NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� is a Frankenstein-esque fantasia about a young woman (Emma Stone) reanimated by a demented surgeon (Willem Dafoe), but the behind-the-scenes work that went into crafting the movie鈥檚 wildly warped world may be the film鈥檚 greatest act of mad science.
Though Yorgos Lanthimos鈥� earlier films 鈥� at least leading up to 鈥� were more spare productions, 鈥淧oor Things鈥� fuses all the tools of classic Hollywood filmmaking 鈥� grand sets, miniatures, sumptuous costumes 鈥� with subtler touches of modern technology. The movie is, itself, a Frankenstein.
Only the scars (not counting the ones on Dafoe鈥檚 elongated face) don鈥檛 show in the magpie design of 鈥淧oor Things.鈥� The film鈥檚 style is rooted in an 1890s Victorian setting, but it expands surreally from there.
鈥淲e were looking at the Victorian era as if it had been written about in a sci-fi movie,鈥� says Shona Heath, one of the two production designers on the film along with James Price. 鈥淲e basically gave ourselves an open book to do what we wanted.鈥�
The result is something wholly original. 鈥淧oor Things,鈥� based on Scottish novelist conjures an elaborately demented world as seen through the childlike eyes of Bella Baxter (Stone), a woman, as Dafoe鈥檚 Dr. Godwin Baxter describes, whose mental age and body 鈥渁re not quite synchronized.鈥�
鈥淧oor Things,鈥� which expands in theaters Friday, is one of the most acclaimed films of the year. (It won and was ) And a lot of that is owed to the richness of its craftsmanship.
To understand how they tackled it, The Associated Press spoke to Lanthimos and several key collaborators 鈥� the productions designers, costume designer Holly Waddington and cinematographer Robbie Ryan 鈥� about bringing 鈥淧oor Things鈥� to life.
BUILDING BELLA鈥橲 WORLD
鈥淔rom the moment I read the novel, I always felt that we needed to build a world that Bella would inhabit,鈥� says Lanthimos. 鈥淟ike Victorian era, but tweaked.鈥�
The sets built by Heath and Price would be the foundation of 鈥淧oor Things.鈥� The movie begins in Baxter鈥檚 London townhouse, which houses a laboratory inspired by 鈥淵oung Frankenstein." It then travels to Lisbon, Alexandria and Paris, with a steamship voyage in between. It鈥檚 a journey of self-discovery and sexual liberation for Bella, set against a delirious fairy-tale backdrop.
Lanthimos had some guiding references, including films like Francis Ford Coppola鈥檚 鈥淏ram Stoker鈥檚 Dracula,鈥� Luis Bu帽uel's 鈥淏elle du Jour鈥� and Fellini movies. But he gave his production teams wide latitude.
鈥淵orgos encouraged every extremity,鈥� says Heath. 鈥淗e wanted something he hadn鈥檛 seen before.鈥�
The designers gradually assembled a reference guide of 200 pages. Inside were everything from paintings by Hieronymus Bosch, Egon Schiele, Francis Bacon and John Singer Sargent; drawings of medical surgeries; and grotesque blob fish.
On soundstages in Budapest, the production designers built massive, immersive sets for the London townhouse, a Paris square in winter and the cruise ship. The Lisbon street scene set, 170 feet long and 60 feet tall, was so large it needed to be erected separately at nearby Korda Studios. LED screens were typically used for backdrops.
鈥淲e did 10 years worth of work in one movie, creatively,鈥� says Price.
Price and Heath are particularly proud of the London townhouse, which was so fully built, with something down every corridor, that to some on set it seemed like an actual house. Lanthimos didn鈥檛 save anything from the production but he took pictures of the London house鈥檚 slow demolition.
Price ("Paddington 2," 鈥淛udy鈥�) has grown accustomed to seeing his works built and destroyed.
鈥淚 find it quite cathartic that you can go from conception, the birth of an idea, to the death. It鈥檚 kind of rare as a creative. It lives on in cinema,鈥� says Price. 鈥淚鈥檓 odd, though. Everyone else finds it tragic.鈥�
LUNG-LIKE SLEEVES AND CONDOM COATS
Lanthimos鈥� guidance for Waddington was even less: a single image of some inflatable trousers. But that was enough to set her thinking about expressing Bella鈥檚 nature through her clothing. In one striking example, Bella wears a wedding dress with airy, balloon-like sleeves.
鈥淪he is a reanimated person. This idea of air and breath. That manifested itself in these sleeves that were huge and lung-like and organic,鈥� says Waddington.
Waddington initially thought Bella鈥檚 wardrobe would be small, since she鈥檚 traveling. But as she dug more deeply into her work, Waddington began to chart Bella鈥檚 growing independence through her attire.
鈥淚 realized quickly that it would not do to do that. Her evolution is rapid, and the clothes needed to grow with her,鈥� says Waddington.
Early on, Bella鈥檚 clothing is more doll-like and animalistic. The bustle of one dress was made of rolls of crinoline that resemble a judge鈥檚 wig or a lobster tail. To Waddington, it's a perfect combination of period and contemporary, almost like a puffer jacket.
鈥淚f you look at the late Victorian clothes, the women鈥檚 wear is full of bits of animals, bits of unborn Persian lambs 鈥� quite grotesque things,鈥� she says. 鈥淚 wanted to capture something of the animal in the clothes.鈥�
For the Paris brothel chapter of the film, Waddington used yellow latex to create what she terms Bella鈥檚 鈥渃ondom coat.鈥� Throughout the process, she leaned into bodily shapes and textures.
鈥淚t鈥檚 partly the subject matter," she says. "All I could see was genitalia in everything I was doing.鈥�
Yet by the time Bella is fully realizing herself and finding her professional future, her clothing grows closer to modernity. Once in medical school alongside rows of men, Bella, in a formal black top, initially seems to blend in.
鈥淭hen I wanted a subtle shift,鈥� Waddington says. 鈥淚 still wanted to subvert it, so when she got up, you would see these legs without any skirt on.鈥�
NO BORING ANGLES
Ryan is best known as the cinematographer of naturalist filmmakers like Andrea Arnold, Ken Loach and Noah Baumbach. But beginning with 鈥淭he Favourite,鈥� Ryan and Lanthimos have found a strong collaboration.
Ryan, who operates the camera himself, found he could bring some of the same approaches to the florid design all around him.
鈥淚ronically, we shot in a very similar way to 鈥楾he Favourite.鈥� We didn鈥檛 use much lighting on set. Everything was lit from afar,鈥� says Ryan. 鈥淲e shot it in a way that didn鈥檛 feel complicated.鈥�
Ryan and Lanthimos shot 鈥淧oor Things鈥� on film. He was typically working with only one camera and shot as much as possible in camera, not depending on visual effects for much except things like the movie's many computer-generated hybrid creatures.
鈥淭he visual references and ideas they had were wild. I was like: 鈥楬ow are we going to do that?鈥欌�� Ryan says. 鈥淲e used a lot of tricks and techniques and old camera styles that were very practical in a way, and lent themselves to being more visual. That was the great ambition, to try and follow it in an old-school way of 鈥�30s cinema. That made it easier to imagine.鈥�
But Lanthimos is also known for his more flamboyant shooting styles that favor wide and fish-eye lenses. Having worked together on 鈥淭he Favourite,鈥� Ryan says he had learned not to suggest too simple of a shot to Lanthimos.
鈥淗e鈥檇 go, 鈥楾hat鈥檚 such a boring angle. Why would you do that?鈥欌�� says Ryan, chuckling. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 sort the aesthetic the film was trying to achieve. With 鈥楶oor Things,鈥� you鈥檙e allowed to do that. When you watch the film, it jumps off the screen.鈥�
___
Follow AP Film Writer Jake Coyle at:
Jake Coyle, The Associated Press
