Its so easy to take the world for granted.
Thats the animating perspective ofPoor Things, the new film from surrealist Greek filmmakerYorgos Lanthimos.
Searchlight Pictures
Dream ‘scape
After Bella leaves Baxters laboratory, the first place she goes is Lisbon.
Lisbon as seen in ‘Poor Things.'.Searchlight Pictures
They also made an important subtraction.
The rest of the film follows a similar visual approach.
The production design team was like, What?!
Ramy Youssef, Emma Stone, Vicki Pepperdine and Willem Dafoe in ‘Poor Things.'.Atsushi Nishijima/Searchlight Pictures
But this is how it worked onPoor Things.
But actually, in the end, the detail was there.
Yorgos had always been very clear that he wanted deep, maximum texture and really extreme details.
Emma Stone in ‘Poor Things.'.Yorgos Lanthimos/Searchlight Pictures
Dafoes Baxter looks like the titular scientist and Boris Karloffs monster combined into one being.
In fact, it was a more modern monster movie that provided a model forPoor Things.
The one we referenced more often than not wasBram Stoker’s Dracula, Ryan says.
Emma Stone in ‘Poor Things.'.Atsushi Nishijima/Searchlight Pictures
It has the same kind of wild abandon thatPoor Thingshas.
It became an assembly line, Price says.
There was a great painting towards the bar which gives a false perspective.
Emma Stone in ‘Poor Things.'.Yorgos Lanthimos/Searchlight Pictures
It looks good on camera, like the boat carries on through those doors, but it doesn’t.
The ships decor is also meant to feel silly and a bit pompous, according to Heath.
“It was ridiculous that Duncan had put Bella in a box and forced her onto the ship.
So, there were a lot of references to caged animals.
All the paintings were animals attacking each other.
Despite the elaborate, beautiful nature of the clothing, her looks are often hilariously incomplete.
So, she’s often wearing things that really wouldn’t go together.
It was quite playful and hopefully funny.
Victorian era fashion was a complicated enterprise, especially for women.
Bella, as a newly formed being, hasnt had those protocols drilled into her head for years.
The same is true of makeup.
That was a perfect fit for Bella.
Yorgos wants to see skin and potential imperfections, he wants to actually see the person, Stacey says.
Thats actually really exciting as a hair and makeup designer to strip back like that.
Its a real marker of who Bella is, because she’s not shackled to societal norms.
At that time, women wouldnt have had their hair loose and down like that.
It just would not have been proper to do that.
But just like with all good things, evenPoor Thingshad to come to an end.
Stacey vividly remembers how it felt when there was no more work to do on the film.
I absolutely fell in love with Bella, Stacey says.
On the very last day, we cut Emma’s hair.
When all the hair that dropped to the floor, we cried because it felt like Bella was gone.
Everything had to be, Why are they here?
What do they look like?
What’s the backstory?”
See all that world-building thought and visual detail on screen whenPoor Thingshits theaters on Dec. 8.
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