“The three women at the center of this year’s Oscar favorite, The Favourite, perfectly embody the war between id, ego and superego, fighting with internal struggles of power and sex, and external ones of societal expectations and war. Enter Lady Sarah (Rachel Weisz) poised atop supreme control of all conflict. Until she isn’t. Her vacillation between power and powerlessness- being in favor and out of favor-- is what makes Weisz’ performance so sickeningly irresistible.
“Weisz materializes fully formed into Lady Sarah dripping with desires encased within a tight corset, her fortress of want masked under billows of dress. She expresses a harsh, matter of factness: her words clipped and direct, her mannerisms precise and exacting. Until they are not. Unforgettably, the dance scene in The Favourite exhibits a masterful grasp of silent, physical comedy that should feel incongruent to character but instead subsumes into her rich existence. Much like Weisz’ appearance in Yorgos Lanthimos’ The Lobster, she is able to hold the states of ridiculous and serious at once, a tightrope of facial expressions, tone and restraint mixed with a precise understanding of the material and her body and camera in space: a pure artful display of cinematic acting.
“Though the complex psychological sparring between the leads is what many have focused on, the entire film (and, perhaps, real life itself) acts as a battle royale of id, ego and superego: countries fighting for their version of power and ideals, decadence and style guised as need, sexual desires and expectations hiding in candlelit boudoirs and cold marriage beds. Amidst this overarching, engulfing fight of personal and universal, Lady Sarah remains grounded in her presence, expressing-- through a mere glance-- all of the vast continuum of right and wrong, love and hate, rich and poor. Weisz’s role as the anthropomorphization of the human psyche feels far more accomplished than any award category could ever express.” ~ Donna Kozloskie
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