Poor Things: Rediscovery of life by a grown-up woman's replaced innocent brain 2023

[00:00:00] Hello and welcome to Onmanorama Movie Podcast, Start, Action, Cut. Today we are decoding the movie Poor Things released in 2023. It's a film directed by Yorgos Lanthimos and written by Tony McNamara and it's based on the 1992 novel by Lassdair Gray and Emma Stone, Mark Raffalo,

[00:00:38] Willem Dafoe, Rami Yusof among others from The Ensemble Cast. The movie won Emma Stone, the Oscar Award for the Best Actress. Now, Princey and Swati are joining us to discuss

[00:00:52] the story of Bella Baxter played by Emma Stone. She is a young woman in London and she dies by suicide when she is pregnant and she is brought back to life after her brain is replaced with that

[00:01:06] of her fetus. What follows is self-discovery by a woman of free will. The subject, the feminist theme and the message it conveys, is it a call against the conservative Victorian norms and disciplines? So Princey, what's your opinion about the film?

[00:01:25] Yes, Padma Kumar. Poor Things is not your ordinary weekend watch. First of all, you will have to view this movie with an open mind because there's a lot of stomach in it. It's also that kind of

[00:01:37] film that gets bizarre with every scene. Just imagine having a baby's brain pulled out and implanted into a woman's head. So that's fascinating in that way but just because it is said through

[00:01:49] the eyes of women may make it seem feminist, but for me, Poor Things is more of a journey of self-discovery. Definitely the male seem to have an upper hand in this movie,

[00:01:59] but I do not want to box it under a feminist theme more so because it only explored a side of what freedom is to women, only one side of what freedom is to women. Definitely it is

[00:02:10] empowering to see Bella find her happiness within her body but how can that be liberation alone? I think the filmmaker missed those aspects but generally the whole movie was intriguing. What do you say Swathi? Well Padma Kumar, I have to agree with Princey that the movie is

[00:02:27] extremely bizarre but I actually got what the makers were trying to say. It is about, I think it is about a woman who is not tied down by societal expectations or how a woman should be

[00:02:39] and I think while watching the movie, it was not a very comfortable watch for me personally but after watching it when I thought about it, I felt that because we are wired to think a

[00:02:48] certain way. We have not really come across women like this in real life so when you are put in a situation where you have to watch a woman do all these crazy things, it becomes a bit of uncomfortable because you are not accustomed to watching these.

[00:03:03] What if the roles were reversed and a man was doing all these things? I do not think we would be as shocked or astounded seeing all these things so I think it is about the wiring or the

[00:03:14] cycle constructs or the general constructs that exist in society and I think the director has skillfully tackled that theme but I guess there were a lot of intimate scenes involved

[00:03:25] but that was one thing that was sort of off-putting for me because I think I read in a study also recently that youngsters do not want to be seeing all these intimate acts on movies because

[00:03:37] I do not know what effect it has or they have already proved the point. They have already established what Bella Baxter is doing or how is she as a person but I felt like all those

[00:03:49] scenes was a little bit off-putting. Yeah and also what I found interesting in this film is the world where the director has been able to transport the viewers too and for that he uses certain techniques

[00:04:03] like in terms of both the stage craft and the human relations they are not the ordinary type kind of world where you see that the scientist who is termed as the god by Bella he is a surgeon and he

[00:04:21] experiments with dead bodies and the ambience using the animals you can see a duck with a dog's head or a dog with a duck's head and such things so that kind of adds to the weirdness of the

[00:04:37] ambience of the atmosphere so how do you view that Princey? The director Yorgoz Landimos is someone who's resorted to absurdity in his plot and storylines even before the kind of techniques that he used and employed in his previous films like Lobster which also was nominated for the best

[00:04:58] original screenplay previously. It was also centered on a very strange plot so that is how the kind of techniques that he brought in like you mentioned through the use of animals through the

[00:05:10] use of various things that you're not accustomed to so that is the kind of brilliance in which he is actually trying to convey this movie but and what I like most is that no matter how absurd

[00:05:21] the nature of his films are whether it be poor things or lobster or the other ones the narrative always remains light you know and almost comical and farcical so even though

[00:05:33] you may not like the theme generally maybe because of its absurdity and the way it's being told but the storytelling style is definitely endearing in some way the other so and I also like how he's

[00:05:44] used his black and white and the mix of color in the movie to you know to showcase different places the different moods the different situations that people are in so the whole technique in terms of techniques Yorgoz has done a really good job with the movie.

[00:06:01] So we cannot put this into a particular round rate like whether it's science fiction you can see it's science fiction but there are certain things you cannot the movie doesn't explain like by simply

[00:06:13] replacing human brain with another one will it be able to regenerate as it as the term that's used in the film so but that's simply an instrument to drive his philosophy home I think so what do you say does this outlandish ambience help you enjoy the film

[00:06:36] where much Swati? I think yes it does the ambience really helps in you know getting ourselves immersed into the world of Bella Baxter, Gordon Baxter and of course every other person in the story

[00:06:50] because since we're dealing with theme like this I think it's very it was very important or pertinent of the story that they use all these kind of colors or color palettes or the kind of

[00:07:02] settings that they use as mentioned before Patma Kumar the crossbreeds I think they're like surgically sewn together. I think that adds to the fact that Gordon Baxter is an eccentric person and he actually talks about everything in a very plain manner like he talks about his own

[00:07:19] sufferings in a very simple way he talks about his own sufferings like there are many instances in the movie where he talks about how his father tortured him but he talks as if all those

[00:07:29] torturing were necessary or was a necessity for scientific advancement yet this movie is not a sci-fi thriller I would say because it's for me it felt like a fantasy movie because everything including places Lisbon or Paris or the London that you see all of the places are

[00:07:49] entirely different so I think the makers wanted to go for a setting where they're saying that this is the place but it's actually not the place that you've seen before probably these are the kind

[00:07:59] of places that might appear to you in a dream or it's a dream world so I like to see this whole world as a dream world and I think for a person like Bella Baxter to be believable she has to

[00:08:09] be in such a place or such a world so I think in that aspect all the setting in the ambience everything works really well for the movie yeah he keeps it to the point that you can feel that it

[00:08:20] might happen like he has that huge bubble burping he burps out and then cracks so such things are there now when it comes to the storyline how it develops and reaches the finishing line so

[00:08:34] it takes off on a promising note personally I like the movie towards the middle but then midway through it trips and then falls so if you're asked to explain how the storyline from

[00:08:47] the beginning till the finish how do you explain a prancy you know when I started watching the film I kind of had a different picture in mind though you know we understood the synopsis was a adventure Bella Baxter's adventure in this women's body and a child's brain but

[00:09:04] I expected the movie you know from the initial setting and all that it would explore the psychological aspect of who Bella Baxter is in her behavior and the strange and it would get you know limited somewhere to the strange experiments that are taking place inside that

[00:09:19] lab and things you know build by Godwin Baxter so it was hugely surprising and interesting you know to see this fun adventure that they went across the cities and across the globe and that was highly intriguing and in that way the storyline picked up pace

[00:09:37] what is fascinating to see her journey and yeah like you mentioned in between maybe you know the over centralization of the content it kind of made you think where is this movie heading to

[00:09:50] what is the purpose I mean if you're looking at it in terms of freedom if you're looking in terms of women's liberation here is it being you know as a filmmaker being able to achieve that

[00:10:01] so overall the you know the storyline when it comes you know this whole the scenes are from you know when they're moving across cities and the characters are moving on there's a whole

[00:10:13] sense of intrigue that is being brought to the film but you know the message or the theme that they are trying to explore get somewhere lost in the middle and but it gains middle ground and even the characters they even though they are not you know that explore

[00:10:29] that in depth but you kind of really start liking these characters and things and by the end of the film you get a whole picture of the thing but is it able to achieve this the whole intrigue

[00:10:42] that was it was building on I am not so sure about that so Swati if you're asked to explain from the beginning till the end how was it for you will you say that it fascinated you as a whole

[00:10:54] what's it I actually watched the movie in two parts like I watched the first half on one day and second half on another date was not because I couldn't sit through but for many other reasons but

[00:11:05] I started watching the second half I didn't feel like okay the movie is lagging or anything I think somehow the movie was able to come full circle it started somewhere and it had to

[00:11:14] come to the same point and actually does if you look at it she starts from you know having these babylike traits and babylike speeches and she grows into this whole adult and then she comes back

[00:11:26] to where she actually promised that she would be that is Godwin Baxter's house she's there but by the time she comes back she's this whole new woman she can make proper sentences she can

[00:11:37] actually converse to people really nice she is actually fully grown up I don't know how that works like I don't know how a baby can a baby's brain can develop that fast and that is one thing

[00:11:47] that would not you know check my boxes but other than that I think it somehow it manages to come full circle like whether whether or not it makes sense or not I don't know but I think for a fantasy

[00:11:58] thriller this is how it works because she starts off from point A she goes to point B point C point so on like that and she experiences everything that she wished to experience and that she does

[00:12:09] whatever she experiences we cannot you know that was sort of crazy but then again if you look at it she does come back to where it all started and then she starts a new life from there

[00:12:19] so I think in that way the story comes full circle. Okay now when we talk about the performance definitely it's an Emma Stone thriller but when us regards the plot I think there are two

[00:12:34] things that come to my mind one is is it an imaginative sketch of a woman's free will or is it given a chance how she would like to grow up or evolve from the beginning so is it the

[00:12:50] director's take on women's situation or how a woman has to fight the social norms and has to establish herself as a woman as a human being so whether it's Emma Stone or as Bella Baxter

[00:13:06] or Mark Ruffalo as Duncan Wetterburn or Willem Dafoe as Dr. Godwin Baxter so they all contribute to this evolution of a woman so as regards the performance who do you rate definitely it's Emma

[00:13:24] Stone but how would you narrate her evolution as the character in this film? Yes Padma Kumar just like you mentioned Emma Stone is the highlight of this movie and to be very honest I watched

[00:13:38] Killers of the Flower Moon which is also part of the Oscar nominations recently and I really batted for Lily Gladstone who played the you know the main female character in the movie

[00:13:49] and I was hoping that she would be winning the Oscars but I changed my mind on seeing Emma Stone's performance you know I've always liked Emma Stone through her performance because I always felt that she had some sort of freshness that she always brought to her characters

[00:14:04] she always stood out for her voice in our face expressions and in this movie what I like most is the fluidity in her expressions and what especially struck me was how she carried herself

[00:14:17] throughout the entire movie and that was mind blowing the way she's a child stuck in a woman's body and how she is managing to walk she's struggling to walk in a way both things really

[00:14:28] she I'm sure she's done a lot of research in it and that was really good and Mark Raffyllo was was in his character definitely but I kind of found him trying too hard to play Duncan

[00:14:41] probably it is a character that he played that I didn't like much but now I also felt that he was trying a little too hard playing the seemingly self-assured man who loses his mind when he

[00:14:53] fails to control Bella Baxter. Willem Defoe as damaged doctor Gordon Baxter was a delight definitely a delight to watch. Who would you wrote for Raghavati in this film? For me Padma Gover it has to be Willem Defoe because I think he was really really brilliant in the

[00:15:10] movie because we've seen him do eccentric roles before like in Spider-Man but this was something else like he's so composed but he's talking about the most bizarre stuff and that too very composed I

[00:15:21] think Emma Stone definitely she did a great job but I somewhere feel like she can or she might have done things like that before so the freshness that Princey was talking about I was actually

[00:15:33] not able to see it and I was actually thinking okay Lily Gladstone could have won the Oscars because I feel like I somewhere I've seen Emma Stone's performance like this before she's a phenomenal performer there is no doubt in that but I guess two people who really challenged

[00:15:48] themselves I would say not two people actually was Mark Profella because we've not seen him doing such a character before for me he's always the Hulk or his much more freer versions like in

[00:15:59] his 30s or early 30s or something the kind of movies that he used to that is the kind of women that I have in my mind but to see him this whole grown-up man who is a bit cunning who is a

[00:16:10] bit evil who is trying to control Bella Bax I think he really tried to push his boundaries but for me if I have to root for a character it has to be Willem Duffer like I said he was just

[00:16:20] brilliant he's just a great actor yes and also the music by Jerskine Fenricks so it was really synced in with the strange the weird ambience of the film so it played a great role in elevating

[00:16:36] the tone and tenor of the whole creation I still wonder why the title is poor things who is the poor thing who are the poor things is it the viewers at the end any idea what's your opinion

[00:16:50] Princey? Paddakumar when you say a title like that you kind of expected very different story it does not really reveal much but essentially I think all of us are going to quest for happiness and

[00:17:01] freedom and but we unfortunately are exposed to too many harsh realities in life the kind of harsh reality is that poor Bella Bax I do not want to call her poor because she definitely comes out

[00:17:16] like both of you were saying liberated at the end but so but then there were too many harsh realities in this complex world so finding that happiness and freedom the way we expect too might seem impossible and probably like you mentioned we might be the poor things here

[00:17:33] you know the audience or the person who's actually experiencing this might be the poor things here what do you say Swathi Paddakumar for me I think it's the bizarreness of the movie or the

[00:17:44] characters in the movie that can be considered poor things because you know if you look at as it is all these people who are having intimate relationship with Bella Bax they're actually having relation with the child because it's a child's it's a baby's brain actually and

[00:17:59] it's all these you know different things or bizarre things that are happening and I think as audience we are actually telling or saying or thinking poor things I think that's the whole outtake from it for me I just to add to this you know I just mentioned about

[00:18:15] the kind of explicit sexual scenes that were added in this movie I think you would agree that there was a lot of it in this movie which might not have been necessary and especially I kind of felt

[00:18:25] surprised that they actually included in on the brothel scene where they included these two kids who are coming to watch and learn from their father have sex I mean in a society where you know I think this would be actually considered taboony society so I'm surprised that the

[00:18:42] filmmakers actually dared to do it I don't think you can call it daring but I think it was insensitive I think to a point it was fine but after that it seemed a bit gross because you don't want to see

[00:18:53] all these things because I think the point was already made that Bella is working in a brothel or she's having sexual relations with multiple people the point was actually put forward but

[00:19:03] even after that you know showing these scenes I think it kind of grosses you out after a point and I think that was not necessary it was getting a bit too much yes yet the movie helps you

[00:19:14] get transported to a different world and be there for quite some time so that brings us to the end of this episode thanks for listening to start action cut produced and hosted by me Pat Mughmar

[00:19:28] with technical production by idea brews studios follow www.ownmanorama.com for more podcasts on movies and be sure to come back for the next episode of start action cut that will be out on Monday thank you