The Lobster - Review Thread

I really wanted to know what animal he turned that woman into.

One of my faves from last year. Top stuff.

The Lobster(5/22/2016)

It’s weird how much cinephillia is only allowed to exist because of some very tenuous economic circumstances. For instance, the director Asghar Farhadi’s ascendance in the film world may have come as less of a surprise to everybody if his breakthrough film About Elly had gotten American release, but it didn’t because its initial distributor went out of business and the film wasn’t seen on these shores until five years later. I bring this up because something very similar almost happened to Yorgos Lanthimos’ English language debut feature The Lobster. The film debuted at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival and played to most of the world later that year, but here it is summer of 2016 and we’re only just now getting the film in the United States. The film was originally supposed to be put out by a company called Alchemy but they had some major financial problems and distribution needed to be handed over to A24, which has become something of an enfant terribles in the world of independent film distribution. Between Spring Breakers, Under the Skin, Ex Machina, and others they’ve proven to be very adept at making unorthodox movies go viral, but even they will likely have some trouble finding a way to market the wacky mindset of Yorgos Lanthimos to a wider audience.

The Lobster is a sort of comedy set in a dystopian world where single people (including divorcees) are forced to attend a sort of hotel resort where they must find the love of their lives within 45 days or they’ll be turned into an animal of their choice for the rest of their lives. The film’s exploration of this society focuses on a man named David (Colin Farrell) who has just divorced after eleven years and if unable to find a mate at this hotel and has opted to be turned into a lobster if he’s unable to find a mate in his designated timeframe. While at the hotel he’s subjected to various lessons that are meant to teach the society’s pathological insistence on monogamy and is also tasked with periodically hunting down people who have tried to escape from the hotel to hide in the woods.

So, if you can’t tell from the description, this is not a movie that’s ever likely to be called clichéd and cookie-cutter. The basic premise of the movie is of course kind of insane. No society would ever go to the trouble of setting up a program like this and trying to view it as a plausible science fiction scenario would be a mistake and the movie doesn’t have the usual “this is what we could come to if we’re not careful” morality that dystopian fiction usually operates under. The film also probably shouldn’t be viewed as a strict allegory either, or at least I wouldn’t recommend spending your entire viewing trying to find a one-to-one allegory between each element of the film and society at large. Obviously the movie would seem to be a critique of society’s insistence on pushing people into monogamous relationships whether they want to be in them or not, but the extent of this would seem to be wildly exaggerated by the scenario in the movie. While it’s true that single people are often feel a lot of soft pressure to get into relationships it certainly isn’t this dramatic and I don’t know that it applies to 39 year old divorcees and the 45 day time limit with a definite punishment at the end certainly doesn’t match with the realities of the issue. In fact I suspect that the whole “cult of coupledom” element of the movie may in fact be something of a red herring with the film’s true message being more of a broader indictment of conformity; about the way people just go along with traditions and demand that other people live a certain way just because it works for them.

Yorgos Lanthimos came to prominence when he made Dogtooth, a Greek film about a crazy family where the father has opted to isolate his children from the rest of society and which was likely meant to be an allegory for repressive regimes of the North Korea variety. That was a film which only made you accept that one family acts insane in a world that is otherwise normal, this one on the other hand requires its audience to go along with a whole world that just accepts a whole lot of weirdness and the characters act in ways that are very peculiar and this is sometimes jarring. On top of that the film has something of a deadpan tone which can be a bit hard to jive with. I almost wonder if I would have connected with the movie more if it had been in a foreign language and had some of the oddly nonplussed speech patterns hidden under sub-titles because hearing actors I know talking in this way was a bit alienating. All of this is intentional of course and I do wonder if this is maybe a movie I just need to see again before I fully embrace it. I was pretty sure I understood exactly what Dogtooth was trying to say the first time I saw it but this one not so much. Still this is definitely a bold movie that’s more than worth a look and worth discussing.

***1/2 out of Five

Whether you’re a film critic, internet fanboy, or casual moviegoer, the phrase “originality” is one that is inevitably mentioned a lot when discussing cinema. Sometimes it’s used in a very technical sense, wherein “original” simply refers to an intellectual property that isn’t based on pre-existing source material. Other times, the adjective is used in a more qualitative sense, sometimes referring to a film with a unique high concept, or a familiar concept with a creative spin or style which makes it seem fresh. However when it comes to plots, there are schools of thought which suggest that when you really break it down there are only so many different kinds of stories and any work, no matter how seemingly “original”, will still fall into one of these types. I bring all this up because originality is one of the primary aspects at the heart of Yorgos Lanthimos’ newest film The Lobster. With its insane high concept, absurd dystopian future, and bizarrely deadpan style, The Lobster is one of the most original films I’ve seen in a long time and I mean that in every sense of the word.

The film is set in a future where adults who are single are sent to a resort called The Hotel, where they have 45 days to find themselves a partner. If they not find themselves a partner within that time, they will be turned into an animal of their choosing. Our entry point into this world is David (Colin Farrell), recently divorced after discovering his wife’s adultery who has decided to become a lobster if he fails to find a partner. David does not wish to be an animal, but he does not connect with any of the women at The Hotel at instead sparks a friendship with a man with a limp (Ben Whishaw) and a man with a lisp (John C. Reilly). However as the clock ticks down David will eventually make a series of crucial decisions which will radically change his stay and indeed his life.

Given the absurd nature of this future it’s pretty clear The Lobster is not meant as a plausible vision of what our future could be in the vein of something like Blade Runner or Interstellar. Rather, this is perhaps best viewed as an experiment in style and as allegory, but an allegory for what? Well, the most obvious subject is Western society’s obsession with forcing people into monogamous relationships and eventual domesticity regardless of whether or not that’s what a person wants. It’s also worth noting that the film is not just focusing on a single man, but a divorcee. In real life, a lot of divorced adults seem to find themselves pressured back into the dating scene quickly rather than having time to themselves and indeed a lot of media criticizes those for not “getting out more”. Of course, part of the reason adults tend to feel this pressure is due to a fear of aging, and in this case a fear that if they do not find someone soon they will be too late. This manifests itself literally in The Lobster’s 45 day time limit which ends with the person becoming an animal incapable of a human romance.

The crucial flaw to this allegory is simply that societal obsession with traditional monogamy is actually in the decline. It is still the norm within society I suppose, but people seem to be more and more open minded to the idea of not getting married, whether that be less traditional relationships or bachelorhood for life. That’s not to say the allegory is totally irrelevant as the standardization of marriage and domestic bliss is still seen as the norm, but it maybe lacks the punch it might have had were it made earlier. Of course, there are other allegorical readings one can make, including a more general one of conformity; the way people blindly accept and repeat traditions or customs even though it’s clearly they are not ethical or particularly logical. This is not only shown through the rigid structure of The Hotel, but also through another group who supposedly rebel against what The Hotel stands for but of their own weird rituals with which they are dedicated to. The film’s ending also speaks to conformity in an interesting way.

The real Achilles Heel of The Lobster isn’t any holes in whatever allegory at play but the fact that there is a pretty significant quality drop between the first and second half. It is in the first half that we spend exploring the inner workings of The Hotel which are interesting not just for any allegorical elements, but simply to see the details of this interesting world. There’s certainly a disturbing undercurrent to everything, but also something darkly humorous. I hesitate to call this a laugh riot, but The Lobster is an absurdist comedy and there are some big laughs to be had. It’s not just the absurdity of the world that’s funny though, it’s the dead pan reactions of the cast. Unfortunately a lot of this starts to slip away in the second half when the focus shifts away from The Hotel. The world exploration is less extensive, the jokes become less frequent/less funny, and the supporting characters played by Ben Whishaw and John C. Reilly largely disappear. That last point is somewhat offset by the increased presence of great actresses like Rachel Wiesz and Lea Seydoux, but their characters are not as interesting or fun to watch as Whishaw’s and Reilly’s. Granted, the second half still has a lot of strong points and is by no means bad, but it’s also a clear step down from the first half and is stretched a bit too long.

The Lobster is far from perfect, but it’s always admirable to see something so unapologetically weird in cinema and that alone is worth praise. There’s a lot of creativity here and Lanthimos continues to prove himself to be one of contemporary world cinema’s most promising and unique voices. This is probably his best looking film and he also gets a lot of unique performances from some really famous actors. Most importantly though, Lanthimos nails the tone, creating something humorous and also thought-provoking. I definitely think this could have been a lot better, but The Lobster remains one of the most creative films I’ve seen all year and something every film buff should give a look.

B

Well you guys won't stop jabbering about this movie so I guess I'll have to watch it tonight.