Bizarre and beautiful – What made Poor Things so impactful?
Poor Things was a massive success, winning five awards at this years BAFTAs
I adore absurdity in film. Yes, it can be challenging to explore, but its complexity is what makes it so magical when it’s successfully depicted - like in Yorgos Lanthimos’ Poor Things. It is hilarious, bizarre, and incredibly impactful. I recently watched this in the cinema, and I’ve struggled to stop thinking about it since.
The film adapts Alasdair Gray’s novel, a postmodern take on Frankenstein, set in Glasgow’s beloved West End. Despite this, the film was relocated to a fictionalised version of London disappointing many Glaswegians. We hoped to see our city represented, instead it was stripped of its original heritage.
That said, the film was still incredible. Where it lacked Scottish Culture, it was rich in substance and compelling in its own right.
Emma Stone had the challenge of playing Bella Baxter, a creature resurrected from a dead body by maverick scientist, Dr Godwin Baxter. So how do you portray such a character – a women put together in a lab, learning to live, with a brain that is not her own? It feels as though the only correct answer is in Emma Stone’s amazing performance.
We are introduced to Bella’s normality through a black and white lens, as she explores the confines of her home. Each day she eats, sleeps, plays, and eventually gets restless and frustrated like a child without mental stimulation. Her inability to articulate her feelings leads to outbursts and tantrums. Stone’s clunky inhumane movements show the characters struggle in navigating her adult body.
Willem Dafoe portrays Godwin or as Bella abbreviates, God, emphasising his power and her seclusion from society. What I found fascinating, was the depth of the characters backstory. The scientist was experimented on as a child by his own father, leaving him disfigured. The relationship between him and Bella is complicated. Despite being responsible for her compromised life, she is the only person who treats him with compassion and acceptance.
The introduction of Mark Ruffalo’s character, Duncan Wedderburn, sheds great insight into how Bella’s mind works. His romantic proposal to travel Europe together disrupts Bella’s normality, altering the stories trajectory.
At this stage, we have seen shifts in Bella - her speech has improved, and she is growing more curious. The subsequent character development is truly exceptional; even in her innocence, she understands that Duncan serves as her bridge to the outside word.
Aligning with our own simple pleasures; Bella discovers sex, travel, food, and dance. However, along her path, she encounters moral challenges that expose her to new, negative emotions. Through experiences and learning empathy, Bella realises that life is not only about seeking gratification but also confronting injustice, unfairness, and misfortune.
The first stop on Bella’s trip is Lisbon. Lanthimos’ depiction of Portugal is perfectly surreal yet familiar all at once. Between the artificial sky and innovative camera techniques, we are transported to what I can only describe as a fever dream.
A particularly delightful scene features Bella spontaneously dancing to music in a restaurant. Shot on a wide lens, she moves her body instinctively, creating the most charming yet ridiculous dance sequence with Ruffalo. Another truly brilliant scene in the film is when the conflict unfolds. After Bella donates all of their money - believing she is aiding starving babies, the pair end up penniless on the streets of Paris.
However, Bella reveals that she had “emergency” money all along. Hilariously, Duncans bankruptcy does not quite fit Bella’s criteria of an emergency but when she realises it could be used to be free of him, she willingly hands it over for his flight home.
With its stunning, gothic cinematography, the film captures a dystopian and meticulously curated Victorian London. The use of colour visually represents discovery. The contrast between the black and white scenes symbolising Bella’s restricted perspective of the world, and the transition to colour reflecting her newfound freedom, allows us to see the world through her eyes, in the saturated warmth of a gorgeous colour palette.
Emma Stone wears peculiar silhouettes – her costumes are oddly futuristic whilst still suggesting she is a product of her time. This is done brilliantly, down to her makeup and freakishly long hair. Bella’s wacky style only further represents her abnormality in a conditioned society.
At the end of the film, Bella’s clothes are no longer colourful but black, signifying the death of her past self. Holly Waddington costume design translates the eccentricity of Bella through fashion so perfectly. The intentional absence of coordination and practicality in the characters clothing, helps the audience understand the incompleteness of her mind.
Bella’s existence - although unsettling in its inception, is the true essence of this narrative. She represents liberation and true femininity. The characters around her are merely stepping stones and obstacles whilst she discovers her own path as a woman. The messages in this film are so strong. The idea of being reborn with an opportunity to understand the world through an unfiltered lens, and not the systematic gaze of a man, is undeniably appealing.