The Lobster (Lanthimos, 2015)

The Lobster (Lanthimos, 2015)

The Lobster is set in a dystopian future where single people spend 44 days at a Hotel, if they remain alone throughout the 45 days, their stay ends with them transforming into an animal of their own choice.

The Hotel reinforces the concept that to be alone is to be weak but to be with a partner is a matter of survival. The mise-en-scene shows the sheer lack of love in the shots, meaning that relationships become hostile and purely strategical. The warm colouring of yellow in most of the shots is completely overshadowed by the horrendous acts the spectator sees on the screen. The film does not discuss reproduction, if a couple stays together long enough, they are allocated a child.  The film argues that, simply, to be alone makes you vulnerable. This is seen in the reenactment scene, the camera remains completey still whilst the workers at the Hotel act out how vulnerable it is for females to walk alone at night. The voiceover is clearly authoritative and furthermore, is devoid of any emotion. Furthermore, it trivializes the situation and rids the characters of any individuality as they cannot even tell their own story. The stilted performance of all characters helps anchor this fragility and this is best highlighted through Biscuit woman, who calmly states that she is “good at blowjobs”, the sexual proposal is not suggested in an enticing way, the spectator fully believes that she is saying this to prove her worth as a potential partner. Moments later she discusses how she will jump out of her window if she is alone by the end of the 45 days.

The film challenges the concept of soul mates, and destined relationships. the film suggests that for soul mates to work, one must suspend disbelief. The limping man’s repeatedly bangs his face against walls to make his nose bleed so that the nosebleed woman percieves that he is the one- that this uncanny resemblance is completely believable. The spectator is forced to see the idiocracy in this concept. At the end of the film, the protagonist still believes in this concept. As he believes he has found his ‘soul mate’ he ails himself so that he can fully ‘match’ his love. 

Fargo: The Crocodile’s Dilemma (S1, E1)

“Your problem is you've spent your whole life thinking there are rules. There aren't. We used to be gorillas.”

It Follows (Mitchell, 2014)

What makes It Follows (Mitchell, 2014) so effective as a horror film is that it tells the spectator that they are right to fear the unknown, because the unknown is the voyeur. The Male Gaze objectifies the subject (usually feminine) and empowers the gazer (usually masculine), It Follows subverts this typical film convention. If we gaze into the unknown we believe that we hold the power, yet if the unknown gazes back, without noticing, we are objectified. Mitchell’s use of camera panning encourages passivity, the camera moves for us, the spectator holds no power as in our nightmares, we are passive. Many shots of our protagonist, Jay, are positioned uncomfortably. Some show Jay passing a window whilst others place us with her, gazing at the antagonist. Through the repeated use of the wide shots, the spectator is left vulnerable as we gaze at the shot in it’s entirety, much like our protagonist, we have no idea where it is. 

Another way in which It Follows is incredibly effective is it’s use of isolation as a key theme. In order to pass on the curse, sex is needed. Although this should connote intimacy and love, sex is the cause of this isolation for the ones who suffer from the curse. In isolation, we find ourselves at our most vulnerable and when we are in need, only we truly knows what we need. The almost art-house-esque focuses on the stillness of the shot, the minimalism of most of the shots and mise-en-scene also connotes the emptiness of the film and furthermore, anchors the lack of intimacy. 

It’s a Wonderful Life (Capra, 1946)

“Remember, George: no man is a failure who has friends. Thanks for the wings! Love, Clarence”

Se7en follows the story of Detective Mills and Detective Sommerset trying to find a serial killer committing his crimes in the way of the seven deadly sins. This screenshot beautifully examines the films theme of the relevance of religion in modern day society. 

The establishing shot highlights the dominance of electricity pylons in relation to the empty desert. The desert immediately has religious connotations, the story of Jesus spending 40 days and 40 nights in the vacuous space. The desert should connote spirituality and a location in which religion could potentially flourish. However, the mise-en-scene makes it impossible to see the desert alone. The spectator struggles to find a glimpse of the desert through the pylons. The shot draws into question the importance of religion in modern day society. Religion no longer holds the relevance that technology does. The only desert the spectator can see is the road in which a serial killer is driving on. 

Lake Mungo (Anderson, 2008)

The mockumentary format enables the audience to trust the protagonists and furthermore, identify with their grief over losing their daughter. Unlike other ‘haunting’ sub-genres of horror, the focal point of the narrative appears to be with all family members accepting the death of Alice rather than cheap scare shots. Arguably, the uneasy tension created at the start of the film is through both the identification with the protagonist and through the genius use of mockumentary sub-genre.

The integration of the hand-held camera and late night recording narrative device is so underrated and is successful in creating a higher level of intrigue for the audience. However, the narrative threads created by the use of the camera reflects family relations. The initial shots of Alice are created by her brother to help her mother accept Alice’s death and analysing of the second tape shows Alice’s sexual relations with her next door neighbour. Furthermore, the use of the family psychic Ray increases the sense of verisimilitude throughout the film and he also allows an insight to Alice’s inner fears. Ray is another essential narrative device for the film as he vocalises the similar fears of both Mother and Daughter (Alice’s fear being losing her Mother and her Mother’s fear of her distance from Alice).

The discovery of Alice’s phone in Lake Mungo provides the scariest moment in the film and shows Alice confronting her fears of drowning-she sees her bloated, dead body in front of her. As her parents revealed she never talked about the Lake Mungo trip, it shows the sheer distance between the characters. Despite the climatic moment being scary, it’s also liberating(in a sense.) Alice’s parents believe the spirit in the house has changed since the discovery of Alice’s phone so the audience believes that the family’s problems are over. Arguably, this is due to the genre codes and conventions- the audience shouldn’t identify with the ghost, when the family believes they are safe, the audience are safe. However, this is not the end.

The interchanging shots of Alice’s final interview with Ray and her Mother’s show that the distance is still there, despite the fact her family believes Alice is free. Alice talks about how she sees her Mother yet her Mother does not see her. In comparison, her Mother talks about how she doesn’t see Alice. The final shot of the family shows a figure at the window, the audience is led to believe that this is Alice. Thus, creating the idea that Alice has been there all along and the family has found various reasons to not see her. The physical distance between the family and Alice shows this.

In my opinion, although the message is somewhat cliched, the film discusses the distance between teenagers and their parents. Furthermore, the idea that after death nothing is solved and we never truly knows what someone else feels. The film is incredibly well executed and is both terrifying and emotional.