NYFF 53 REVIEW: THE LOBSTER

BY MATEO MORENO

One of the most popular troupe's in film is the setting of a dystopian future. It's bleak and unknown, and full of possibilities. Setting your characters into a dark and hopeless future only to have them triumph has been a popular theme in filmmaking, from 1984 to A Scanner Darkly, Blade Runner, and The Hunger Games (to name a few). And I love this theme. The promise of a better tomorrow torn down and replaced by the grim fear that we hope will never happen. It makes for a damn fine time at the theatre. Trouble is, it's been done so much that it's quite hard to find true originality in the theme. Or so I thought before I sat down with THE LOBSTER, the stunning new film from Director Yorgos Lanthimos.

We've all heard of matchmaking, but The Lobster takes it to the next level. It's actually against the law to be single. If you do find yourself experiencing a breakup, there is a procedure that you must attend to. You have 45 days to find a new partner. Should you not find anyone new to spend the rest of your life with, you will be turned into an animal. A literal animal. Didn't see that one coming, did you? Our main character is David (Colin Farrell), a slub of a man whose girlfriend has just broken up with him. So he, along with his faithful dog, checks into a hotel. We are immediately thrown into the world to which we don't quite yet understand. He answers a series of very personal statements about his life, something we don't ever do when we check into a hotel. But David knows this is procedure so he does without hesitation. Once there we start to get a grasp of what this hotel truly is: it's a place to help single men and women find their mate before their 45 days are over.

Not only is this a fascinating dystopian tale, but it's also a biting satire. The instructional classes teach the rules of the world. If you're a single female and you walk around the world by yourself, you will be attacked. If you are coupled with a man, you are safe. If you walk along as a man or a woman you will be questioned. So stay with your couple to ensure happiness. Everyone at this facility are there to play the game. They want to be mated, but must also choose an animal that they desire to become should it not work out. David's choice is a Lobster because, as he sees it, they mate for life and he's always like the water. David befriends two men: A Lisping Man (John C. Reilly) and a limping man (Ben Whishaw). We never learn their actual names. None of this world is absurd or abnormal to the players within it, which is why it so brilliantly works. Though the film is narrated by a character that we haven't seen yet (Rachel Weiz). She does enter the plot eventually, and once she does the film takes another dive into the deep end of craziness, and works beautifully as it does.

Colin Farrell delivers one of his best performances here. His deadpan delivery is hysterical and, must like his performance in In Bruges, the brokenness of his character brings to life his performance. Everyone around him delivers knockout performances as well, from John C. Reilly and Ben Wishaw's strange single men to Rachel Weiz and Léa Seydoux's knock out performances (which I won't spoil here). Lanthimos (along with his co-writer Efthimis Filippou) have truly created a revolutionary world here and a wholly original one that's bizarre, complex, and hilarious. And the cinematography by Thimios Bakatakis is rich and powerful. THE LOBSTER tells the tale of a broken world with a lot of bizarre rules (most are never fully explained and I liked it better that way) but it's a world where the desire for fighting for love still exists. Thank God for that.

VERDICT: MUST SEE

WRITTEN BY Yorgos Lanthimos and Efthymis Filippou DIRECTED BY Yorgos Lanthimos STARRING Colin Farrell, Rachel Weiz, John C. Reilly, Ben Wishaw, Léa Seydoux.

Playing as part of the 2015 53rd Annual New York Film Festival. For tickets and information: http://www.filmlinc.org/nyff2015/

MATEO MORENO recently won a bet on who could hold their breath the longest underwater. He won the bet, having beat local loudmouth Jimmy "Thunderbird" Thomas with a record breaking "fourteen minutes." True, part of that time was him unconscious and the other part was him being revived, but he still counts it, and is now $20 richer. Take THAT Thunderbird! He currently lives in Brooklyn, New York.

NYFF AT 51 REVEW: "BLUE IS THE WARMEST COLOR"

BY MATEO MORENO

Heading into the NYFF this year, the most controversial title was definitely Blue is the Warmest Color, Abdellatif Kechiche & Ghalia Lacroix's adaption of Julie Maroh's graphic novel.  Coming from Toronto Film Festival, it arrived with news of a two minute standing ovation, feauding stars, graphic sex scenes, and an epically long running time.  Now that it's arrived and we are prepped for the controversy I have to say that yes, it does have all of those graphic sex scenes intact, but it also has a hell of a lot of heart and raw emotion.  It also isn't quite the masterpiece that we've been promised.  Adèle Exarchopoulos plays Adèle, a young high school student who's beginning to explore her sexuality.  She dates boys but they don't quite do it for her.  Then she meets Emma (Léa Seydoux), a free spirit, bright blue haired raven.  Together they find a joy and love that they couldn't find alone, and the movie traces their relationship through the years from the highs of first love to the lows of relationship troubles.

What's beautiful about the film is how honest and raw the emotion is between the girls, and how real their relationship rings pure truth.  Often the film slides along instead of chugs, choosing instead to wait slowly through their relationship and focus on long shots and everyday moments.  Director Kechiche does a splendid job at focusing on the mediocre moments and making them enthralling (a dinner scene harkens the excitement of both new love and past food movies like Big Night and Eat Drink Man Woman).  And both Exarchopoulos and Seydoux do extrodinary work in the film, excelling in simple longing.  Their connection is truly wonderful, yet the entire time the movie felt a bit... lacking.  Perhaps it's the too long running time (the movie clocks in over 3 hours and is really at it's heart a very simple love story), perhaps it's the ending that feels too much like a "to be continued" than a true ending, or perhaps  it's the lack of anything truly groundbreaking happening in their lives (then again, that's also what makes it sing).  Whatever it is, Blue is the Warmest Color is a very good, funny, sexy, and touching film.  But not an extrodinary one.  Which after seeing the beauty it does hold doesn't seem like such a bad thing after all.

MATEO'S GRADE: A Solid Choice

Based on the Graphic Novel by Julie Maroh Adapted by Abdellatif Kechiche & Ghalia Lacroix Directed by: Abdellatif Kechiche Starring Adèle Exarchopoulos, Léa Seydoux

CONTENT ADVISORY: Adult Situations, Adult Language, Graphic Nudity, Strong Sexual Content

BOTTOM LINE: While not the life changing classic some are calling it, Blue is a beautiful (albeit too long) romantically tangled film.