BSA 104 (Scriptwriting) Week 8 : The Lobster Review

The Lobster (2015) written and directed by Yorgos Lanthimos is set in an alternate reality, where a totalitarian government ensures that all its citizens are coupled with equally suited mates based on trivial traits that the two people share. The film follows a man whose wife has left him for someone else, he is admitted into a hotel meant to increase the likelihood of him finding a significant other.

The film stars Colin Farrel, Rachel Weisz, Ben Wishaw, Lea Seydoux, John C. Reilly and a host of other comedic and character actors.

The Lobster is an alienating film in that its execution is so unconventional. Nothing is explained, for such a strange world everything is simply presented as normal. But I think this is why the film is so entertaining. My personal response to the film was one of humour. It's a very good dark comedy, one that delivers it's jokes bluntly but effectively. The lack of music and pacing helps with this, overall the writing is very funny. At the same time there is a sinister undertone and shocking events that occur, this kept the consequences real and made me care for the characters more than I would have was it a simple comedy.

I sympathized with the lead character from the start. It's interesting to note that he doesn't say much or display any particular traits at the start, for the most part he's a blank slate. I think this is a very good example of an audience surrogate, the character doesn't have the defining traits that are present in some of the side-characters, but I think this helps strengthen the bone we have with him. It's impressive that the director was able to make us relate to a character who lives in such an unrelatable world. Nothing in the universe is clearly explained and it is very different to our own, it's a feat that we so easily find ourselves attached to the main character. Usually an audience surrogate is used to dump exposition upon, here this is not the case. Everything said to the main character makes sense in context and never feels out of place. The reason we relate to him is because the basic setup is quite realistic even if the setting is not. We can often feel pressured into finding a significant other like the character and understand the awkward situations that it creates.

I don't think I liked any other character more than the protagonist, but I did find one of them more interesting. The side character played by Ben Wishaw has his backstory explained, making his motives clear, and is a very active character, he makes it clear that he plans to leave the hotel and does so with some trickery. I can see why some viewers might prefer him over Colin Farrel's character because he is so active, but once he leaves the main character becomes more active as well.

It's hard to determine what specific scenes I found most or least engaging, the movie consistently introduces new characters and information which kept me constantly engaged. However I can say that I prefer the first half of the film more than the second, This is because the situation the characters are put in is more interesting to me personally, with them being forced to find a suitable mate in a short amount of time. The second half is a necessary and effective development but one that somewhat changes the movies tone.

The most engaging scene to me was when the main character starts taking steps towards leaving the hotel, specifically when he pretends to be heartless in order to make a connection with one of the other guests. The heartless woman segment was the most engaging to me, by this point we understand the rules of the world and the writers start playing around with them. It's exhilarating to see the main character become more active, and even more so to see the consequences of his actions unfold.

Overall The Lobster is a very engaging film because of how it builds its world. From the opening scene Yorgos Lanthimos uses mystery to intrigue the audience. The more we learn about the world, the better we understand it and the more risky the characters actions seem. It's also a very well paced comedy, with jokes coming at you frequently and consistently. At the films' midpoint the, just when we know everything about the world, the story takes a turn to explore another part of this universe. The dark tone helps keep things grounded, the world might be ridiculous, but the consequences are not. This makes us invest into the characters and want to see what happens to them.  In short: there is never a dull moment.

I think the best notes I can take from the writing of The Lobster is:

- Keep your audience engaged by slowly revealing information, propose a question and then leave breadcrumbs for the viewer to follow. I've noticed books do this a lot, it's almost like the author decides what the final goal is then works their way back until only hints of the truth remains. The journey lies in getting to the final answer.

- In  a fictional universe act like everything is normal, the audience will wonder why things are so different and become intrigued. Explain the universe through the characters interactions, with good writing the audience will soon catch on. A movie which did a similar thing was Gattaca (1997) - where the universe is presented as normal at the start and then explained later. This has the same effect in that film, where I found myself engaged as I waited for the answers. That movie does something different by clearly laying out all the rules with narration, something which, even when I watched it, felt a bit cheap.

- Not explaining a joke is sometimes funnier than doing so immediately. There is a chance for two jokes if the explanation is postponed until a scene or two later. The context in which the audience sees it can be funny in and of itself. In The Lobster there is one scene where we see the limping man show his leg to the main character - at this point in the film we know nothing of him or his limp and find it funny because it is such a strange thing to do. The joke is played deadpan and it makes us laugh at its weird nature. In the next scene the limping man explains how he got his limp, revealing us the truth of the awkward situation before as well as providing us with a funny story. There is one joke here, but by holding information from the audience it has been made into two.