Object #76 - Steak Knife - The Lobster (2015)

Dir. Yorgos Lanthimos

Relationships are a continual process of give and take. The ideal image of a romantic relationship is one where both partners find balance between giving and taking. As we all know, relationships are tough, oftentimes requiring one partner to live with a situation they do not want to. In situations like this, there needs to be some leeway given to the beleaguered partner until equilibrium is restored, where both partners enjoy being together with little-to-no negative repercussions. But if the imbalance cannot be righted, then the relationship likely falls apart. 

Lanthimos' black-comedic satire of humankind's need for romantic relationships sharply aims its sights on this target - the balance. In the world of the The Lobster, newly single people take residence in a compound hotel. having 45 days to find from among them a suitable romantic partner. If, at the end of the 45 day period, they have not found a partner, then they are turned into an animal of their choice. The set-up is absurd, but is explored throughout, offering surprisingly insightful commentary on the importance society places on the concept of happy, coupled individuals. 

Our protagonist, everyman, David (Colin Farrell) gamely attempts, after a period of some reluctance, to cast himself into a relationship. In the monotone narration provided by an unseen woman (Rachel Weisz), we are informed that one of the women David is interested in (Angeliki Papoulia) is 'heartless', a fact he will soon learn. This coupling is set against the backdrop of the compound hotel, where assemblies, presentations, and dances all dispassionately extol the virtues of being coupled - from offering women the safety of not being sexually assaulted while walking alone, to simple things such as having assistance to do one's belt. 

In this cloying, desperate atmosphere, those who do manage to couple are paraded as shining examples to the others. Those that continually fail take place in frequent hunts into the forest, to capture 'Loners', those forbidden people who live alone outside the compound. These hunts offer the opportunity to extend one's stay another 24 hours per each successful capture of a 'Loner', in essence, extending one's life from animalhood, and presenting a tangible, negative alternative to escaping this rigid system - ostracisation, and being hunted just like the animal you'd eventually become anyway.

David and the Heartless Women (as she is credited) couple up after a brief process of evaluating their respective natures. In narration, we learn that David believes it harder to pretend to be heartless while being empathetic, than pretending to be empathetic while being heartless. This difficulty becomes exposed when the Heartless Women tests David, brutally murdering David's dog, the reincarnated form of his former human brother. 

In a telling scene, we see the woman wake David, who has established himself as a deep sleeper. She tells him what she has done, and Farrell brilliantly plays the breakdown of a man - a man who has placed himself in a false situation due to the pressure of society, a man forced to attempt coupling with a sociopath lest he be turned into a lobster, a man now having to pretend not to cry as he sees the bloody remains of his dead brother/dog. It doesn't last, as his tears confirm the woman's suspicions, that David is not truly heartless like she, and that he will now be punished for falsely attempting to escape the pressure of the compound.  

The coupling process with the Heartless Woman is a beautiful piece of satire that does however cut to the bone of incompatible relationships. David presents himself as something he isn't, and it costs him. Earlier, as the two get into a double-bed, he asks her if she wants the bedroom light on to continue reading. She says yes, and asks if this will be a problem for him, to which he says no, and that he's a heavy sleeper. Within the world of the film, it's a crucial test, as each is looking for any possible foible or quirk which will render the relationship incompatible in future. It's made clear that the threat of animal transfiguration is one which will hang over even those who successfully leave the compound as happy couples - if the relationship fails, back to the compound they go, and the process starts again.

It's a clear satire of a feeling everyone goes through in the beginnings of a relationship, as well as the consequences of falling out of one - the judgement of your peers, particularly those who remain coupled (adding insult to injury), and the knowledge that you'll have to go through the entire courtship process all over again. The bedside lamp acts then as a symbol of the give and take within a relationship that can end in dissolution, and in the case of David, even further extreme tests of character. 

David later find true love outside the compound with the Short-Sighted Woman (Rachel Weisz), set against the flipped world of the Loner forest. Here, relationships are forbidden by the leader (Lea Seydoux), as all the Loners are united only by being collectively alone. In a great moment, the Loners have a 'silent dance', each listening to music from their own headphones, united, but alone. Within this environment, the Short-Sighted Woman and David surreptitiously make signs of love to each other, and plan to escape into the real-world. This real-world is seen in visits as a dogmatic environment where couples thrive, but individuals are questioned and asked for certificate papers of coupling. Once again, a heightened satire of the importance society can place on couples rather than single people.

The Short-Sighted Woman is blinded by the Loner Leader within this city, via surgery, as punishment for the feelings she has with David. She attempts to hide it from him at first, but realises that there is no way to continue the relationship without him knowing, a mature move. David is appalled, but continues loving her, if a little more reluctantly than before she was blinded. It's clear from David's behaviour now that he feels there is an imbalance in the relationship. He has to adapt the secret signals of love to being non-visual, and must physically support her as they escape the forest.

This imbalance comes to a head in the final scene of the film, as they sit at a restaurant in the city. To re-balance the relationship he offers to blind himself. This is done matter-of-factly, both through a statement to her, and in his asking the waiter for a knife, a steak knife specifically. Was this statement a test? Was he only offering out of obligation, an extension of the same forced coupling present in the compound and their society as a whole? Did he expect her to turn him down, telling him not to be foolish and that they could co-exist as they are now?

Regardless, he goes to the bathroom, and attempts to stab himself in the eye. David hesitates, and the final long shot of the film rests on the Short-Sighted Woman, sitting alone in the restaurant booth, traffic going by outside, as she awaits his return. The length of the shot allows us to reflect on the extremity of the action David is attempting. It is a literal symbol of the lengths one must go to, against one's better nature, to remain in a balanced relationship. But it such extreme self-sacrifice worth it? Should one literally blind oneself to be compatible with one's partner? 

This theme of compatibility is expressed throughout the film, as couples refer to the similar features they share with their partners, such as the Limping Man's (Ben Wishaw) former wife also having a limp, and the Limping Man's forced nosebleeds as a technique to win the favour of the Nosebleed Woman (Jessica Barden), who suffers from routine nosebleeds. In the compound the new entrants are asked to present themselves with a 'distinctive feature', as if to present themselves only based on features which can compliment the same in another person. This extends outside the compound, as David happily states that he is also short-sighted in a discussion with the woman, as if it's further proof they should be together.

However even those in happy relationships, such as the Hotel Manager (Olivia Colman) and her husband (Garry Mountaine), who are presented, literally on-stage, as ideal partners, can fall apart easily when incompatibilities are pushed to their extremes. An earlier scene has the Loner Leader force the husband to shoot the Manager as proof of his admital that he can live alone while she cannot. The husband pulls the trigger, revealing the gun to be empty of bullets, a move which will now fracture that relationship, to the Loner Leader's visible pleasure. 

Even the posters for the film make reference to this theme, visually portraying the absence of a partner, and the incompatibility of one person without another. But within the final scene, it would appear that the mature move would be for David to return, and tell her that he loves her regardless of her blindness. But within this world of all-or-nothing love, would The Woman reject this, as it is not the absolute love of stabbing your own eyes out for your partner? Will their now-incompatible 'distinctive features' be seen as hallmarks of a relationship doomed to fail? What Lanthimos wishes to leave us with is that message, and all it carries with it - what is absolute love? How much give and take is actually possible within a relationship? Can we love that which isn't wholly like ourselves?