Culture chat: Is ‘Poor Things’ a feminist film?
Life and Art from FT Weekend
Forhecz Topher
4.6 • 601 Ratings
🗓️ 2 February 2024
⏱️ 22 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Today we take on ‘Poor Things’, the latest film from director Yorgos Lanthimos. It stars Emma Stone as a Victorian woman whose brain is replaced with that of her unborn baby. She embarks on a sexual journey of self-discovery through Europe and beyond. The film is a critical darling, with 11 Oscar nominations, but unsurprisingly, it left many viewers feeling uneasy. Lilah invites FT arts editor Jan Dalley and HTSI editor Jo Ellison to talk through it: is it an empowering exploration of a woman’s sexual freedom or an uninspiring male gaze fantasy?
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We love hearing from you. Lilah is on Instagram @lilahrap and we’re on X @lifeandartpod. You can email us at lifeandart@ft.com. We are grateful for reviews, on Apple, Spotify, etc.
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Links (all FT links get you past the paywall):
– Poor Things is in theatres now
– You can read the FT’s three-star review of Poor Things, by film critic Danny Leigh here: https://on.ft.com/480VjMg
– The FT’s Raphael Abraham also wrote a review of Poor Things – and gave it five stars: https://on.ft.com/49jGnKe
– The article we mentioned, with 14 critics’ perspectives on the film, is here: https://www.theguardian.com/film/2024/jan/24/bound-gagged-poor-things-feminist-masterpiece-male-sex-fantasy-oscar-emma-stone-ruffalo
– Jo is on X @joellison and Instagram @jellison22
More or less:
– Jo wants to see more of Harris Dickinson, who is in The Iron Claw (out now), and Triangle of Sadness
– Jan wants to see more funding for the arts, and for artists to be given more creative freedom
– Lilah wants better, more concentrated travel reviews, and Oaxaca tips! (You can write to her on Instagram)
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Special FT subscription offers for Life and Art podcast listeners, from 50% off a digital subscription to a $1/£1/€1 trial, are here: http://ft.com/lifeandart
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Original music by Metaphor Music. Mixing and sound design by Breen Turner and Sam Giovinco. Clip courtesy of Searchlight
Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to Life and Art from FT Weekend. I'm Lila Raptopoulos, and this is our Friday |
| 0:06.8 | chat show. This week we are talking about the much-discussed film Poor Things. It's directed by |
| 0:12.3 | Jorgos Lantimos, who's also known for the lobster and the favorite, and it's based on the |
| 0:17.0 | 1992 novel by Alistairgray. Poor Things tells the story of Bella Baxter, played by Emma Stone. |
| 0:23.7 | She's a young woman in Victorian London, whose brain has been replaced by a baby's brain. |
| 0:29.4 | When the film starts, she's a grown woman acting completely infantile. |
| 0:33.8 | But Bella grows quickly, and she soon discovers sex and philosophy and the world and turns out to love life. |
| 0:42.3 | She's an experiment. |
| 0:44.3 | Good evening. |
| 0:45.4 | Her brain and her body are not quite synchronized. |
| 0:49.4 | But she is progressing at an accelerated piece. |
| 0:56.9 | I am Bella Baxter, and there is a world to enjoy, circumnavigate. |
| 1:02.2 | It is the goal of all to progress, grow. |
| 1:04.7 | A woman plotting her course to freedom. |
| 1:08.1 | And a not vote. |
| 1:10.7 | So far, Poor Things has had a very positive critical response, and it's been nominated for |
| 1:15.3 | 11 Oscars. |
| 1:16.7 | But it's also quite strange and has made people feel quite uneasy. |
| 1:20.5 | So we're here to talk about it. |
| 1:22.4 | I'm Lila, and I must go and punch that baby. |
| 1:25.9 | Joining me from London is our arts editor, Jan Daly. |
| 1:29.3 | Jan, we usually do quotes to introduce everyone, but almost every other quote from this film is sexually explicit. |
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