From “Bridget Jones” to “The King’s Speech”, there is no British cinema of significance that does not address this issue: class struggle.
With “Saltburn” a film is available on Amazon Prime from December 22nd that deals with the gap between workers and aristocracy in a way that even connoisseurs of this finesse will be amazed.
The film comes from Londoner Emerald Fennell, who won the screenplay Oscar for her radical feminist masterpiece “Promising Young Woman” (2020).
Anyone who knows it knows one thing: In terms of narrative, the 38-year-old prefers to pursue liberating destruction rather than the conflict-filled but ultimately harmonious marriage of opposites. In “Saltburn” Fennell (director and screenplay) cheerfully throws young men into such a dynamic: Oliver – the Irishman Barry Keoghan (31) – and Felix, who is very handsomely portrayed by the Australian Jacob Elrodi (26, “Priscilla”).
It’s the year 2006. Thanks to scholarships, the brilliant Oliver is able to study at the elite Oxford University. Felix’s friends, the aristocratic It boy of the year, see him as a pariah. Until the unbelievable happens: Felix and Oliver become best friends and the privileged man even invites the “poor” upstart to his family’s country estate: Saltburn during the summer holidays.
If you initially believe that you are observing a perhaps difficult young love, you are actually experiencing the start of an increasingly dangerous dance on the social stage – for respect and power. The leadership changes are the delicacies of the dramaturgy, Keo-ghan’s skill is that of the acting, fiercely fired up by Rosamunde Pike as Felix’s deliciously enraptured mother. Both are nominated for a Golden Globe.
While it seems for a while that Oliver is falling under the wheels of an upper-class clan, a realization slowly sinks in: This guy isn’t just turning the tables, he’s also going to stab him. All Keoghan needs to do is change the tension of a facial muscle. Instead of looking into the dachshund eyes of a little dog, you look evil straight in the face. A fantastically wild film that grips you.
“Saltburn”: USA/GB, 127 Min., on Amazon from December 22nd
OÖN rating: five out of six stars
Author
Nora Bruckmüller
Culture editor
Nora Bruckmüller
