The Athenian transplanted to London and the daughter of Arizona who became a Hollywood star. Yorgos Lanthimos50, attracted attention with Dogtoothwhich in 2009 was about incest and imprisoned brothers. Emma Stone35, he had great success with Spidermanthe Oscar with the musical La La Land.
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Their unpredictable meeting, The favourite, five years ago, marked a bold turning point for America’s sweetheart, irrepressible in the role of courtesan ready for any intrigue and baseness. With Poor creatures! the partnership between the two different soul mates takes a step forward, wins the Golden Lion in Venice, has been in theaters since January 25th and travels towards the Oscars, the only rival of Oppenheimer. Adapted from Alasdair Gray’s 1992 novel, the futuristic comedy gives us Bella Baxter, a divine creature, a woman with the body of a dead suicide who comes back to life thanks to the brain of a newborn baby. Feminist Frankenstein, Bella discovers the world as a child in an adult body, joyfully stomps on the piano keys, pees on the floor, experiences the most extreme depths of sex, food, travel and the weight of patriarchy in a glorious journey slanted towards knowledge and emancipation. The meeting with the artistic couple is on Zoom in the dark and perhaps for this reason their voices seem closer and more complicit.
‘Poor creatures!’, that monster by Emma Stone is a hymn to freedom. Alberto Crespi’s review by Alberto Crespi 22 January 2024
It took twelve years.
Stone: «It wasn’t a given that it would become reality. When Yorgos met Alasdair — who he had loved Dogtooth — had never made a film in English. I joined the project seven years ago.”
Lanthimos: «In the novel the story is told from multiple points of view, with Tony McNamara, the screenwriter of The Favourite, we were clear that for us Bella Baxter was at the centre. We built a world that reflected his experiences, his way of seeing reality.”
Emma, what relationship do you have with Bella and with Victoria, the suicidal woman?
Stone: «Bella is my favorite character of all time. I love her deeply, for how she is written and for what she represents. I’m heartbroken for Victoria. But I’m happy that she has found new life.”
This film changed her life, not only as an actress.
Stone: «Yes, enormously. Meeting Yorgos in La Favorita was already a big change, but our creative collaboration has evolved. With this film I had the opportunity to free myself from some aspects of my experience or my story, to be able to embody Bella, even just experiencing her in some moments changed my outlook, perhaps permanently. I see the world and think about things differently.”
Too much sex in ‘Poor Creatures!’, the film with Emma Stone censored in Great Britain by the Entertainment editorial team 09 January 2024
Is the fear that exists in exploring female sexuality among the reasons you wanted to make the film?
Stone: «I think it’s as important as every other aspect of what Bella experiences in her life. Sex is only part of her experience. Obviously it’s one of the ones that people like to talk about a lot. But she discovers everything: travel, philosophy, food, wine, dance, dynamics with people, conversations, making friends. There are so many things, that I see. Sex is an aspect that accompanies evolution and discovery, it happens to everyone.”
Do you think that young audiences perceive erotic scenes differently? (in the English version a scene was “reworked” ed.). In the US, sex is scarier than violence on the screen.
Stone: «The film looks at, and for me is liberating, every aspect of life, not just the positive or pleasant ones. There’s a great line that Madame Swiney says: “If we know sadness and degradation and all these other aspects of life, we can know the world and then the world can be ours.” Bella weighs Good and Evil equally, without judgment, as we do. She, as she evolves, just wants to participate more in life.”
What do you think about the need for inclusion and the risks of political correctness?
Lanthimos: «I think the world of cinema — the world in general — has been structured in a way that is not necessarily inclusive. There are too many differences and a correction is needed. Now, how this is done in each different aspect is a vast question that should be addressed in depth.”
(reuters)
In the film the major themes are tempered by irony, I’m thinking of the comic dance with the seductive lawyer Mark Ruffalo.
Stone: «This film is a comedy. Humor and joyfulness are innate in the story, it’s the experience we seek for the audience. I too find dancing with Mark irresistible.”
Lanthimos: «You can’t do anything serious if it’s only serious, you have to make it fun so that it goes even deeper».
Best moment on set?
Stone: «Yorgos takes photos all day on set, on film, he is also a photographer. He taught me how to develop them. In the evening we went to develop them and elaborate on the day spent and plan. Those are some of my favorite memories, having that kind of quiet, meditative time at the end of the day, watching some of the things shot through a different lens. Yorgos, your moment?
Lanthimos: «I was about to say the same thing».
(reuters)
You have already shot another film, “Kinds of kindness”.
Lanthimos: «Yes, we’re putting it together. It is a completely new project and completely different from Poor Creatures!. It is set in the contemporary. Three different stories and a core of seven actors who play a character in each story. So each of them embodies three different characters.”
Yorgos, what is the quality that makes Emma special to you?
Lanthimos: «Emma is unique. Not just in terms of talent, but in the way we get along, talk to each other, move forward. She is simply special. When you find something like that, you don’t let it go.”
Emma, over the years, is making increasingly courageous choices.
Stone: «By nature I look for what really interests me, outside the shelter of the desk. It gives me joy to meet different stories and people. Over the years I have learned that great benefit comes from being able to choose. I’m interested in the things that scare me at first, that I considered too challenging, that I didn’t feel up to. But if you work with a director with whom you feel protected, with whom you trust, you are free to explore things that you wouldn’t do with others. I’m living a very fascinating moment, yes.”
(reuters)
Is it a feminist film?
Lanthimos: «I don’t think it’s just that. I think the story can work for any human being. But the fact that Bella is a woman adds a strong layer, makes the path more specific, so I’m happy if they consider it feminist.”
Stone: «In what world could this film not be? Feminism is about equality between the sexes. Bella manages to live in a way that regardless of gender, follows her needs and desires, very direct, the path of her evolution and growth. So, yes, it’s a feminist film.”