The film "Lobster": reviews, the plot, the director, the actors and the roles

Modern people from childhood are inspired with common truths, but many of them are on the verge of lying. Among the imposed stereotypes is the need to marry / marry before the age of 30, otherwise you will be a lonely loser. Trying to meet this requirement, many are in a hurry to tie themselves up with the first candidate for the role of spouse. As a result, they become deeply unhappy in their family life with an unloved person. In the meantime, society inspires such people that an unhappy marriage is a common rule and, if you have a couple of children, you will eventually get used to it.

The young Greek director Yorgos Lantimos, famous for his art house films, in 2015, made the movie "Lobster". In this tape, he tried to show viewers how much in the modern society perverted the understanding of the institution of the family.

The film "Lobster"

At the Cannes Film Festival in 2015, a new anti-utopia tape by Yergos Lantimos "Lobster" was shown for the first time. Despite the fact that this picture refers to arthasnom cinema with a very modest budget (4 million euros), it starred world-famous actors. Among them - Colin Farrell, Rachel Weiss, Leah Seydou, Ben Wishaw, Roger Ashton-Griffiths and others.

The film "Lobster": the plot

In the not very distant future, the laws of society have become more stringent. Now a person should not be alone, otherwise he will be converted into a beast. If an individual does not marry until a certain time or becomes a widower / widow, he is sent to a specialized hotel for 45 days. Here, in the allotted time, he must find a pair, otherwise he will be turned into an animal.

The protagonist of the picture is a notorious single middle-aged man named David. Some time ago, his brother, who could not create a family, became a dog. Now it's David's turn. Staying at a hotel for singles, he tries to get in touch with women, but all his attempts go to waste. Later he learns that people who want to be alone can go into the forest and join the hermits. Soon David does this.

But here, among the picturesque nature, the hero encounters other limitations of his freedom. It turns out that all hermits are banned from any close relationship. Violations of this rule are punishable by severe mutilation or death. In his misfortune, David falls in love with one of the wild women, and she answers him in return.

Lovers have to hide their love from other hermits, but later the leader of the singles learns of their feelings and in punishment blinds David's beloved.

Realizing that they have no place among the hermits, lovers run to the city. However, the main character understands that his half feels defective next to him because of his blindness. Therefore, at the end of the picture, he is going to blind himself.

Problem of the picture

In his painting, Yorgos Lantimos raises many important questions. First of all, this is the attitude of society towards love and marriage. Bringing to the absurd the generally accepted rule that every high-grade person should create a family, the director shows how family relations lose their value, turning into a hateful burden.

Parallel to the theme of love in the film "Lobster" (2015), the relationship between the individual and a totalitarian society is examined. So, the main character turns out to be an outsider in any group. Unconsciously, he opposes the generally accepted norms: when all around are forced to seek a pair, he prefers to be a loner; In a situation where loneliness is the accepted norm of existence, David starts a relationship. In fact, this hero symbolizes the right of every person to determine his own way of life, not in accordance with the stereotypes imposed by others.

In addition to the above problems, some less global issues are also considered in the picture. For example, how difficult it is to find a soul mate in the modern world with its rush and conventions.

Also in the film, much attention is paid to human nature, which is not curbed by any prohibitions and which always takes its toll. So, the desire to love and be loved is quite natural for everyone, even if he denies it. Demonstrative in this situation is the heroine of Leah Seydou (leader of hermits). She ensures that relations between her wards are not tied, but she herself craves David's love, but is afraid to admit it. Learning about his novel, a woman dazzles the opponent, who rightly notes that it would be more appropriate to deprive David of his own sight.

Director of the picture

This film is the fifth directorial work of Yorgos Lantimos. Also this person is also the author of the script for the picture. Perhaps, it is for this reason that he managed to create such an attractive and absurd spectacle, frightening with its realism.

Prior to this tape, Yorgos made clips, commercials, and television performances. In 2009, his film "Fang" was nominated for an Oscar, though he did not win it. But this nomination helped the director to prove himself in the film world from the best side.

"Lobster" - the first picture of the director of the international level. It played stars from different countries: the Irishman Colin Farrell, the Frenchwoman Leah Seydou, the Greek woman Ariana Labed, the American John Cile Riley, the British Rachel Weiss and Ben Wishaw.

The main characters of the picture

The main role in the film was played by Colin Farrell ("Alexander", "Daredevil", "Special Opinion"). As a rule, this actor gets the role of charming handsome. However, played in this project a plump and short-sighted man with a lot of complexes Colin Farrell. Lobster is boring - that's who his character is at the beginning of the picture. But later it turns out that David is a real hero, ready to sacrifice everything for the sake of love and freedom.

The unnamed beloved of the protagonist was played by British Rachel Weiss ("Mummy", "Agora", "Constantine: Lord of Darkness"). This actress is accustomed to embody on the screen of strong and independent women. However, in this picture, her heroine is a touching and somewhat naive rabbit hunter, which captivates not only David, but also all spectators.

The main obstacle preventing lovers from being together, the picture is the leader of hermits, performed by James Bond's new girlfriend Lea Seydou. Her heroine is smart and calculating. She is well versed in human psychology and knows what and who needs to say in order to achieve her own.

Minor characters

However, it was not only this trio that helped to turn Lobster into a real masterpiece. The film actors, who played less significant roles, made such a success.

Among them are John Cay Riley ("Gangs of New York", "Chicago", "Scary Tales"), as well as Ben Wishaw (Perfume, Cloud Atlas, In the Heart of the Sea), Ariana Labed (Credo Killer ") and Roger Ashton-Griffiths (" Brothers Grimm "," Game of Thrones "," Tudors ").

The reaction of critics to the "Lobster"

The film "Lobster" (2015) proved to be a rather successful project, despite the fact that it was originally intended for a specific audience. He not only tripled the money invested in it, but also received rather high ratings from critics: 83 out of 100 possible according to the version of the American site Metacritic. On another well-known portal Rotten Tomatoes this tape scored 91% of positive reviews.

The correspondent of the British newspaper The Guardian Peter Bradshaw called the "elegant and eccentric" film "Lobster". The film (review of critic Vai Chi Dimok) was compared with the works of the famous Irish playwright Samuel Beckett and is called "fable about Purgatory".

The film "Lobster": reviews of the audience

As you know, professional critics like odious cinema, which is incomprehensible to the ordinary spectator. For this reason, often their views and film fans on the same tape may be different. But the happiest exception to this rule is the movie "Lobster". Reviews about it from viewers and critics are equally positive. And if the cinematographic specialists attracted the picture with their art-house tricks, ordinary movie fans appreciated the touching story of love of the main characters.

Some viewers, on the contrary, perceived the film as a manifesto of Lantimos against the institution of marriage. Others, after watching the film "Lobster", reviews leave mostly about the actor's game Weiss and Farrell.

Younger moviegoers, in whom the spirit of rebellion has not yet cooled, in their reviews praise the picture for depicting the struggle of the individual against a totalitarian society.

Interesting facts about the picture

• Initially, the main character was supposed to play Jason Clarke ("Terminator: Genesis"), but because of the participation in another project, he had to abandon the role in the tape "Lobster".
• The film actors who starred in it helped to distinguish among others the fact that everyone agreed to act without make-up and special lighting. Thus, in this tape the performers of the main roles look the same as in real life.

• In addition to the people actors, actors-animals were shot in Lobster: cats, dogs, camels, peacocks, donkeys and ponies.
• The most frequently asked question about this picture: "What ended the film" Lobster "?". This is due to an open ending, which some viewers simply did not understand, considering that they have a stripped-down version of the film.
• "Lobster" - the first English-language picture, shot by Yorgos Lantimos. The four previous films of the director were in Greek, because of which they had no opportunity to enter the international film market.

Despite the fact that the film "Lobster" reviews collected positive, not everyone understood this picture. Many considered it boring or delusional. Perhaps, in order to best describe this tape, it is worth remembering the sage's statement that real art, like a mirror, reflects the one who looks at it. The monster in it will see a monster, and the person of a pleasant appearance is something beautiful.