One of my favorite movies of recent times. Funny, and full of social commentary with feminist overtones. Great acting from Emma Stone. Aesthetically glorious – playful cinematography; an incredible, unorthodox score; enthralling costume and set design. Subtly reminiscent of Wes Anderson in its dryly humorous dialogue, explicit chapter headings, and tableau-like sets. The movie’s use of expressionism – “art in which the image of reality is distorted in order to make it expressive of the artist’s inner feelings or ideas”, according to this post – is great because it conveys meaning subtly and makes the movie even more visually engaging.

However, I don’t think this movie is perfect. For one, the crappy British accents are distracting. And I think the writing has some flaws. Like why should Max be in love with Bella, and in a healthy way, apparently? Also, I think the writing is sometimes a bit too direct or explicit about its message. Like when the evil lord says that he loves to amass property and Bella is just another piece of his estate. We didn’t need to be told, we could already sense it from his character and the context. For me, the story-telling spell breaks momentarily when I feel like the writers are trying to tell me something. It reminds me that I’m watching a fiction designed by storytellers. But I’m a bit picky about this. I had a similar problem with the writing in

.