Wicker
Wicker
Starring Olivia Colman, Alexander Skarsgard, Peter Dinklage, Elizabeth Debicki
Directed by Alex Huston Fischer & Elanor Wilson
Sometime during Medieval days, a Fisherwoman (Olivia Colman) lives alone on the outskirts of town, arriving only to sell her fishly wares, but coming off as the town pariah. She's old, unkempt, smells bad, and, most damning of all, doesn't have a husband of her own - something that's valued and prized in the town, especially by the Tailor's Wife (Elizabeth Debicki), who makes fun of the Fisherwoman with the other women. While the Fisherwoman doesn't seemingly want a husband of her own, she approaches the Basket Weaver (Peter Dinklage) to make her a husband out of wicker. One month later, the Wicker Husband (Alexander Skarsgard) arrives and the two are married, but their marriage draws the jealousy of the townswomen, who admire the true love the Wicker Husband gives his wife, and their joyful sex heard throughout the town. Soon they question their own marriages, while the men grow angry at the Husband for showing true love, culminating in an avalanche of anger, jealousy and rumors of betrayal that threaten the Fisherwoman and Wicker Husband's life together.
As I said earlier, just taking the simplest theme of "Wicker" and you got a memorable cult classic for the ages. While the movie does surely deliver on the "horny" it claims, there's so much more to it than that (although constantly hearing the Wicker Husband getting...wood...is a great running gag), as the movie focuses on marriage, equality, and independence. Led by four outstanding performances in vastly different ways, this is a short, enjoyable film that'll have you grinning from ear to ear and laughing til you can't breathe.
The idea seems outlandish, but in this world it's almost as ordering a Big Mac at a McDonald's. Peter Dinklage's Basket Weaver is tasked with making a husband out of wicker, and he just takes it as another day, and Dinklage's astute and dramatic performance in the light of the overall fantastical premise keeps the movie grounded. He gives a soliloquy about what it means for the natural order of things and how mother nature provides while he merely augments. He also has a great final moment that would've stolen the show in any other film, but here it's pretty much par for the course.
Elizabeth Debicki is excellent at playing villains, and her Talor's Wife role suits her perfectly. She's the first Mean Girl, the one who've worn pink and carried her own Burn Book, as she relentlessly taunts and teases the Fisherwoman for being different. Yet she's given a more deeper story in that she wants equality with her Tailor husband, but he doesn't allow it because she's there to look pretty. You almost feel sympathy for her, but it's short lived when future events come into play.
Yet the film wouldn't be what it is without Olivia Colman and Alexander Skarsgard. Their chemistry is palpable (something I'd never thought I'd say, considering their ages) and you fully buy into this outlandish idea from the jump. Even the design of the Wicker Husband is extremely well done, so much so Skarsgard was having several issues in the suit. It trapped heat, making it torturous for the actor in direct sunlight; the makeup team glued the wicker faceplate to his skin, lips and eyelids, and due to that he had to wear a baby bib and consume liquid lunches through a straw. During one scene with Colman, the intensity of their fake lovemaking caused the bed to break, possibly leading to another running gag in the movie where they both talk about fixing their broken bed. He holds the Wicker Husband as a sophisticated gentleman who's only purpose in life is to serve his wife, which opened the idea to whether or not he truly has autonomy or if he was programmed to love her - but that question is soon quenched.
Olivia Colman is astonishing in everything she does, as she tackles unique roles with reckless abandon. The Fisherwoman is an independent woman who only needs a man because she felt like society wanted her to, but once she got with her Wicker Husband she realized how amazing life is with someone who loves you, yet also how vulnerable it makes you when you give your heart to another.
In the town, the men rule everything while the women cook, sew, clean, and tend to their husband's "needs," and it seems to be working for both parties until the Fisherwoman and Wicker Husband turns it all upside down with their unique love story. They truly love one another and see each other as equals, and the women in the town become envious of the Fisherwoman and want a Wicker Man of their own, while the men are angry that the Wicker Man isn't dominating his wife like he should, causing the womenfolk to find their own voices. This puts an extreme rift in the town that the Basket Weaver takes full advantage of, which, again, culminates in a hilarious yet oddly subdued conclusion (subdued in the fact that the whole movie runs on an 8, so an 8.5 ending doesn't make it much more insane).
A small film that's more than you expect, "Wicker" is more than just hardcore wicker man sex but a study on feminism and the power of true love.
The Score: A+
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