Straeming
Wild genre mix – “Saltburn” by Emerald Fennell
Barry Keoghan as Oliver in a scene from the film “Saltburn”. photo
© Amazon Prime/dpa
Barry Keoghan is the star of Saltburn, the wild and entertaining new film from Oscar winner Emerald Fennell.
With explicit nudity and disgust scenes, this film caused a stir even before its release. Now “Saltburn” starts from Emerald Fennell also in Germany. In her second feature film, the British Oscar winner tells the story of a young man who insinuates himself into British high society and becomes increasingly obsessive. The protagonist is masterfully embodied by Barry Keoghan. The 31-year-old Irishman is known from “The Banshees of Inisherin”.
“Saltburn” (on Amazon Prime Video) is a wild and entertaining film full of unexpected plot twists and psychological depth. Social criticism, thriller, comedy and drama mix in an original way. In this respect, it is similar to Fennell’s debut feature film “Promising Young Woman”, for which the 38-year-old received an Oscar (Best Original Screenplay).
A second leading role is played by Jacob Elordi, who is known for his role in the hit series “Euphoria” and will soon be seen as Elvis Presley in Sofia Coppola’s new film. Carey Mulligan – the much-lauded protagonist of “Promising Young Woman” – has an amusing supporting role.
The focus is on Oliver (Keoghan), who studies at Oxford University on a scholarship and develops a fascination for his aristocratic fellow student Felix (Elordi). Felix invites Oliver to spend the summer with him and his family at the opulent family estate of Saltburn. Arriving at the gothic, winding manor house, Oliver captivates the various family members. He desperately wants to belong and manages to do so with amazing means.
His irritating, obsessive behavior is expressed in drastic scenes. So he once licks the drain from the bathtub in which Felix was just lying. At other times he dances naked through the house’s many winding rooms, has sex with Felix’s menstruating sister or is sexually aroused by a grave.
But Fennell (also known as the actress from “The Crown” in the role of the younger Camilla Parker Bowles) manages to make Oliver’s actions never just seem absurd, but also logical.
She told the dpa that she could identify with her main character anyway. “Our whole lives we go to places and hope that people think we’re funny or smart or charismatic or sexy or beautiful or interesting. We all want that, our human drive is to connect with people, to some extent “To be attractive to a certain extent. And in that respect, Oliver is nothing unusual.”
Of her artistic motivation, she said: “I like things that are expressive, I love Greek tragedy and opera and the kind of heightened storytelling.” You can tell that in “Saltburn” – in the best sense of the word.
Saltburn – Prime Video