The Lobster sees a society where all single people are forced to check into a strictly-ruled hotel. If an individual doesn't find a romantic partner within 45 days, they're turned into an animal(!) of their own well-considered choosing. The subject here is David (played by a particularly bloaty Colin Farrell). After several failed attempts at bonds during his hotel stay, he manages to escape into the woods where he joins a group called the Loners, who basically promote the opposite ideals of the hotel.
Director Yorgos Lanthimos' film smirks with a satirical tone, especially given its bizarre pieces of performance art and subtextual exhibitions. It's a status/identity study and an occasionally thought-provoking allegory on modern love, match-making, loneliness, and isolation. The film is presented in a dreary and static atmosphere, but it's beautifully shot with a scenic gloss of elegance.
You have to credit Colin Farrell, along with the rest of the cast (which includes Rachel Weisz, Ben Winshaw, and John C. Reilly) for fully committing to this oddity and embracing their lost soul auras. A lot of films draw the "Not for everyone" tag, and this is definitely one of them. It's an acquired taste, the type of thing to cause theater walk-outs. While fascinating at times and confounding at others, the duration does run way too long, losing much its bite--or should I say claws.
( 6/10 )
Looks interesting. Too bad this won't be released theatrically in my country.
ReplyDeleteI found out about this film from when it was on Graham Norton and it wasn't at all what I expected. I remember leaving the cinema with my friend wondering what on earth we just watched. However, it seems that people either love it or they hate it. The death of the dog was the part where I thought 'maybe this isn't for me' but I did stick it out to the end.
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