Bees Matter Most: Analyzing Yorgos Lanthimos's "Bugonia"

Contents:

• Contents and events depicted on the canvas
• The history of the origin of "Bugonia"
• Actors involved in the film "Bugonia"
• What do bees have to do with it?
• What makes "Bugonia" a reflection of our lives

Yorgos Lanthimos's new film, "Bugonia," which explores themes of conspiracy theories and aliens, has hit the international stage. The film premiered at the Venice Film Festival, where, although it did not win any awards, it received a standing ovation and a plethora of positive reviews from audiences. This is no coincidence: despite being more accessible than the director's previous works, the film skillfully addresses important aspects of our time.

Let's explore what the author of "The Poor, the Unfortunate" and "The Lobster" has in mind this time. How might antihistamine cream be useful in the fight against aliens, and what do honeybees have to do with it?

In this article, we will discuss the following topics:

• The reasons why the kidnappers decided to take the drastic measure of shaving Emma Stone's character's head can be varied. One theory is the desire to intimidate or humiliate the victim by demonstrating their power. Such actions can serve as a means of psychological pressure on a person to break their resistance and force them to comply with the kidnappers' demands. Furthermore, such an act may also be associated with an attempt to conceal the victim's identity to make it difficult to identify them upon release. In any case, this is an extremely cruel and inhumane act that highlights the immorality and ruthlessness of the criminals.
• The creation of the script for "Bugonia" took place during the COVID-19 pandemic, which had a significant impact on the process. During this time, many creative people faced limitations and new challenges. The project's creators adapted to the new reality, finding inspiration in the experiences and emotions associated with the global crisis. The work took place remotely, which contributed to the emergence of fresh ideas and unconventional solutions. The pandemic became not only an obstacle but also an impetus for deep reflection on human relationships, life, and the inner world of the characters. As a result, the script acquired unique characteristics, reflecting the spirit of the times and current issues troubling society.
• The film masterfully combines elements characteristic of both Tarantino's work and the dramaturgy of Sophocles.
• What, ultimately, does the term "bougonia" mean?
• The film, created by Lanthimos, superbly reflects the realities of our time. Its plot and visual style deeply resonate with modern challenges and experiences. The work touches on important themes relevant to our society, such as isolation, the absurdity of everyday life, and the search for meaning in a world full of uncertainty. Using vivid metaphors and unconventional solutions, the director masterfully conveys the atmosphere of anxiety and paradoxes that people face today, thereby creating a unique mirror for the audience.

Content and events depicted in the canvas

Two unkempt men lead a solitary existence, preparing for some significant event. "You are my closest friend in the world, and I want to save you," the energetic Teddy (Jesse Plemons) insistently tells his cousin Donnie (Aidan Delbis). Donnie, awkward and absent-minded, nods doubtfully in response. Teddy, with extensive experience from listening to numerous podcasts and studying conspiracy theories online, is confident in his conclusions. He is convinced that Earth has been taken over by evil aliens from the Andromeda galaxy, who have infiltrated governments and control large corporations. They are the cause of our terrible existence. The aliens influence people through brainwaves, turning them into miserable, isolated slaves working five days a week. They are harming our planet's ecology and contributing to the extinction of bees. This bee situation especially affects Teddy, a devoted beekeeper.

To at least slightly counter this threat, you need to radically change your life, isolating yourself from temptations: stop watching TV and forget about video games. Even romantic hobbies distract from important matters, so it is worth considering the possibility of giving it up completely. Donnie sighs, experiencing doubts. "Our focus must be extreme. "It's just a neuron trap, understand, brother? No one but ourselves can stop us. Not even us," Teddy convinces him, not intending to sit idly by while the brazen aliens take over Earth.Donny and his accomplice kidnap Michelle Fuller, the CEO of a major pharmaceutical company, played by Emma Stone. They tranquilize her and then take her to their home, where they chain her up in the basement. To prevent her from sending a distress signal, they shave her head and apply antihistamine cream. Teddy is convinced she's actually a high-profile Andromedan. He gives his arguments: “Narrow feet, not quite the right bite, the amount of hair on the head, small cuticles...” He believes that with its help it is possible to establish contact with the emperor of the invaders and demand the withdrawal of the occupation forces from Earth!

The History of "Bugonia"

Following the Oscar triumph of "The Poor, the Unfortunate," Yorgos Lanthimos won acclaim not only from critics but also from a wider audience. His new film, "Bugonia," was a somewhat unexpected step for him: previously, Lanthimos had only created auteur films based on his own scripts. Now, he has taken on the role of guest director on someone else's project, and it is also a remake.

In 2003, the South Korean comedy "Save the Green Planet!" premiered at festivals and was warmly received by audiences. For example, at the Moscow International Film Festival, director Jang Joon-hwan was awarded the Silver St. George Prize. In 2020, development of an English-language adaptation began. Ari Aster, known for his film "Midsummer," became the producer. Chan, who had created the original version, was initially offered the director's chair. However, four years later, it was announced that Yorgos Lanthimos would helm the project. Chan, who remained as executive producer, expressed delight at the announcement, noting that such a unique auteur as Lanthimos was the perfect fit for the film. Lanthimos himself, upon receiving the offer, accepted almost immediately. "I'd read other people's scripts, but I'd never been so excited. I immediately thought, 'We're almost ready to shoot,'" the director shared. This is not surprising, given that Korean cinema, saturated with surreal narratives, violence and social issues, largely echoes Lanthimos's style.

Another work focuses on the process of making a film.

"The Poor-Unfortunate"

The screenplay was written by Will Tracy, who previously worked on projects "Menu" and "The Descendants." He only read the Korean original once and then began writing. The final version was completed in just three weeks. At the time, the world was under strict quarantine measures due to COVID, and Tracy believes that this experience—isolation, uncertainty, paranoia, and a sense of helplessness—had a positive impact on the script. In an interview, he noted: "I didn't set out to write a Lanthimos-style script, but that's exactly what it turned out to be."

The director borrowed only the basic elements of the Korean film's plot, avoiding creating an exact remake. The original had a cheerful and eccentric atmosphere, while Tracy developed a darker script. The plot line with the police investigating the abduction was almost completely eliminated. In the Korean film, the perpetrators were a young man and his girlfriend, while the supposed alien was an older man. In "Bugonia", according to Astaire's idea, a woman becomes the victim of kidnapping.

Actors involved in the film "Bugonia"

On For the role of the kidnapped woman, director Lanthimos naturally chose Emma Stone, whom he contacted that same day. In recent years, their collaboration has become ongoing: this is their fourth film together, and it's safe to say they're in creative sync. Stone describes Lanthimos as her muse, stating, "His stories and his worldview are very relatable to me. We share similar tastes. Working with Yorgos is always a comfortable experience. I'm confident I can play any role with him, and I trust him more than other directors." The actress also served as a producer on the project. For the shoot, she decided on a radical change, completely shaving her head: this testifies to her dedication to the cause.

For fans of the actress:

How our love for Emma Stone was born

Teddy's main adversary Jesse Plemons, who seems to have become a regular member of director Lanthimos's troupe after Kinds of Kindness, played the role in the film. In Bugonia, Plemons clearly enjoyed playing his character in his usual "borderline loser" role. His character looks unkempt, has a sweaty face and unkempt hair pulled back into a messy bun. He constantly darts his gaze, is full of paranoid thoughts, and from time to time breaks into furious attacks.

Cousin Donnie looks at him with admiration, his eyes full of love. This slow and naive guy is completely captivated for a long time by the charismatic speeches of his only and beloved friend. Aidan Delbis, a young actor with autism, played the role of Donnie. Director Yorgos Lanthimos initially sought to find someone without acting experience for the role. "We worked hard to find someone truly unique. <…> …I felt the character would be more engaging if he were neurodiverse.”

At times, an extremely intrusive local police officer, played by a comedian, appears in the frame Stavros Chalkias. Occasionally, flashbacks appear, featuring glimpses of Teddy's mother, a cameo role played by actress Alicia Silverstone. However, this doesn't significantly alter the overall picture: three characters, one basement, and that's it. Much of the film resembles a chamber play, a nod to Lanthimos's early work, when he experimented with theater. The plot repeatedly changes direction, making sharp 180-degree turns. These changes aren't particularly shocking—they can be predicted—but nevertheless, the action maintains its dynamics and tension for two hours.

"Bugonia" may not be Lanthimos's most original work, while fulfilling audience expectations, but it is certainly one of the director's most gripping and accessible works, skillfully combining elements of horror, tension, and humor. The film begins as a comedy, as the kidnapping orchestrated by Teddy and Donny seems quite absurd, but over time it becomes filled with dark suspense, reminiscent of the Coen brothers' Fargo or Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs.

Michelle stubbornly refuses to admit that she is an alien. Instead, she constantly reminds everyone that she is actively sought by both the police and the FBI. Unable to contain himself, Teddy abandons his initially polite manner, and the situation escalates into truly brutal scenes—exactly how Lanthimos prefers them. However, this doesn't prevent him from later returning to an ironic style of presentation.

"Bugonia" is, above all, a dramatic play exploring the contradictions between two views on life and different aspirations. Teddy certainly expresses strange ideas about the existence of aliens (or perhaps not quite), but within the corporate structure, there truly is something at work that transcends human perception. Michelle, in turn, convinces him that his obsessive thoughts have deep personal roots. Physical violence, it turns out, is only one argument in this struggle and not necessarily the most effective. This confrontation is reminiscent of the plots of ancient Greek tragedies, creating the feeling that the director remains true to his roots, dating back to Sophocles and Aeschylus.

What does this have to do with

Bugonia is a term with roots in ancient Greece. It referred to the belief that bees would spontaneously emerge from the body of a sacrificed cow.

Virgil also mentioned bugonia, and the 10th-century Byzantine agronomic treatise known as the Geoponica contains the following lines: "Build a house ten cubits high, with sides equal... Place inside a bull that is already 30 months old, strong and well-fed; let several young men slaughter it... <…> After 11 days, you will see that the room is filled with bees... and of the slain bull only the horns, bones, and wool will remain."

Ancient naturalists were certainly mistaken when they observed bee-like insects nesting in cow bones. The bugonia is a prime example of such mass delusions. Teddy and Donnie are also immersed in similar delusions. On the other hand, Michelle, in her business environment, is initially confident that everything is under her control. However, she soon has to adapt to the rules of her captors and follow the laws of their hive.

For Teddy, bees symbolize not only nature itself but also a world filled with peace and harmony. Donnie, sighing, confirms this: "I wish I could go back to the simpler times, before life became so hard." He is ready to sacrifice anything and anyone in an effort to bring back the bees and the serene past that they represent.

In fact, some key characters persistently do not realize that The cause of all troubles is not aliens from Andromeda, but people themselves - their greed, foolishness and paranoia. Thus, it can be noted with irony that an ideal world can only arise from the general decline of humanity.

In the final part of his work, Lanthimos reflects on this very thing, depicting an empty planet on which bees are beginning to appear again. One of the scenes he wanted to capture was supposed to take place in the cradle of ancient Greece, on the famous Athenian Acropolis, but the authorities did not allow filming, and the director was forced to be content with a beach on the island of Milos. Perhaps the less gloomy atmosphere turned out to be even more successful.

What makes "Bugonia" a reflection of our lives

Nevertheless, despite the presence of mythological elements, "Bugonia" is one of Lanthimos's most relevant films. The problem, of course, isn't that the disappearance of the bees poses a serious ecological threat. The main characters, Teddy and Donnie, embody typical traits of our time, comparable to incels and MAGA supporters, among other groups. These characters work hard to remain in their fantasy world: they are terrified not only of aliens, but also of things like politics, business, healthcare, education, media—in short, everything human, all of life.

"If you had a ship, could you take me away from here? There's nothing here for me," poor Donnie begs, alone with Michelle. Deceived and disappointed countless times, they feel wary, yet at the same time immersed in the wildest fantasies. They resemble bees: defenseless, yet capable of dangerous behavior; By stinging, they also harm themselves.

Regret, as we know, overcomes the bee, and both characters become especially pitiful when you get to know them better. The heroine, played by Emma Stone, feels sympathy for her captors, while simultaneously recognizing that it is impossible to change them. "It's not your fault you are who you are; it's in your genes," she says. Ancient Greek philosophers might have put it differently: it's fate, ananke.

Many of Yorgos Lanthimos's previous works, including the recent film "Types of Kindness," have touched on similar themes. However, in his earlier works, the director typically used more abstract and parable forms to convey his dark reflections. In "Bugonia," he addresses the realities of our time for the first time, depicting a world dominated by disunity, fear, and pervasive conspiracy theories. This world seems to resolve its problems primarily through violence. People are divided into isolated groups who view their surroundings with wariness and aggression, immersed in their own grievances and self-perpetuating illusions. There is no hope of salvation from outside, whether from Andromeda or elsewhere. Following the release of his new film, Lanthimos gradually announced his intention to take a break from working on new projects. "Bugonia" can be interpreted as a kind of summary of his creative path to date. This is not the most joyful conclusion for us and our era, frankly. And Lanthimos isn't alone in this thought.

Besides "Bugonia," this year we've witnessed a whole series of films that reflect the profound confusion humans feel when faced with life's challenges. These films include Ari Aster's "Eddington" and Paul Thomas Anderson's "Battle by Battle." The question arises: is a new genre emerging, or do aliens truly only transmit their messages to the most gifted and sensitive members of humanity? Don't look up!

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