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The Lobster, 2015
In a dystopian near-future where being single is very illegal, David (Colin Farrell) is relocated to a singles hotel after his wife leaves him. Given a limited number of days to find a compatible partner or else be transformed into an animal, David sets his sights on a ruthless woman (Angeliki Papoulia) and attempts to match her cold-hearted point of view. But he is destined to intersect with a group of Loners who live in the woods outside of the city.
Yorgos Lanthimos (from whom I've also seen Doogtooth, The Favourite, and The Killing of a Sacred Deer) certainly has a distinct brand of dark comedy. I would say that this is up there for me in terms of his films.
Obviously the subject matter of the film is pretty bleak. But the humor is there in a pretty perfect balance, managing to keep the characters in the sweet space between being people we genuinely care about and people we can laugh at.
After this and Killing of a Sacred Deer, I think that Farrell is pretty aces at nailing the detached/repressed line delivery that makes the dialogue really sing. This is a world where everyone is guarded, and all of the actors do a great job of putting emotion behind a wall of emotionless neutrality.
The central conceit of the film, and the reduction of partnership to basically having a single shared interest, is sad and kind of terrifying. One of the men David meets in the hotel, a man distinguished by a limp (Ben Whishaw), goes to extreme lengths to make sure that he is perceived as a perfect match for a young woman (Jessica Barden) with a nosebleed problem. While this is often a pressure that people put on themselves when looking for a partner, it takes on a more pathological bent when it becomes something that is judged by the outside world. The notion of compatibility becomes even more superficial.
The overall look of the film is very good, with the crispness and beige of the "civilized" city standing in contrast to the grit and color of the forest where transformed singles roam as pigs, dogs, and camels. The life has been sucked out of the city in the same way that joy has been sucked out of couplehood. The forest is less safe and more unpredictable, but it is alive.
As someone who doesn't deal well with animal violence/cruelty, there were obviously challenging moments for me. Honestly, I spoiled the animal content for myself ahead of time (thanks, doesthedogdie.com!), which let me make it through the film okay. I'm sure for some people the animal stuff would sit well within the dark humor. For me it didn't totally get there, but I appreciate that everything in the film felt like it was done for a purpose and not just for shock value.
Something that I like about the film is that I can't quite decide how I feel about the very end. Is this
. Maybe. It's certainly a powerful and intense last 5 minutes of the movie.
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The Lobster, 2015
In a dystopian near-future where being single is very illegal, David (Colin Farrell) is relocated to a singles hotel after his wife leaves him. Given a limited number of days to find a compatible partner or else be transformed into an animal, David sets his sights on a ruthless woman (Angeliki Papoulia) and attempts to match her cold-hearted point of view. But he is destined to intersect with a group of Loners who live in the woods outside of the city.
Yorgos Lanthimos (from whom I've also seen Doogtooth, The Favourite, and The Killing of a Sacred Deer) certainly has a distinct brand of dark comedy. I would say that this is up there for me in terms of his films.
Obviously the subject matter of the film is pretty bleak. But the humor is there in a pretty perfect balance, managing to keep the characters in the sweet space between being people we genuinely care about and people we can laugh at.
After this and Killing of a Sacred Deer, I think that Farrell is pretty aces at nailing the detached/repressed line delivery that makes the dialogue really sing. This is a world where everyone is guarded, and all of the actors do a great job of putting emotion behind a wall of emotionless neutrality.
The central conceit of the film, and the reduction of partnership to basically having a single shared interest, is sad and kind of terrifying. One of the men David meets in the hotel, a man distinguished by a limp (Ben Whishaw), goes to extreme lengths to make sure that he is perceived as a perfect match for a young woman (Jessica Barden) with a nosebleed problem. While this is often a pressure that people put on themselves when looking for a partner, it takes on a more pathological bent when it becomes something that is judged by the outside world. The notion of compatibility becomes even more superficial.
The overall look of the film is very good, with the crispness and beige of the "civilized" city standing in contrast to the grit and color of the forest where transformed singles roam as pigs, dogs, and camels. The life has been sucked out of the city in the same way that joy has been sucked out of couplehood. The forest is less safe and more unpredictable, but it is alive.
As someone who doesn't deal well with animal violence/cruelty, there were obviously challenging moments for me. Honestly, I spoiled the animal content for myself ahead of time (thanks, doesthedogdie.com!), which let me make it through the film okay. I'm sure for some people the animal stuff would sit well within the dark humor. For me it didn't totally get there, but I appreciate that everything in the film felt like it was done for a purpose and not just for shock value.
Something that I like about the film is that I can't quite decide how I feel about the very end. Is this
WARNING: spoilers below
the closest thing to a happy ending I've ever seen in one of this director's films?
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