HOT DIRECTOR YORGOS LANTHIMOS
Say you wanted to make a prestige film about political power plays in Queen Anne’s court. Who would you hire to direct it? Most people wouldn’t answer, “The guy who made a movie about lovelorn folks turning into lobsters” — but thanks to Yorgos Lanthimos, The Favourite has become one of this fall’s most buzzed-about movies. Set in the 18th century and starring Emma Stone, Rachel Weisz and Broadchurch’s Olivia Colman, it’s full of backstabbing royalty, bizarre love triangles and a duck race filmed in slow motion. And it’s about to turn this 45-year-old Greek filmmaker into the most out-there auteur to go from art house to A list since David Lynch. “I wanted to make something that was not just another period drama, to combine history with modern elements,” he says.
Lanthimos is known for his 2009 breakthrough family drama, Dogtooth — and for pushing Colin Farrell ( The Lobster) and Nicole Kidman ( The Killing of a Sacred Deer) to uncharted WTF territory. Along the way, he earned a reputation and some famous fans, including Stone (“I thought he was going to be a psychopath,” she admitted).
Given free rein to reinterpret the true story of love and war, Lanthimos was quick to hoist his freak flag. He cites a dance sequence, set at a costume ball, in which Weisz and Joe Alwyn break into moves that seem to combine Russian folk music and hip-hop. Lanthimos’ warped take on the period-piece drama has already sparked a lot of Oscar talk. “I’ve developed a taste of my own,” he says, chuckling. “And maybe it is weird. But I think people secretly want weird.” DAVID FEAR