Cinematography by Thimios Bakatakis. Directed by Yorgos Lanthimos.
***Warning Animal violence
I'm a sloppy person. How do I mean that? I look at people who are on Shark Tank or friends of mine who became doctors or computer scientists and they all seem to have this distinct plan. There's a discipline they employ which eludes me, even when it comes to this blog. I mean, I saw this movie almost a month ago and I'm just writing it now. If only I had the motivation of being turned into an animal every time I procrastinated on a review.
I love the conceit of the film, but what is even better is how Yorgos doesn't turn it into a silly Rom-Com. In fact he spends most of the film skewering the usual tropes of such films.
The mood is created first by the cinematography which exposes the superficial nature of the clinic. Secondly by the editing. The silly images of people dancing by themselves in slow motion contrasts with acts of extreme cruelty such as the burning of the fingers as punishment for masturbation. Or the kicking of David's (Farrell) brother to death.
The shot above occurs as people are introducing themselves to the group. The shot takes in the whole room and leaves you with an antiseptic feeling. If you've ever been witness to one of those pep rallies for mulit-level marketing schemes like Amway, this is how they are presented. I used to set up the banquet halls at Holiday Inn for them so I recognize the mood and decor. I remember what a pain it was to get the skirt around the platform at
the front to stay up since the Velcro older than me and worn down.
These parties were filled with a bunch of kids trying to convince themselves they're going to be rich through sheer attitude and exuberance. 'The Lobster' is love as marketing. Always Be Closing. Anyone want to see second place?
Look at how stiff and uptight everyone is at the meeting. It's a joyless scene. The camera angle uses the corner of the room to narrow the shot, give it a feeling of tightness adding to the mood of the people in the room. We immediately cut to the shot below:
It's a jarring edit which left me and the person I watched with uncomfortable. Visually we go from an angled shot with depth to a shallow horizontal shot. And that's the point isn't it? We land smack dab in the middle of this dance and watch everyone interact like seventh graders at a
cotillion.
It's reinforced again and again how stilted and awkward this situation is, how unnatural searching for love in this manner would be. Above we have the grade school dance. Below we see a newly minted couple surrounded by light, but together in the dark.
I'm always a big fan of symmetry in a frame, and in this case we can see how the symmetry, like the clinic, is desperately trying to convince people they are matched up properly.
Again at the end we use symmetry to establish familiarity. The glasses of water, the lamps over their shoulders, the trees behind their heads, the salt and pepper shakers splitting the center of the shot, it all comes together to compel some sort of cosmic reconciliation between these two. Everything has a matching pair. Like socks. What happens when you have just one sock? You throw it away. That's the kind of depressing metaphor you can look forward to hearing plenty of in 'The Lobster.'
I didn't know Colin Farrell could act until this movie. Seriously.
Highly Recommended. It's so dryly funny, especially if you have a dark sense of humor. The scene where they put John C. Reilly's fingers in the toaster is hilarious and horrific at the same time. The feel of the film and the pacing reminded me of a favorite of mine: "Punch-Drunk Love".
***Warning Animal violence
The mood is created first by the cinematography which exposes the superficial nature of the clinic. Secondly by the editing. The silly images of people dancing by themselves in slow motion contrasts with acts of extreme cruelty such as the burning of the fingers as punishment for masturbation. Or the kicking of David's (Farrell) brother to death. 
