had seen 'Dogtooth' and said, 'I had my friend put on the DVD because I don't know how to operate these things, but I think you're very talented, young man.' I was young back then. [Laughs.] He started walking me around Glasgow, showing me various places he had incorporated into the book and the university that he taught in, and it took me a while to catch up with him, he was so energetic and excited."
Lanthimos dearly wanted to make the film, but he couldn't secure the budget until the commercial and critical success of "The Favourite." With nine Academy Award nominations and a Best Actress win for Olivia Colman, the director finally had the clout to get "Poor Things" before cameras. This certainly sounds like a passion project.
We'll find out if Lanthimos did Gray's work justice when the film hits theaters on September 8, 2023 (presumably after a Venice Film Festival premiere).