The Lobster (2016)
Content by Tony Macklin. Originally published on May 29, 2016 @ tonymacklin.net.
Do you like lobster raw?
Beware the crustacean reviewers who may lead you into a sea of briny pretention. They love The Lobster.
If you liked Charlie Kaufman's Anomalisa (2015), you'll probably find The Lobster a scrumptious treat. If not, be forewarned. You may find that The Lobster is pretentious claptrap.
Directed and co-written by Greek Yorgos Lanthimos (co-writer Efthimis Filippou), The Lobster is a portrait of callow people. Whether or not you think Lanthimos is one of the callow is up to you. Whether you think an antic, contrived study of a callow populace is worth your time also is up to you.
The Lobster has a heady premise. A future society demands that people find a mate - loners are illegal.
Single people are sent to a big hotel where they are rehabilitated into coupledom. If they fail to find a love in 45 days and are still single, each becomes an animal of his or her own choosing and is released into the woods or domesticity.
David (Colin Farrell) is dumped by his wife and goes to the hotel. He is bland and passive - Everyman gone to seed. At the hotel David meets a motley group of fellow singles - each with a defining characteristic. There's the Lisping Man (John C. Reilly), the Limping Man (Ben Whishaw), the Nosebleed Woman (Jessica Barden), Short Sighted Woman (Rachel Weisz), et al. David says he wants to be a lobster. Sure.
In a clever reference to the world of computer dating, each person seems to be looking for someone who shares his or her defining characteristic.
In the "real world" we perhaps seek out someone who will complement us with his or her own distinctive qualities. But the computer world - like the world of the film - is full of boxes to be checked for compatibility.
Lanthimos is an absurdist, but he's no Kafka or Orson Welles. Neither is he Ray Bradbury or Truffaut.
The Lobster does have some striking images. The first murder sets the tone. It will dismay some viewers.
The Lobster is intentionally disjointed and crass. The soundtrack is jolting and jarring. Dualities abound, but they're ironically similar.
David and the Short Sighted Woman - who share the defining quality of being "short-sighted" - escape from the hotel and join the loners. But the world of the loners is as restrictive and authoritarian as is the world of coupledom. They find that out.
The Loner Leader (Lea Seydoux) is as manipulative as anything the hotel has to offer. She takes David and the Short Sighted Woman to visit her own parents. They are from a different world. They play a guitar duet of the theme from Forbidden Games. David and the Short Sighted Woman are smitten by the beautiful music. But love is not allowed in the world of the loners.
Eons ago when I first contributed to Sight & Sound's decadal poll, I listed Rene Clement's Forbidden Games (Jeux interdits) as one of my top ten.
Forbidden Games had a palpable humanity that The Lobster neither has nor wants. That world is defunct. It's now a maladjusted world.
For better or worse, The Lobster is a film that lingers with you.
What animal would director Lanthimos pick to be changed into?
Would it be The Skunk?