Bugonia

Yorgos Lanthimos took over a remake of Jang Joon-hwan’s 2003 “Save the Green Planet!”. Jang was to direct it himself, withdrew citing health problems and stayed on as executive producer; Lanthimos came aboard in February 2024. The kidnapped executive is a man in the original, and Jang says the switch to a woman was decided before Lanthimos was involved. The title names a ritual in Virgil’s Georgics: a cow is sacrificed so that bees rise from the carcass. Robbie Ryan shot roughly 95 percent in VistaVision. The head shaving was taken in one pass with 4 cameras running at once, because they tend to shut down. Lanthimos wanted the closing scene at the Acropolis; Greece’s Central Archaeological Council refused, so it was shot at Sarakiniko on Milos. Jerskin Fendrix was handed neither script nor footage for the score, only three words: bees, basement, spaceship. At the 98th Academy Awards it took 4 nominations, for picture, actress, adapted screenplay and score, and won none. At the 38th European Film Awards it won 1 of its 6, for make up and hair. A good fit if you will take an interrogation whose answer is held back to the last minutes. Not for viewers who cannot watch electrical torture, a head shaved and a suicide by gunshot.