The Lobster

(50th KVIFF) One of the three best films I’ve seen in the Karlovy Vary Film Festival this year. A story about a totalitarian world where people must be paired, otherwise they are turned into the animal of their choice. David, the protagonist, has been left by his wife and for that reason he’s been taken to a Hotel were he’ll have about 45 days to find a replacement. After an unsuccessful attempt to pair with an insensitive woman, he escapes to the forest where he joins the Loners, a group who doesn’t acknowledge the rule of pairing, in fact, they observe the extreme opposite and punish any sign of courtship and love. A bizarre feat by bizarre Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos, who already has surprised with Dogtooth and disappointed with Alps. I believe I can say with certainty that The Lobster is his best film so far. The sci-fi label is a bit misleading, the process of turning people into animals is not addressed, it’s simply the portray of a perverted totalitarian regime with ridiculous rules, the breach of which is punished in a ridiculous way; where people have lost their humanity, speak like robots, follow ridiculous rituals and make their decisions based on ridiculous criteria. The film is told in a very detached way. The events are told by a narrator and the characters themselves in a distant and laconic manner. In particular, the first half, which takes place in the Hotel, is brilliant. Lanthimos gets all the juice out of the premise and creates one unforgettable scene after another (by the way, the film is incredibly funny at times, if you are into that thing). But it looses some of its strength when it moves to the forest and the group of Loners. It begins to squeeze into the disturbing satire the development of the secret (and not so interesting) relationship between Farrel and Weisz, which doesn’t mean that the second half is devoid of excellent scenes. 90 % (07/11/2015)

Yorgos Lanthimos is definitely an interesting filmmaker. True, before "Lobster" I had only seen the film "Dogtooth," but that too is one of those that will stay in your memory. "Lobster" is another one of those. There are characters, scenes, and overall direction that you simply won't find anywhere else. I think even the actors didn't really know what they were shooting and why. (01/29/2016)

The Lobster is an elegant and witty response to the sarcastic speeches about the decline and commercialization of world cinema. The alternative still lives, and even those who do not appreciate comic book spectacles filled with special effects can enjoy it. The film presents the viewer with an original dark grotesque world, which is probably the screenwriter's response to today's crisis of the family and the steep rise in the popularity of the single lifestyle. In the dystopian film world, the system forces individuals to enter into partnerships in an uncompromising way. Life as a couple is actually the only allowed manner of existence. Anything else leads either to the outcasts being sent into the deep forests, who are subjected to harassment, or to a transformation into another animal species. However bizarre in its own way, it surprisingly works well on the screen. It is funny, and moreover, it can be said that the troubles of the film characters have a real basis in human psychology and in their relationships. Additionally, the cast is truly star-studded and atypical for this kind of film production. Colin Farrell did a much better job with his burned-out depressive character, much more so than the aloof Rachel Weisz. Léa Seydoux created the character of an uncompromising guerrilla commander, who is willing to do the same, if not even worse, in the fight against the system. The festival-style manner of not following the mainstream and reinforcing the belief of its audience that they are seeing something artistically exclusive led to the fact that the film is not as audience-friendly as it could have been. I wouldn't dare to recommend The Lobster to a regular moviegoer who wants to relax and clear their mind of everyday troubles. But for fans of arthouse cinema, it is a good choice. Overall impression: 75%. (07/18/2016)

I don't know if master Lanthimos, who wrote one of the most bizarre scripts we've ever seen on the silver screen, was the only one on drugs, or if it was also the actors, led by the soft-spoken Farrell, with the most bizarre role of his career. But who really cares when this emotionally ungraspable yet romantic, visually austere and static yet compelling sci-fi flick somehow works and is pieced together with exactly the right carefully chosen essences to maintain its unique face of a confident auteur film from the first to the last second. If it had been given a slightly more sinister and less parodic look the fanatical totalitarian system, and if it could evoke more sympathy for the weird characters, it could have been one of the most interesting independent films of recent years, but as it is, The Lobster is just a passing speciality for festival and arthouse audiences... 75% (12/31/2015)

Orwell style black-humorous romantic satire ... Bizarre? Definitely. Unique? There´s no doubt about it. Refined? Not even close. The first hotel half is incomparably better the second forest part, which is ruined mainly by the non-existent chemistry between the central couple that is "despite everything" very much in love and by the fact that it all fades away (and no, I do not mean the final scene). And now something completely different. (03/12/2016)