Mama horny, Michael…
Thoughts on Pillion and “Wuthering Heights”, a double feature to make you blush.
Permit me an unrelated Arrested Development quote for the title of this review as I sum up the theme of this week’s horny double feature, one that sees the release of the festival darling Pillion and Emerald Fennell’s hotly anticipated take on “Wuthering Heights”.
Both are adaptations of books that explore sex and the sometimes complicated nature of navigating a relationship and both are out just in time for Valentine’s Day. So without further ado (and with one more Arrested Development reference), let’s slip into “something that says leather daddy.”
Pillion
Of the possible screen partners to star opposite Alexander Skarsgård in what is essentially Fifty Shades of Gay, I didn’t have Dudley Dursley on my bingo card. Then again, Potter alum Harry Melling has been carving out a nice little career for himself over the past few years, capturing critics’ attention in the Coen brothers’ The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, Joel Coen’s The Tragedy of MacBeth and the Edgar Allan Poe Netflix film The Pale Blue Eye.
In Pillion he plays Colin, a quiet and lonely parking inspector who lives in the family home in Bromley, London. Colin has a close relationship with his parents; he performs in a barbershop quartet at local pubs with his dad (Douglas Hodge) and his mum (Lesley Sharp), despite being quite ill, encourages him to “find a boyfriend”, having set him up on a date in the opening scene.
But it’s not this Mum-approved date that catches Colin’s eye – it’s Ray (Skarsgård), a gay biker who initially ignores him but who later slips him a note to meet up on Christmas night and walk their dogs. Colin takes his dachshund and ties it up uncomfortably near to Ray’s imposing rottweiler Rosie (one of three female names Ray has tattooed on his chest). The juxtaposition of these dogs is an appropriate visual metaphor for the dom/sub dynamic that Ray will draw Colin into: Colin will ride pillion (the cushion behind the main seat on a motorbike) and be subservient to Ray in all aspects of life for the duration of their relationship. It’s all fun and games until he learns that he has some needs of his own.
The film is an adaptation of the novel Box Hill by Adam Mars-Jones and marks the feature debut of director Harry Lighton, an entry that won Best Screenplay in the Un Certain Regard section at Cannes, among other festival awards. The reason for this response, I think, is down to how tenderly and relatably the film deals with navigating a first relationship, figuring out what you like and what you won’t stand for, and surviving the emotional turmoil of things not working out.
At its core the film is about negotiating the terms of your own enjoyment. Colin seems a lonely, slightly tragic figure when we first meet him but the growth he undergoes after being welcomed into the BDSM biker community is quite heartwarming. Though his shaved head and the chain and lock around his neck might be startling to his family/those who think they know him, Colin’s is a journey of sexual exploration and self-actualisation that represents many young adults’ early experiences.
Like the aforementioned Fifty Shades of Grey, Colin is a virgin who goes from knowing nothing to being thrown in the deep end and giving his first back alley blowjob, having penetrative sex for the first time and even living with another adult, away from his parents. Unlike Fifty Shades of Grey, Pillion seems to have actually consulted the BDSM community, with real-life members of the Gay Bikers Motorcycle Club serving as advisors and appearing as themselves in the film. The result is a lived-in, enlightening little film about the spectrum of human sexuality.
Harry Melling is hugely sympathetic as Colin, a man who, under different circumstances, might’ve ended up an incel but who shows remarkable resilience and optimism for someone so vulnerable and naive. His complete lack of self consciousness and openness to experimentation makes him a very endearing protagonist, especially in contrast to Alexander Skarsgård’s outwardly confident but emotionally imprisoned Ray. The sex scenes are handled with humour and realism and the stars’ chemistry and obvious trust in each other translate to quite a lovely onscreen relationship.
Pillion is an exceedingly nice film; it’s funnier and lighter than I expected (though it does have one tear-jerker moment) and Lighton exhibits a quiet confidence and sense of maturity with his direction that I found refreshing. Anyone who’s managed to be as vulnerable with their heart (and body) as Colin should find something to like here. And if I’ve learned anything from this film, it’s that we could all stand to be a bit more like Colin.
Verdict
☆☆☆☆
Pillion is screening at UWA Somerville for Perth Festival this week.
“Wuthering Heights”
I’ve been putting off reading Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights for years because I’m worried I’ll find its more problematic elements hot and have to answer for my tastes.
This – and the fact that I’ve also managed to not watch a single film adaptation of the book – puts me in the happy position of being able to enter Emerald Fennell’s “Wuthering Heights” with no biases other than a slight struggle with contemporary takes on period pieces (Marie Antoinette = yes, Bridgerton = fuck no).
Just as well, because the online discourse surrounding the film (which, up until recently, hadn’t even had its US premiere) has been quite polarising. It seems to have been the case for Fennell’s prior films, too, though I remember liking both (Saltburn more than Promising Young Woman) despite the insistence from mostly male voices that they’re bad and I shouldn’t.
So, with nothing to lose but a couple of hours and nothing to compare it to but Fennell’s previous films, I entered “Wuthering Heights” quite uneducated. And I left quite the same, albeit pretty randy.
The film opens with sweeping landscape shots and the first of many Charli XCX songs (this one featuring John Cale) and a public hanging where the accused has a stiffy. If there were any question about how contemporary Fennell’s adaptation would feel, it’s immediately answered. We meet young Catherine Earnshaw (Charlotte Mellington) – in as Targaryen a wig as I’ve ever seen – and young Heathcliff (Adolescence’s Owen Cooper), who is white? The one thing I knew about the book is incorrect in this instance.
Cathy’s father (Martin Clunes) is a massive bastard and he takes his wrath out on Heathcliff, his ward. The children form a trauma bond but also the kind of bond that comes from a precocious little girl bossing a little boy around. It’s quite sweet and the buds of romance are sown for when they grow up to be Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi.
As adults, Cathy is still quite the #brat and seems emotionally stunted for her age. It’s clear that Heathcliff loves her and that the feeling is mutual, however they’ve just received some new neighbours and Cathy captures the affection of Edgar Linton (Shazad Latif), the wealthy man of the house. In using her servant Nelly (Hong Chau) as a sounding board for her rationale in accepting Edgar’s proposal, Heathcliff overhears some but not all of the conversation and bails. Years later the pair reunite for a genuinely steamy affair, with some not great life ramifications but with some hot moments involving clifftop masturbation, fingers over eyes and in mouths and quickies in ornate carriages.
My overall experience with the film is one of some ambivalence. I’m told by those more well-read that it barely resembles its source material, gutting “one of the most impassioned, emotionally violent novels ever written” and replacing the innards with more palatable romantic cues. Since I don’t know what I’m missing, this doesn’t bother me too much. The film understands what unread modern women find hot and throws in some nice, weird production design and surrealist aesthetics for good measure. Highlights include the Skin Room (Cathy’s bedroom walls that are custom made to look like her skin and reminded me of something out of Tale of Tales), the deep red panels of Thrushcross Grange’s halls and Isabella’s (Alison Oliver) detailed doll’s house replica of Thrushcross Grange. Despite the prevalence of iPhone face in this film, I think Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi have decent chemistry and are convincing enough as doomed lovers — just not ones from the time period we’re supposedly watching.
Fennell’s adaptation takes a leaf out of Sofia Coppola’s book and applies an anachronistic filter over yesteryear. For me, the results are mixed and I think it’s to do with the subject matter.
Marie Antoinette is about an era and figure of complete materialism and excess, so the blending of contemporary and classic (aided by Barry Lyndon costume designer Milena Canonero) feels opulent by intention, not just for the sake of it. I don’t think the same can be said for “Wuthering Heights”, a film that seems more concerned with reaching the cultural heights of Barbie and Brat summer than feeling like a piece with any sort of internal logic.
While I’m quite a big fan of Charli XCX and have been listening to ‘Chains of Love’ since it dropped, I’m not sure it or the rest of the music (bar ‘House’ as the opening track) really works. When scoring shots that feature Margot Robbie et al., the vibe is very much ‘music video’ rather than ‘cinema’ and I found it a bit distracting.
I feel the same way about the costumes. Lush as they are, the pristine corsets and candy coloured tulle feel very overproduced and designer-y; I even noticed myself scoff at the plastic bag dress. Costume designer Jacqueline Durran was responsible for the looks in Barbie but she also made those in Pride & Prejudice and Atonement, so I think the dial should’ve been set back a bit.
In the days since seeing “Wuthering Heights” I’ve found that my feelings don’t amount to much more than a lady boner and some interior design ideas to add to my Pinterest board. As far as Emerald Fennell films go, I don’t think it’s as solid a piece as her others.
Verdict
☆☆½
“Wuthering Heights” is in cinemas Thursday February 12.
