Marianna Ciarlante September 1, 2023
There is a special moment at the end of a film, when the lights are still off, the credits are rolling across the screen and reality is still outside the cinema. It is precisely in this moment, when everyone is still silent, with a dreaming soul and a light in the eyes that hides the darkness so as not to break the magic, that all the magic of cinema lies. And that doesn’t always happen, but every now and then that moment comes and allows the seventh art to do what it was born to do: inspire. One of these moments happened today at the Venice Film Festival and it happened at the end of the viewing of “Poor Things”, the new film by Yorgos Lanthimos. A film by the Greek director who subverts conventions, does not care about rules and respectability and gives the audience, especially the female one, an unforgettable visual and emotional experience. Starring an exceptional Emma Stone and a very good Mark Ruffalo, “Poor Things” is the true gem of Venezia 80. It is this mix of genius and madness that brings irreverence and charm, originality and vision to the screen and ensures that you leaves the room enriched as a human being and with the desire to live life according to her own rules and not those imposed by society, especially on women.
With Poor Things, Lanthinos gives women voice, courage, strength and beauty. It makes her strong, aware but above all free, making her think about the contradictions of the world and the role of women who are increasingly forced to become what is expected of them, and the audience in an introspective way To embark on a journey that aims to break down their own beliefs and revolutionize their own way of life. “Poor Things” makes us think about sex and shows how satisfying and liberating it can be when experienced without fear or prejudice. It makes us rethink the role of science and then again that of religion. It makes us think about power, money and the gap between rich and poor, about suicide, about unhappiness, about marriage. And all by making people laugh, entertaining them and bringing a little female and feminist revolution to Venice that we really needed.
So Emma Stone, who plays Bella Baxter in the film, a woman who is brought back to life thanks to a scientific experiment that leaves her with an adult body and the mind of a child, becomes with her character a metaphor for rebirth, liberation and female emancipation and reminds us how beautiful it is to live a life with the purity of the child’s spirit and a mind that is not contaminated by the decay of social conventions.
Yorgos Lanthimos gives the viewers of his film a beautiful life lesson, he lets them break out of their mental patterns and shows how little is enough to change your own life and make it authentic, real, unique. Ultimately, living a good life comes down to being yourself from start to finish, following your nature and living without being influenced by what the world expects of us. And if only we could live this life with more courage and emulate the ingenuity, madness and audacity of this character created by Lanthimos and masterfully played by Emma Stone, everything would be, and perhaps only then will be, more authentic, more real, more exciting We are able to free ourselves from our limitations, insecurities and the social rules that stifle us in a routine in which we are never truly ourselves and never manage to express our full potential.
And if we could do all this, like Bella Baxton in Poor Things, then our lives would be a real spectacle and the cinema would have done its duty.
Rating: 8