Film ReviewsThe Lobster: relationship status? it's complicated
Aug 4, 2016 Anchorage Press
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No one makes movies about utopias because they’re boring. Dystopias, however, are a staple of filmmaking because they are fodder for societal soul-searching, and can take apart and examine any slice of the human condition, from political oppression to race and gender inequities, and so on. Greek director, Yorgos Lanthimos turns his lens to a social practice everyone can relate to: Dating. The Lobster takes dystopian filmmaking into the absurd world of mainstream conventions about relationships. The Lobster stars Colin Farrell as David, a short-sighted man. David is just another citizen who is part of a world in which everyone must be paired up, or else. The entire premise of the film is that being single or a loner is bad. People who are single, for whatever reason, are sent to a hotel to find love in a 45-day period. If they are unable to pair up they are turned into animals and released into the forest so they may have another go at it. That makes perfect sense, but just as the hotel owner reminds guests, one has to make an appropriate choice, after all, one wouldn’t want to be a fish in love with a mammal, that would just be ridiculous.
Lanthimos creates a world about relationships that puts so much pressure on people to acquiesce to matchmaking standards and thus look for partners similar to them rather than complements. The dynamic is so ensconced that it is policed, and people don’t question it; such is the mark of a successful tyranny. Under this viewpoint, it’s best to be with someone similar that one may be eventually grow to love—all passion and romance is mostly dead in the dystopian reality. People learn to change themselves to reflect the person they match. David is a taciturn individual who doesn’t overtly question the system, and yet, he follows a line of action that rebels against the status quo, and this is when things get quietly interesting. David meets a motley crew of singles along the way, and when circumstances push him to flee the five-star resort and join the flock of loners in the woods, it becomes like hunger games of dating. Violence is just under the surface and psychological (unless you’re the short-sighted woman played by Rachel Weisz, then it’s also more concrete).
The Lobster is not perfect film and there are some holes in the narrative, but then again, it doesn’t really matter because its heart is intact, and there are so many rich details that one can examine the film through multiple lenses. The cast is solid, Farrell delivers a vulnerable and compelling performance. The supporting cast, Ben Whishaw as the limping man, and John C. Reilly as the lisping man embody the extreme range of coping mechanisms and quiet struggles with compliance. There is almost no middle ground in the world of The Lobster, for example, there is gay or straight, bisexuality is no longer an option—this embodies the suppression of options and disincentives originality. When David finds the group of loners in the forest, he discovers he’s just gone from one extreme to another extreme very close to it in terms of dogmatic value systems. The Lobster is beautifully shot and presented, with silences that make the pace slow down, but also help set up audience expectations so that most lines have impact and meaning. Lanthimos breaks the lulls with music so beautiful that it injects hope for the characters. When the short-sighted man meets the short-sighted woman … well, it’s complicated.
The Lobster shows at Bear Tooth on Monday, August 1 at 7:45 p.m.
Lanthimos creates a world about relationships that puts so much pressure on people to acquiesce to matchmaking standards and thus look for partners similar to them rather than complements. The dynamic is so ensconced that it is policed, and people don’t question it; such is the mark of a successful tyranny. Under this viewpoint, it’s best to be with someone similar that one may be eventually grow to love—all passion and romance is mostly dead in the dystopian reality. People learn to change themselves to reflect the person they match. David is a taciturn individual who doesn’t overtly question the system, and yet, he follows a line of action that rebels against the status quo, and this is when things get quietly interesting. David meets a motley crew of singles along the way, and when circumstances push him to flee the five-star resort and join the flock of loners in the woods, it becomes like hunger games of dating. Violence is just under the surface and psychological (unless you’re the short-sighted woman played by Rachel Weisz, then it’s also more concrete).
The Lobster is not perfect film and there are some holes in the narrative, but then again, it doesn’t really matter because its heart is intact, and there are so many rich details that one can examine the film through multiple lenses. The cast is solid, Farrell delivers a vulnerable and compelling performance. The supporting cast, Ben Whishaw as the limping man, and John C. Reilly as the lisping man embody the extreme range of coping mechanisms and quiet struggles with compliance. There is almost no middle ground in the world of The Lobster, for example, there is gay or straight, bisexuality is no longer an option—this embodies the suppression of options and disincentives originality. When David finds the group of loners in the forest, he discovers he’s just gone from one extreme to another extreme very close to it in terms of dogmatic value systems. The Lobster is beautifully shot and presented, with silences that make the pace slow down, but also help set up audience expectations so that most lines have impact and meaning. Lanthimos breaks the lulls with music so beautiful that it injects hope for the characters. When the short-sighted man meets the short-sighted woman … well, it’s complicated.
The Lobster shows at Bear Tooth on Monday, August 1 at 7:45 p.m.