Author Topic: The Lobster  (Read 9034 times)

oldkid

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Re: The Lobster
« Reply #20 on: June 06, 2016, 10:49:25 PM »

In The Lobster, Lanthimos is not really creating new phenomenon, but rather dialing up the existing ones to 11,

Imagine a world in which if you lose your housing, you are immediately a criminal and will be threatened and eventually imprisoned for not having four walls and a roof.
"It's not art unless it has the potential to be a disaster." Bansky

Bondo

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Re: The Lobster
« Reply #21 on: June 06, 2016, 11:31:30 PM »
I see what you did there.  :'(

verbALs

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Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #22 on: August 25, 2016, 12:26:49 AM »
Sandy, my reaction to your words is that this movie does its best to dehumanise throughout. So to measure your own humanity against it is an abrasive comparison. The quiz might ask questions then give you the best animal equivalent but the film is only asking what animal you want to be. Who you are and who you want to be not being the same thing (I might be alone in thinking that's obvious). The animalising doesn't reveal anything about the people. My response is that it might be a delight and to be welcomed to become a bird but the film presents it as a horrific idea to be avoided and fought against with all ones strength. So the quiz misses the point of the film. The film says forget about your humanity or anybody else's. You might be able to draw conclusions outside the film about humanity but placing oneself in it and wondering how one would react? One would act like a dehumanised robot like anybody else. I think.
« Last Edit: August 25, 2016, 01:51:55 PM by pixote »
I used to encourage everyone I knew to make art; I don't do that so much anymore. - Banksy

Sandy

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Re: Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #23 on: August 25, 2016, 09:20:20 AM »
An abrasive review for The Lobster? Seems fitting doesn't it?

In an interview, Yorogs Lanthimos said,

... what we tried to do is just explore themes and situations in a heightened mode in order to reveal more about reality and our everyday lives... what would be... beneficial would be for us to question the way we've constructed our societies and the way we're used to behaving; the expectations that we have of people and how we treat them. So I think it's about: We're brought into this world, we're educated a certain way, we get used to certain things. Yet we should be able to question that... Maybe people should be freer to think about what's right for them... That's what the film does, hopefully - it raises all of those questions... Rebellion is not always the right thing. Following the rules is not always the right thing. You have to think for yourself and identify the things that  do not work for you.

So, in my writing, I wanted to first try and understand the constructs of this society as nonsensical as it is, and look at the behaviors and then go into this world and see how I would fare.

No I am not like a swan, nor would I want to be one. Nor have my skin peeled off of me. But, in this world it's an expected choice that people have to make, so I went with it. As dehumanizing as this world is, by exploring human nature in an extreme scenario, I find a great deal of humanity... in me. It's got me thinking and feeling in a very focused way and I believe that's the whole point of this experimental film.

Sandy

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Re: Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #24 on: August 25, 2016, 09:21:09 AM »
The film is generally described as dystopic. I sometimes wonder if it is a flaw in who I am as a person that I'm kind of like "seems pretty ideal to me." But then, I'm comparing it to dating websites, and nothing is worse than dating websites.

I've never been on a dating website. Sounds horrific! :)

jdc

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Re: Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #25 on: August 25, 2016, 09:52:15 AM »
ahh, the problem with dating is ppl take it too seriously.. how bad can a bad date be other then you lost a few hours of your life that you would probably otherwise have been sitting at home. 
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verbALs

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Re: Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #26 on: August 25, 2016, 10:06:18 AM »
@Sandy. No I was suggesting the film is trying to throw you out of a way of thinking by being abrasive. Your review wasn't being abrasive. I thought you were trying to parse the film. You remarked on the similarly hostile forest world but I think it shows the director isn't looking to soften this view of the world with a pleasant alternative. So it forces one out of the world. Also love isn't really finding a way here is it? It gets increasingly unpleasant doesn't it? No escape there either. A consistently unpleasant world.
I used to encourage everyone I knew to make art; I don't do that so much anymore. - Banksy

MartinTeller

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Re: Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #27 on: August 25, 2016, 10:43:43 AM »
I met my wife on OkCupid

Melvil

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Re: Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #28 on: August 25, 2016, 01:03:29 PM »
Yeah, IMO the bad things about online dating are just the bad parts about dating in general. The utility of being able to meet people online is not at all bad, in fact it's rather awesome.

Sandy

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Re: Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #29 on: August 25, 2016, 01:24:35 PM »
:)


I met my wife on OkCupid

Yes you did!

@Sandy. No I was suggesting the film is trying to throw you out of a way of thinking by being abrasive.

Oh! The syntax threw me. :)

Quote
Your review wasn't being abrasive. I thought you were trying to parse the film. You remarked on the similarly hostile forest world but I think it shows the director isn't looking to soften this view of the world with a pleasant alternative. So it forces one out of the world. Also love isn't really finding a way here is it? It gets increasingly unpleasant doesn't it? No escape there either. A consistently unpleasant world.

No, no escape. But we can. Walking away from the movie, do we then take the opportunity to examine, identify and then escape from (self)imposed limitations?

For just a few moments I considered the idea that David was not being sincere about his feelings for the Short Sighted Woman. He had the pattern of saying and doing things that were self serving, so I couldn't trust his words and actions. But in the forest, there was no incentive for him to pair off, in fact quite the opposite, so by observing his devotion, jealousy, and body language, I knew this was conveying real emotion. David had the thought earlier, “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." I think he proved himself wrong. His humanity could not be denied, even if everything was taken away from him, piece by piece. There is strength here to glean from.

 

love