Weekly Film - The Lobster


The lobster is a 2015 absurdist dystopian black comedy film written and directed by Yorgos Lanthimos. The film is set in a dystopian society where single people are forced to go to a hotel and find a relationship within 45 days or else they will be turned into an animal of their choosing. We follow Colin Farrels character of David, he has been recently divorced and is forced to in role in the hotel. Each person has a defining characteristic and has to find someone with the same one. David is short sighted.

The film has a soundtrack that constantly repeats itself throughout the movie. Its one particular song, if you can even call it that, which repeats through some scenes. As a result when the sound is heard its very jarring. When its heard it makes the audience uneasy but also informs them when a major part of the plot has been uncovered.

As the scene is a dystopian black comedy, its self explanatory that the colours are bleak and dull. But what the lobster does differently is rather than just having dark greys or blacks it seems to have really washed out vibrant colours. For instance in the hotel some of the wallpaper is yellow or light blue but the colour is very washed out and as a result seems bleak despite the vibrant colour.

The lobster deals with the theme of relationships and sexuality in a very different way to most movies. The lobster treats the idea of a relationship as a protection for the partners. Theres a scene in the hotel where the hotel manage shows a demonstration of the problems of a women being single, that without a partner to protect them they could get raped or mugged, but with one they are completely safe. The lobster shows a marriage or a relationship as more of an essential than something with passion and love. This is made clear of later in the film where the hotel manager's wife shoots her with blanks willingly. This shows he has no love for her but just is with her for companionship and fear of being turned into an animal. This is reiterated multiple times in the film by showing how flimsy the relationships are. One of the main relationships we follow is built on lies. 



The major irony of the film is that the hotel forces you to find a relationship but David doesnt and runs off into the woods, where he finds his love. The irony of it is when he's in the hotel, when he's forced to find someone, he can't find anyone, but yet when the opportunity of single life and punishment to find someone he eventually does find someone.

The lobster also deals with the contrast of fake and real love very well. The almost artificial relationships that are formed at the hotel are fragile and easily broken , but yet the relationship thats pure and formed through love between the two short sighted people is pure. A good example of this is at the end when she is blinded and were left on a cliff hanger on him blinding himself.



Comments

  1. Coulsdon A Level Film and Media22 January 2018 at 11:03

    So you end with a spoiler and i now don't need to see the film!

    Some good images to allow the reader to access a little flavour of what you have seen. Most of the vital information is there but going forward include the contextual information, what have the key creative team (Director, Producer, Writer) Done before? Performance of the lead characters, how were their performances received by the industry and the public? We also always benefit from comparison and a strong conclusion.

    Remember CCCEO!

    Well Done!

    ReplyDelete

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