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What do I even do about this movie? I saw it last Friday and spent the subsequent ride home- and about three hours in bed trying to sleep- thinking about what it even is saying, and wondering whether a) I liked it or not; and b) would I recommend it or not. I think I'm pretty solid on the first (my interpretation anyway, it's one of those movies), but still struggle with the latter two, so maybe this thread will help with that. So, the facts: The Lobster is the first English language effort of Greek filmmaker Yorgos Lanthimos, who's done a couple other things, the most famous of which is probably Dogtooth, with which I understand it has more than a few similarities. It won a ton of awards in the European circuit and was nominated for several more, and was released in America earlier this month. The best way I can describe it is that it's a movie about relationships, but the most cold, unromantic movie about relationships I've ever seen. Nobody uses any names to refer to people (only Colin Farrell's character is named at all, and for the life of me, I can't remember if it was ever even mentioned or brought up); the camerawork is utilitarian to the extreme, never really doing anything special other than pointing the camera at a scene (although the scene composition is usually great); the settings are dreary and sparse with no warm colors and either too dark or too bright; and everyone speaks with this weird, affectless tone at all times that don't ever modulate to a whisper or shout- people insult and threaten violence on people in the same flat, bored tones that they explain brochures or offer coffee. It's not lovely or compassionate in the slightest, since what is being sought by the guests at The Hotel isn't love or one's completion of spirit, but compatibility- whether one is a goods match for each other, which is pretty much always determined by a shared trait, like a love of music, or blue eyes, or nearsightedness. It's the logic of speed dating and internet chat-rooms taken to a real world conclusion, and here's the thing: this viewpoint on partnership isn't enforced by The City at any point, and even people who hate the idea of relationships or forcing people into them take it as rote that that's how love works. This allows us to see the absurdity of some of the conventions and expectations of relationships, and invites the question to be ask: is it actually relationships we pursue, or the trappings of the same? Are we getting married because we want to, or because we are pressured by our family and friends to hook up? Is it funny? I guess it is, but only of the pitch blackest sort, one that evokes confused laughter at the absurdity of some things, and nervous laughter to release genuine tension being built. Here is an example of the humor (and this is the opening scene of the movie, but I'm going to spoiler it anyway just to be safe): The cold open is of a woman driving through the rain until she comes to an open field with three donkeys grazing. She gets out of the car, walks over to the largest donkey, produces a gun, and shoots it dead. And then she goes away. This action is neither explained, nor comes up again. Colin Farrell does a great job as this sad-sack that gets shunted between two extremes that he really wants nothing to do with, and Rachel Weisz brings some really great nuance to the mysterious lady he meets. Everyone does a really good job at distinguishing themselves with what screen time they have, even more so when you consider that no one is named and the dialogue is meant to be affectless. Some really good wrangling of animals too, but if you can't stand animals getting hurt on screen, you ought to know that there is some animal death in this, at least a few examples (one of which is a lovely old dog  I miss my dog).
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May 26, 2016 14:06
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| # ¿ May 22, 2024 10:49 |
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Correct, I was merely offering an example of the kind of surreal, almost absurdist humor that the film engages in, rather than asking why the opening scene happened.
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May 26, 2016 21:53
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