(Credits: Searchlight Pictures)
Yorgos Lanthimos once again wowed global cinema audiences with his 1992 adaptation of Alasdair Gray’s novel Poor creatures, starring Emma Stone, Willem Dafoe, Mark Ruffalo and Ramy Youssef. The plot focuses on Bella Baxter, a post-suicidal Victorian woman brought back to life by an experimental scientist who swaps her brain with that of her unborn child, leading to a newfound curiosity about life and a sexual that odyssey.
The storytelling, acting performances, score and set design are all at an excellent level Poor creatures and helped Lanthimos weave her unique story with a steampunk, feminist-leaning perspective. However, one facet of the film’s production that attracted audiences was its cinematography, with its open use of the fish eye lens.
Cinematography was handled by Robbie Ryan, who previously worked with Lanthimos The Favorite, as well as the likes of Ken Loach, Andrea Arnold and Noah Baumbach. While filming, Ryan and Lanthimos found that they only needed a few lenses to shoot Poor creatures.
“We tested a ton of lenses, and the great thing about Yorgos’ testing ethic is that he just wanted to test to a point where he didn’t have to have too many lenses,” Ryan said. IndieWire. “So we got it down to four or five in the end that he was eager to try out. That means the shoot that day is faster because he knows he only has four lenses to choose from.”
Explaining the specific use of the fish eye lens, Ryan added, “Anytime a scene needed a little more expression, Yorgos would call. [for it]. It’s what a lot of people are talking about because it’s a pretty funny lens. Usually, when the scene gets a little higher, that lens comes out.”
The wide-angle fish eye lens serves three purposes. First, it offered the film a unique feel that matched its overall tone and narrative. Poor creatures can border on the insane at times, and through the use of a fish-eye lens, viewers are transported into its almost unsettling psychedelic world.
Second, by using a wide-angle lens, Ryan was able to capture more of the impressive set design work undertaken to bring Lanthimos’ visions of London, Lisbon, Paris and Alexandria to life. However, this presented its own set of challenges, as he also had to avoid taking any sound and camera equipment into the shot.
Finally, it is worth pointing out that the use of fish eyes lenses probably also has symbolic significance Poor creatures, too. It is often used in moments of heightened emotion for Bella, as she finds herself trapped in a certain situation for the first time or discovers a new aspect of the meaning of life or the constraints of society.
By portraying Bella in the middle of a fish eye lens shot, Ryan and Lanthimos manage to create a world around her, a protective layer of innocence that can be punctured at any moment. The fish eye lens may seem like a mere aesthetic embellishment, but it is, in fact, used with a great degree of skill and narrative symbolism.
What is Poor creatures about?
Yorgos Lanthimos’ film in 2023 Poor creatures, based on the 1992 novel of the same name by Alasdair Gray, tells the story of a post-suicidal Victorian woman called Bella Baxter, who is brought back to life by an experimental scientist who swaps her brain for her unborn child. . Young Bella spends the first years of her life under the protection of her guardian, scientist Godwin Baxter, and his aide, Max McCandles.
However, the curiosity for the outside world claimed Bella and eventually, she left her home, despite Godwin’s protests, with the company of Duncan Wedderburn, a lawyer with sexual violence. Bella undergoes a period of sexual liberation as she discovers the true beauties and terrifying horrors of the real world.
