Lobster, The (2015) [Blu-ray]
Comedy | Drama | Romance | Sci-Fi
The Lobster is a darkly funny love story set in a near future where single people have 45 days to find true love, or else they are turned into the animal of their choice and released into the woods. A desperate Man (Farrell), escapes from The Hotel
to The Woods where The Loners live and falls in love, although it is against the rules. Unconventional, original and hilarious, The Lobster is one of the must-see films of the year.
Storyline: A love story set in a dystopian near future where single people are arrested and transferred to a creepy hotel. There they are obliged to find a matching mate in 45 days. If they fail, they are transformed into an
animal and released into the woods. Written by R. Byma
Reviewer's Note: Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman, August 2, 2016 It's time for another round of "describe a film as a mash up of two other films", ladies and gentlemen, and this time we've got a doozy: The Lobster, a patently
surreal outing that could almost be thought of as a combination of Logan's Run and Tusk. For those who may now be whispering a confounded "WTF" under their breath, the "good news" may be that watching the film will probably actually only
provoke further use of that acronym, but perhaps surprisingly in a kind of enjoyably offbeat way. The Lobster is the brainchild of Yorgos Lanthimos, a relatively young (43) Greek filmmaker who may not yet have totally penetrated the American
filmgoing public's consciousness, but who has nonetheless helmed a series of often fascinating if just as often intentionally mind boggling works, including My Best Friend, Kinetta, Dogtooth and Alps, most of which received
considerable critical acclaim, festival recognition and, frankly, general consternation from the public at large. That tendency continues with The Lobster, a film which won the Jury Prize at Cannes along with a slew of other probably less
prestigious recognitions, and which despite its unabashedly outré qualities may indicate that Lanthimos is attempting to attain something like mainstream success, at least as evidenced by this film's stellar cast which includes Colin Farrell and Rachel
Weisz, along with a glut of great character actors including John C. Reilly. The Lobster will not be everyone's cup of tea (bisque?), but for those with an adventurous spirit who are willing to go with a rather unusual flow, the film offers a dark
and yet undeniably hilarious perspective on a couple of issues that confront most people in their lives: finding true love and in a kind of subtextual way that old bugaboo, the urge to establish an identity separate from what society insists is
"correct".
The Lobster's central premise is that single people are put on a schedule to find a new mate, and that if in fact they do not manage to couple within a relatively short time frame, they're transformed into the animal of their choice. Farrell
portrays David, a kind of hapless schlub who discovers his wife has taken off with someone else, a fact which leaves him vulnerable as a single, which in turn leads to him being forcibly confined to a "hotel" where he's given the perhaps impossible
task of finding a new mate with 45 days. In what might be thought of as yet another kind of referent, the hotel has an arcane set of rules and regulations which may remind some lovers of cult television of similar proscriptions which greeted "Number 6" in
the great old show The Prisoner: The Complete Series. As with that long ago television classic, some of these laws seem antithetical to each other, and yet the hotel's denizens basically drift through their days blithely following them. It's also
indicative of Lanthimos' thesis about the individual versus society at large that David is the only character in the film with an actual name—the rest of the major players are simply known by nicknames or descriptors which seek to summarize some quirk of
their personality or physical appearance.
One of those "anonymous" types is Short Sighted Woman (Rachel Weisz), a female David meets, not exactly "cute" given this film's completely odd context, but to whom he feels an almost immediate attraction. Much of The Lobster details David's
halting efforts to woo Short Sighted Woman, a plot arc which plays out against equally bizarre vignettes involving both other residents at the hotel, but also a bunch of "wild" people known as Loners who live in a nearby forest. My colleague Brian Orndorf
offers a bit more information on what is basically an indescribable plot in his review of the film (tied to its theatrical exhibition), and rather than just repeat Brian's summary, I'll merely add that no précis could probably adequately describe this
film, one which relies as much on mood and presentation as on any ostensible plot mechanics.
What is so unusual about The Lobster (other than everything, that is) is how it offers a Lewis Carroll-esque premise with an equally "wonderland"-ish dry sense of humor. This is a cartoon presented as a documentary. Emotions are tamped down,
patently freakish happenings are offered as everyday occurrences, and the performance style suggests somnambulism at times. As such, The Lobster is one of those films that more or less requires complete surrender in order to enjoy its completely
unusual ambience. If Lanthimos ultimately opts for a too "on the nose" (or, given the film's final moments, "in the eyes") summation of what David goes through to find true love, The Lobster still remains one of the most distinctive and unique
films in recent (and maybe more than merely recent) memory.
Those of us who review films for a living get used to seeing the "same old, same old" — repeatedly. Some folks probably either won't "get" or frankly won't like The Lobster, but the one thing you can say about it is, you've never seen anything
quite like it before. Those wanting to experience something unabashedly surreal that nonetheless offers that surreality in an almost documentarian style will have a lot of fun with this film. Having a bleak sense of humor will probably help, for this is a
film that mines the traumas of the human heart in order to find its comedy. Technical merits are generally strong, and even without a lot in the way of supplements, The Lobster comes Highly recommended.
[CSW] -3.3- Definitely for the thinking intellectual that has pondered adult relationships. I think this reviewer summed it up best: If you have a dark sense of humor, are an adult who has been single for a few years, or just happen to enjoy
brilliant filmmaking, the Lobster might just be for you. In this bizarre and uncompromising social commentary set in a near future dystopia, single people have 45 days to find a lover or they are turned into the animal of their choice. Really well written
and painstakingly produced with a great cast and much subtle comedy, The Lobster is a masterpiece that people will be talking about for years to come. One of the strangest and most oddly compelling love stories you will ever see. If you have a dull
intellect and/or are someone who despises any attempt in artistry in film, Bad Moms is available.
[V4.0-A4.0] MPEG-4 AVC - No D-Box.
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