Poor Things

this is my first yorgos lanthimos film. i’d heard nothing but good things about his previous movies, and i knew willem dafoe would be in it so immediately i was intrigued. what immediately drew me into the film was the cinematography and the dynamic shots that you don’t see in everyday film. the frames and colors were like nothing i had seen before. i initially thought this would be a take on frankenstein, just in a female version. in a way, it sort of is. i wonder if frankenstein had actually created his monster’s companion, would she be similar to bella? though we soon learn bella is one of a kind, seeing as god’s second creation didn’t progress as quickly as bella did, nor did she ever develop a mentality over the age of (seemingly) five. unlike his second creation, bella was able to create a life and a personality of her own. while the stages that she went through might have been seen as completely vulgar at times and overly dramatized, it emphasizes the fact that she is becoming her own person despite being under god’s control for so long. what’s truly beautiful is the idea that even though god never intended bella to become so curious or even develop that far at all, he understood that he could not take all this freedom away when he had already given her so much of it.  the symbolism of color throughout the movie is very evident. throughout the beginning of thr film, the shots are very surreal and all in black and white. i think this might represent the unclear memories of childhood, and how it looks in your mind when you reflect on them. however, when bella has finally developed mentally enough to leave god’s house, the colors are suddenly vibrant as bella starts her new life in lisbon. it must be noted this change also occurs the same scene bella loses her virginity. her outfits are bold and colorful as she comes into a new self and flourishes in her new way of living with duncan. as she becomes friends with martha and harry, her colors become more pale, and even white. this is when bella is the most naive, and maybe the most pure.  after harry shows bella the suffering of the people in alexandria, her attire soon shifts to a dark and grim palette. harry even said, he couldn’t bare to see her so innocent, he needed to corrupt her. these sights haunt bella, and she becomes more reserved and bored of the sexual life that she previously craved. at the latter of the film, bella is shown wearing both pale and dark colors. perhaps this is a sign that she has learned to balance her life, not letting her purity get the best of her, but not taking it for granted either.  everyone’s performance in this film was beyond amazing, especially emma stone’s. i still have so many questions. what happened to god’s face? what year does this film take place? did bella really love max, or did she love that he didn’t control her? what the f* were those glass spheres willem dafoe was vomiting into the air? i would recommend this film to anyone who loves surrealist work. the cut scenes with the title of every chapter reminded me very much of the beginning of erasherhead. i would also recommend this to anyone who loved mary shelley’s frankenstein, as it has essentially the same base idea of reanimation. finally, i would recommend this film to anyone who loves the art of cinematography or costume design or sound design, because every aspect of this movie is absolutely outstanding.