Ten Days ago I saw the opera El Ultimo Sueno de Diego y Frida. The sets and use of color give the opera a distinct tone but the libretto was flat. There weren’t any contrasts. That’s what happens when you see a modern opera, you take a chance. You won’t hear or see a classic art format. And who can compete with Puccini? No one.
Last night I saw the film Poor Things. There's a lot of sex in the film, so much in fact that you may grow tired of it. There are half-duck, half-dog creatures, burp bubbles, dizzying levels of creativity, and production design which reminded me of the architecture of Barcelona and make you feel as if you are looking at surreal paintings and a stunning, utterly fearless performance from Emma Stone. But I promise you this- it’s one film you will not forget. Everything about it is original. It’s a mix of young Frankenstein meeting Salvador Dali.
Enter Dr Godwin Baxter played by Willem Dafoe, a disfigured, but distinctly intelligent surgeon or rather mad scientist who is brilliant. He employs procedures not found in any medical textbook, to bring a recently deceased young woman back to life. In his laboratory, he discovers she is pregnant and the fetus is still alive. He removes the brain of the fetus, implants it in the woman’s body, and reanimates it, thus Bella Baxter (Emma Stone) is born.
Bella has the IQ of a baby but she develops over time as she navigates through life learning the nuance of being human. However, she does not master social mores and her outlandish behavior gives us a stint of comedy.
She takes a lover, Duncan played by Mark Ruffalo a debunked Attorney. He initially wants to take advantage of her naivete but later falls in love with her to his detriment. They engage in unrestrained sex that exhausts him while exhilarating her, and he has a terrible time trying to enforce rules of social etiquette on her. The result is hilarious, especially when he feels compelled to join Bella on the dance floor as she gyrates wildly to the music.
Duncan’s jealousy is set off by Bella’s insatiable curiosity; it convinces him as a couple to dash off on a Mediterranean cruise, where they meet a dowager and her young companion, a cynic who introduces Bella to a philosophical vision of a dark, inhumane world.
We see the sharp contrast between the haves and have-nots, the class distinction that was very much part of the late 19th century, Bella compassion causes her to act. Meanwhile, her new friendship leads Duncan to give himself over to gambling and drinking, and when the ship stops in Alexandria, Bella is so overwhelmed by the sight of the poor that she turns over all of Duncan’s winnings for distribution to them.
I’ll stop there. But I will add that Bella overcomes male resistance and becomes even more unconventional with her maturation and development.
As the driving force in the film, Bella beautifully conveys the evolution of a completely uninhibited woman-child into a shrewd, calculating female.
There are telling aspects to Bella’s odyssey of self-discovery and education that will resonate powerfully with women.
If you don’t mind lots of visual sex scenes and bouts of absurdity, go see it. I’m glad I did.
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