2023 Telluride Film Festival – Final Day – ‘Poor Things,’ ‘The Pigeon Tunnel,’ Final Thoughts and Observations

Yorgos Lanthimos has found the way to the perfect form of expression of his creativity. Abandoning the limitations of realistic environs he’s freed himself in a Wes Anderson style of building his fanciful world entirely from his fish-eye lensed creative brain. And it all works.

Freedom of expression in all departments fed one to the other and arrived at a unique look and atmosphere that inhabits every frame of the film. Each department head was free to mix and match periods or create completely new designs out of whole, fanciful cloth. 90% of the sets were bespoke built and dressed with the wildest combination of real and imagined paraphernalia. The costumes widely mixed centuries of styles and left out common expected pieces to create an incredible, unique aesthetic. All parties rose to the challenge.

The story, based on the novel by Alasdair Gray, could loosely be described as Frankenstein with the monster as hero (or heroine in this case.) But the twists and embellishments typical of Lanthimos’ ramblings of storytelling leave all conventional descriptions lacking. Let’s just say, it goes where the story wants, does what seems right for the characters, and surprises at every turn. And this time his storytelling isn’t constrained by any attempt at adhering to a single period or genre convention.

His constant muse and collaborator, Emma Stone, delivers a manic, liberated performance as Bella Baxter, quirkily walking her way straight to awards-deserving status. Her lead performance is in control at all times, even when rambling head-first into danger or worse. Her supporting cast is equally deserving of praise. Whether its the wonderfully over-the-top character of Duncan Wedderburn stellarly performed with glee by Mark Ruffalo, or the quizically logical even extremely bizarre experimentation of Dr. Goodwin Baxter performed exemplarily by Willem Dafoe wearing a face only a fellow monster could love.

This time, all the elements have gelled perfectly to celebrate one of the most unique creative minds of our era. Welcome to your world Lanthimos. Visit often.

Skipping the Town Park feed offered by the Festival in order to catch up on my articles I chose an appropriate film to be my final official experience. Errol Morris is a regular contributor of films to Telluride. You can always count on his documentaries to be well-made, interesting, and comfortable viewing fare.

The Pigeon Tunnel is exactly the kind of documentary I expected from Morris. This time his subject is his long-time friend and somewhat controversial figure David Cornwell, aka John le Carré. In what ended up being his final interview, Cornwell weaves a tale of his life as intriguing as many of his spy novels. Several times Morris asks, “Is that really how it happened?” and with a wink Cornwell replies, “Not really. But it is how I want to remember it.”

The trusting conversation between two old friends allows the burning questions to be asked and the answers almost given. Elaborate production aesthetics, a trademark of Morris’ style, try to punctuate what is essentially two men talking in a room through reminiscences of a well-lived life.

If you are a fan of either man, you’ll enjoy this nibble of entertainment. It was a fine pallet cleanser for me as I savor the memories of all the films I’ve witnessed throughout these wonderful five days.

As I reflect back on all that’s come before my bleary eyes over these last few days I can conclude that the state of quality filmmaking is back in full force. Last year the selections were on a whole a bit less than stellar. I put that down as due considerably to how the pandemic impacted their creations. Either they were rushed to finish before all shutdown, or they were stymied in how to accomplish things with all the added unknowns in the mix. 

This year's fare shows that that lull was a blip. These films had either more time to develop and hone the best result while waiting for a settling of things, or they were able to go forward with a practiced and workable plan. They’d figured out how to work in the new paradigm and were able to concentrate their efforts fully on the creation of wonderful works. The future of film is bright, as long as there is one, with the resolution of the current strikes some time in the hopefully near future.

I’ve also been making a few observations along the way. For one, if you’re an editor and want to be invited to a film festival your best bet is to wait for strikes to prevent both the writers and actors from attending. I have seen so many more editors in the cadre of filmmakers this year than ever before. They can be easily spotted by their pale complexion and their constant blinking at the bright sunlight.

I don’t think it’s a coincidence that there were a large number of female directors here at the fest. And a lot of first-time directors at that. There seems to be a palpable change in the air that allows the consideration of female-led projects as an acceptable norm instead of a specialty project or a woman-centric story. This is a good thing. Diversity behind the camera can only lead to diversity of voices. Brava.

Finally, I started this festival with a pre-fest post pondering whether we’re on the brink of a paradigm shift. There are many indicators that things cannot continue down the paths we were on as an industry on many levels. After having seen so many fresh ideas and indicators of acceptable risk-taking in new ways, I am feeling good that we just might be on a path of change. And the winds blowing in that direction seem to be taking us to new, vibrant shores to explore. Wherever we end up, I have a feeling we’re in for a wild, exciting ride.

Until next year...