There are levels of cynicism. You understand that when you see a film in which the police identify and remove single people from society. There are standard cynicisms, e.g. all politicians are crooks, and then there is a pure hatred of human society. Few films have loathed the world they occupy quite like The Lobster. And this is so much the case here I’m actually concerned that writer/director Yorgos Lanthimos is seeing a therapist.
Not to be confused with the mechanical tennis teaching mechanism, The Lobster is a scathing indictment of societal norms and expectations. When an individual becomes single, by whatever means (divorce, widow, estrangement, temporarily misplaced his/her spouse), that individual is sent to The Hotel, a dreary four-star facility, and given 45 days to recouple anew. Fail this task and you are turned into an animal, your of choice, yet still an animal. I thought at first this was just a Soylent Green kind of ruse, but without detailing the process, I can confirm this is the reality of the film. Middle-aged lost soul David (Colin Farrell, surprisingly overweight for this role) has decided upon becoming a lobster – long life, blue blood, sexual prowess; it makes sense from a certain perspective. Most people want to be turned into dogs, like his companion and brother Bob, a failed coupler from some years past. Lobster is a deliciously unique choice.
As if the threat of animal were not enough, the resort (for lack of a better word) is run much like a police state with absurd rules (“no masturbation”, “noobs are not allowed use of their left hands for exactly one day”, etc.), arbitrary customs (when you eat, what you wear, how you relax, etc.), and bizarre rituals like the hunting down of escaped single people. Each “guest” is, in fact, supplied his own dart gun and sent on group hunting expeditions for exactly this purpose. For each escapee you collect, your human life as a single is extended a day.
There is horror in all of this, often expressed in the limitation of choices. I don’t know what the age limit in this society is (i.e. what’s the upper limit on young adult bachelordom? Presumably children aren’t immediately coupled, are they?); all of the resort inmates shown have lived at least to age 30. What if you become single at exactly the wrong 45-day window of life? There’s also a pathological devotion to commonality among Lobsterians – there is zero understanding in this society of phenomena like “opposites attract” or “we dig each other” or even “she makes me laugh.” Inmate Ben Wishaw takes this to the extreme by conking his face against blunt objects repeatedly to show he shares a bond with the only dish among them (Jessica Barden), a woman who gets frequent and unexpected nosebleeds.
It’s the cynicism of commonalitites that drives my love of this very black comedy. Yes, it is a comedy (as well can tell from the random donkey assassination in the opening sequence). Laugh, however, and you’ll laugh alone. The Lobster has very stilted, methodical, almost formulaic speech and somber atmosphere. For a romantic film, the
elements of romance are taken straight out of Eastern Bloc efficiency. The dramatic moments are almost all horrible. I find The Lobster not so much entertaining as brilliant. Most movies of dystopian rebellion seek to hint at the oppressive nature within the society you live, in turn challenging you to recognize and rebel against the authoritarianism you see locally. The Lobster presents a world strangely similar to the one we presently live in as if to say, “the ugly is already right here, right now, in front of you. Don’t be a tool.” I have no idea if Yorgos Lanthimos has overcome his ridiculous name to find a partner on this Earth, but he most certainly felt pressured into it at various times in his life, didn’t he? There’s an evil in conformity. Yes, it makes so many things … easier … and understandable. And if done to perfection, life no longer has meaning. For me, The Lobster is a top-10 film of 2016, one I will cherish and talk about often, but hope never to see again.
Lobster, Lobster, what happened to your date?
That stone crab had no emotions to mate
Stone crab, stone crab, how find you pleasure?
Hunting down camel is what I treasure
Camel, camel, where is your pair?
Penguin preferred “alone over there.”
Penguin, penguin, why did you flee?
I couldn’t fill rabbit with thoughts of glee
Rabbit, rabbit, why bleed you so?
Cuz dolphin yonder does too, donchaknow?
Dolphin, dolphin, is this what you hope?
Given these choices, I’ll knot my own rope*
Rated R, 119 Minutes
D: Yorgos Lanthimos
W: Yorgos Lanthimos, Efthymis Filippou
Genre: Your future of suck
Type of person most likely to enjoy this film: Satisfied singles
Type of person least likely to enjoy this film: Conformists
* Parody inspired by Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by Eric Carle
