What could be simpler: Your wife is leaving you. It’s the law of the land that you are not permitted to be single. You have 45 days to find a new “romantic partner”. If you fail to do so, you will be turned into a lobster. And this is entirely possible because the plot unfolds in “the future”. And in particular a future that is described as “dystopian”.
“Absurdist” even.
In other worlds, even more dystopian [absurd] than it is now.
And we know it’s dystopian because practically all of the characters have no names. Instead, they become The Hotel Manager or The Short Sighted Woman or The Limping Man or The Loner Leader
The good news though is this: You get to choose which animal you are turned into. David chooses to become a lobster. You know, if he fails. Why a lobster? Because, according to David, “lobsters live for over one hundred years, are blue-blooded like aristocrats, and stay fertile all their lives.”
On the other hand, David’s brother his now his pet dog.
Yes, all of this may seem to be entirely ludicrous. But it did manage to garner a 90% fresh rating on 188 reviews at RT. Just don’t expect that your own reaction to it is going to be anywhere near the right one.
The plot? The plot is obviously a satiric metaphor to expose…something. About loners perhaps. Which means they would consider someone like me to be nothing less than a psychopath. Which means I would be hunted down and disposed of.
Or maybe it’s poking around conformity again. The pressure to fit into any particular community. Where does “I” end and “we” begin? And the part about pondering where it might be best to draw that line. And [of course] the part about sex. And love.
The opening scene alone draws you into it immediately. As in “What the fuck?!!”
at wiki: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lobster
trailer: youtu.be/TR_NcqD-Gfs
THE LOBSTER [2015]
Written in part and directed by Yorgos Lanthimos
[b]Narrator [the Short Sighted Woman]: He decided his brown leather shoes were the best pair to wear. His back hurt a little, but not like some other time in the past when the pain was intolerable. He was thinking his wife doesn’t love him at all anymore. He didn’t burst into tear and he didn’t think things most people do when they realise someone doesn’t love them anymore.
…
Interviewer: Have you ever been on your own before?
David: No, never.
Interviewer: Are you allergic to any food?
David: No.
Interviewer: Your last relationship last how many years?
David: Eleven years and seven months.
Interviewer: Sexual preference?
David: Women. However I had one homosexual experience… in the past, in college. Is there bisexual option available?
Interviewer: No sir, this option is no longer available since about last summer due to several operational problems. I’m afraid you have to decide right now if you want to be registered as homosexual or heterosexual
David [after a pause]: I think I should be registered as heterosexual.
…
Hotel Manager [to David]: Now the fact that you will turn into an animal if you fail to fall in love with someone during your stay here is not something that should upset you or get you down. Just think, as an animal you’ll have a second chance to find a companion. But, even then, you must be careful; you need to choose a companion that is a similar type of animal to you. A wolf and a penguin could never live together, nor could a camel and a hippopotamus. That would be absurd. Now have you thought of what animal you’d like to be if you end up alone?
David: Yes. A lobster.
Hotel Manager: Why a lobster?
David: Because lobsters live for over one hundred years, are blue-blooded like aristocrats, and stay fertile all their lives. I also like the sea very much.
Hotel Manager: I must congratulate you, the first thing most people think of is a dog which is why the world is full of dogs. Very few people choose unusual animal which is why they are in endangered.[/b]
So that’s how it works!
[b]Voice from a speaker: Good morning Room 101, 44 days left. Breakfast is served.
…
The Limping Man: Hello everyone. My mother was left on her own when my father fell in love with a woman who was better at math than she was. She had a post graduate degree I think, where as my mother was only a graduate. I was nineteen at the time. My mother entered the hotel, but didn’t make it and was turned into a wolf. I really missed her. I found out she had been moved to a zoo. I often went there to see her. I’d give her raw meat. I knew that wolves liked raw meat, but I couldn’t figure out which of the wolves was my mother so I used to give a little bit to each of them. One day I decided to enter the enclosure. I really missed her and I wanted a hug. I climbed the fence and jumped in. All the wolves charged at once and attacked me; all but two who stood motionless. My guess is that one of those two must have been my mother. The zoo guards got to me quite quickly and took me to the hospital. Thankfully I didn’t lose my leg. I just have this limp, which is also my defining characteristic. My wife died six days ago. She was very beautiful and I loved her very much. She had a limp too.
…
David’s dancing partner [in a complete monotone]: I’m sorry I got the blood on your shirt. But don’t worry, there are many ways to remove blood stain from clothing. One way is to wring the clothes to cold water, then rub in sea salt. Another way is to srape the stain with cotton ball dip in ammonia. The third way is to make flour mold into a paste like toothpaste. Especially it the clothes are delicate or bright color. But just never use warm water on blood, ever.
David: Ok.
…
Hotel Manager: ls your room number 186?
Robert: Yes it is.
Hotel Manager: I imagine you know masturbation is not permitted in the room or any other area of the hotel. And yet, it is been brought to my attention you continue to do it. Are you looking at a photograph while you masturbating?
Robert: Yes.
Hotel Manager: What does the photograph show?
Robert: A naked woman on a horse in the country.
Hotel Manager: If I were in your shoes I would not be ogling the naked woman but the horse.[/b]
Cue the toaster.
[b]Biscuit Woman [to David]: Can I come to your room sometime for a chat? I could give you a blowjob. Or you could just fuck me. I always swallow after fellatio and I’ve got absolutely no problem with anal sex if that’s your thing. My ex-husband always used to say I had the most beautiful thighs he’d ever seen, but let’s not talk about him.
…
Robert: You thought about what animal you wanna be if you don’t make it?
David: A lobster.
Robert: I’m gonna be a parrot if I don’t make it. Hey, why don’t you become parrots too, then can all be together?
The Limping Man: You’re a complete idiot. Picking one of few animals that can talk when you have a speech impediment. You’ll lisp even as an animal. As for you, David, they will catch you and put you in a pot of boiling water until you die. And then crack open you claws with a tool by prying it, then suck up what little flesh you have with their mouth. You’re pathetic, both of you.
…
Voice from speaker: Good morning Room 101, you have 7 days left. Breakfast is served.
…
Hotel Manager: Morning ladies. So, today is your last day. And as is customary, you can choose how you like to spend your last night. What I always said in this situation is it would be wise to do something you can’t do as animal. For example read a work of classic literature or sing a song you really like. It would be silly to choose, for example, a walking the ground or have sexual intercourse with another person. Those are things you can do as animal.
Girl: I’d like watch Stand By Me with River Phoenix, Kiefer Sutherland and Richard Dreyfuss…alone.
Hotel Manager: Excellent choice. Lovely film.
…
Narrator: One day, as he was playing golf he thought that it is more difficult to pretend you do have feelings when you don’t than to pretend you don’t have feelings when you do. He also thought that he liked her accent and he always prefered woman with short hair. So he decided she was the one. During the hunt, he would follow her. And as soon as she shot a loner, he would say to her: “I wish we had a real gun instead of this silly tranquilizer one. Why don’t you kill him with your bare hands?” And the moment she put her hand around loner’s throat he would said: "I hope he dies right away.
…
Heartless Woman [after she fakes choking to death while David sits there and does nothing to help her]: I think that we are a match.
David: Yes, I think so too.[/b]
Off to the Double Room.
[b]Heartless Woman [to David]: Do you mind if we fuck in a position where I can see your face?
…
Heartless Woman: Good morning. I killed your bother. I left him to die very slowly. He may not be dead yet as now we speak. I was kicking him for ages.
David: It doesn’t matter.[/b]
She means the dog. And it does matter.
[b]Narrator: He couldn’t understand why she did it. So he decided to turn her into an animal. He dragged her to the room where transformation took place. I asked him many times what sort of animal he turned her into. But he always give me the same answer: “That’s none of your concern.”
…
Loner Leader: You can stay with us for as long as you like. You can be a loner until the day you die, there is no time limit.
David: Thank you very much.
Loner Leader: Anyway, any romantic or sexual relations between loners are not permitted. And any such acts are punished, is that clear?
David: Can I have a converstation with someone?
Loner Leader: Of course you can, so long as there is no flirting or anything like that. That applies to dance nights as well. We all dance by ourselves. That’s why we only play electronic music.
…
Short Sighted Woman [of David]: That night, in my sleep, I dreamt that we lived in a big house together in the city with a large, well-lit kitchen, and I was wearing dark blue trousers and a tight cream blouse and he took my clothes off and fucked me up the ass.
…
Robert: You’re not thinking of coming back? You know if you told the hotel manager about your brother, she’d probably forgive you.
David: No, it’s really nice to be on your own. There is no one tying you down. You listen to music whenever you like, you masturbate whenever you want, go for a walk whenever you like, have a chat whenever you like. I don’t miss companionship at all
…
Loner Leader: Where were you? I was looking for you.
David: I was masturbating behind those trees over there.
…
Short Sighted Woman [of her relationship with David]: We developed a code so that we can communicate with each other even in front of the others without them knowing what we are saying. When we turn our heads to the left it means “I love you more than anything in the world” and when we turn our heads to the right it means “watch out, we’re in danger”. We had to be very careful in the beginning not to mix up “I love you more than anything in the world” with “watch out, we’re in danger”. When we raise our left arm it means “I want to dance in your arms”, when we make a fist and put it behind our backs it means “let’s fuck”. The code grew and grew as time went by and within a few weeks we could talk about almost anything without even opening our mouths.
…
Loner Leader: Can you imagine why I brought you to this quiet place today?
David: No.
Loner Leader: Because I think it’s the perfect spot for your grave.
…
Doctor [of the Short Sighted Woman]: She’s blind.
Loner Leader: Thank you.
…
Short Sighted Woman: There is no point to lying to you. You’ll find out sooner or later. Our leader blinded me in the city. She must’ve realised I love you, you love me and we’re going to run away to the city together. I’m sorry.
David: You can’t see at all?
Short Sighted Woman: No, not at all.
…
David [to waiter]: Can I have a knife and fork please? Not a butter knife, steak knife.
…
David: I’m going to do it with the knife.
Short Sighted Woman: Do you want me to come with you?
David: I rather you didn’t.
Short Sighted Woman: Don’t worry. It’s strange at first, but you get used to it. And your other senses are heightened. Touch, for example, and hearing.
David: I know. I won’t be long.[/b]