Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/1072449
As with every film, The Favourite looks the way it does because of the circumstances from which it was born. A different director, a different budget, different creative collaborators and even a different season would have meant a different look for the film. As it was, we had Yorgos Lanthimos, cinematographer Robbie Ryan, costume designer Sandy Powell, not very much money and the beginning of spring—each of which informed the look of The Favourite. And, of course, it all began with the script… When I read the first page of The Favourite (then known as Untitled Yorgos Lanthimos Project), I immediately recognized the voice of the writer Tony MacNamara. By coincidence, Tony and I go way, way back. He wrote the first play I designed for Sydney Theatre Company. He married one of my best friends. I know his voice, his humour and his genius very well. I knew immediately on reading the first few pages that I had a gift in my hands. The script was full of rich characters with wit, whimsy, bite, pain and extremely colourful language. Royal court pastimes included racing lobsters before eating them and pelting a naked man with blood oranges. I was being invited to create a world for these characters and I was being given a license to play. Entering into production, numerous script anachronisms were discovered. There was a deliberate choice to embed the film in the early eighteenth century and to enjoy the period's offerings, while also being unafraid to depart when a better idea emerged. The symbolic importance of a birthday cake far outweighed the fact that they didn't exist in the period. Likewise, wheelchairs were invented toward the end of the eighteenth century but Anne's wheelchair was a key device in illustrating her illness and reliance on others, as well as the dynamic between the ladies… A. & B. TWO VIEWS OF THE QUEEN'S BEDROOM. DRESSED PERIOD ROOMS WITHIN HATFIELD HOUSE, THE MAIN LOCATION USED FOR THE FILM. HERE YOU CAN SEE THE SPARSENESS OF THE FURNITURE AND THE TIGHT COLOUR PALETTE. THE FLOORS WERE KEPT BARE FOR TWO KEY REASONS—TO HAVE AS MUCH LIGHT BOUNCE AS POSSIBLE (THE FILM IS LIT ONLY WITH NATURAL LIGHT AND CANDLES) AND SO THAT THE ROOMS WOULD NEVER FEEL TOO PLUSH OR COSY. PHOTOS BY FIONA CROMBIE. B