In ‘Poor Creatures’, Bella Baxter (Emma Stone) reminds us of childhood wonder and innocence

The adjustment of poor creatures, Alasdair Gray’s novel It was published in 1992 and has won the 2024 awards season Ecuador you can finally enjoy it the critically acclaimed performance of the main character, Emma Stone, this Thursday, January 25.

The filmmaker Yorgos Lanthimos presents the incredible history and fantastic evolution of Bella Baxter (stone)a young woman who is the brilliant and unorthodox scientist Dr. Godwin Baxter (Willem Dafoe) brings him back to life.

Under Baxter’s protection, Bella is eager to learn and longs for the experience she is missing. That’s why Bella runs away with it Duncan Wedderburn (Mark Ruffalo) a cunning and dissolute lawyer, on a dizzying adventure across continents. Freed from the prejudices of her time, Bella becomes determined in her purpose to defend equality and liberation.

“Alasdair Gray’s novel It immediately emerges as something visually striking, through the theme, the humor and the complexity of the characters. and language. I had never read anything like it before and I really enjoyed it,” says Lanthimos. “Gray He was a painter and made illustrations of the text. It is actually a story about a woman’s freedom in society. The stage was set for a story like this to be told.”

Stone and Lanthimos had recently worked together Bleat, his silent, black-and-white short film, shot in 2020 on the island of Tinos, Greece.

Although the book is told from different perspectives, the script, The filmmakers wanted Bella’s path to be the central path.

“We have made history more accessible to the world. It is the story of Bella’s growth and maturation.”, explains Lanthimos. “After being cooped up at home, Bella heads to Lisbon for a ‘romantic’ trip with her lover. On the boat he experiences a constant desire to escape. Then, in Alexandria, are her childhood years, where she sees the world as a ruined place. “Paris is the exploration of his sexuality before he returns home.”

Combine humor with sadness

Emma Stone has heard of it poor creatures for the first time in a conversation with Lanthimos when they worked together Created by The favorite (2018).

“What Yorgos explained to me was very original and inspiring for a woman: imagine a world where your mind is not defined by upbringing and education“recalls the Oscar winner La la land (2016).

Stone was sent a first draft of the script and fell in love again with Lanthimos and the screenwriter’s work. Tony McNamara.

“I’ve always admired him the way they beautifully intertwine humor and heartbreak, because that’s life‘, Steen explains. “Yorgos understands and loves women, and he is brilliant at writing about women, and of course I already knew that from the work we had done together. Many of our department heads are women, and our first deputy director is a woman”.

For the producers, Stone was the ideal choice to play Baxter. “Emma is a brilliant actress in both drama and comedy, and that’s what this role needed.‘ says McNamara.

“She has to play an undeveloped human being until she becomes a grown woman, with many scenes of great intensity. Emma was very brave and threw herself into the role. The joy he had creating Bella every day was palpable.he contributed a lot to the character.

With the liberation from social constraints comes the return of childlike wonder about the world. “It’s that fascinating return to purity, to something that is not contaminated. The desire to own something that might remind us of who we were and to try to recapture that innocence.”.

The male gaze

In addition to the themes of sexuality and social limitations, the male characters’ need to keep Bella under control is explored. McNamara describes the film as a sharp satire on the male gender.

“poor creatures to discover the view men have of women and the lens they are exposed to, and how men believe women are there to serve themsays McNamara. “We are very aware of sexual politics and how they relate to the current era.”

So the tape 2 hours and 2 minutes long explores patriarchal tension through Bella’s eyes, and the tone with which Yorgos approaches it is best expressed on film.

“It is about the development and liberation of a woman growing up in a very repressive sexist society.” adds Willem Dafoe, who is Dr. Plays Baxter, Bella’s creator. “A lot of the comedy comes from there because Her relationship with the male characters is very candid and reveals the fear men have of women.Yes.”