an advertising guru posing as indie film director

Rating: 4/10 (14 July 2016)

I have watched many mediocre films like the Lobster and always blamed either myself for not figuring it out sooner or the production company behind the misleading marketing hype that lured me into the theater. Never have I blamed the director whose vision and labor I differentiate from such mishaps, regardless of how much I disliked their film. Lanthimos however takes the full blame because his films rely exclusively on a marketing stunt idea and the precondition of the extraordinary tease.
In fact, without the tease there would be no film. The director ends up turning an idea that typically stands as the starting premise for a complex story ready to unravel (see Godard's Alphaville or Truffeaut's Fahrenheit 451) into the only idea that according to him requires description and analysis. More than one film hour is spent demonstrating the different aspects of this unique teasing idea from every possible angle, without the plot moving from it.
The unsatisfactory tease, a forced tactic from advertising executives and a director's nightmare, appears as the organic part of Lanthimos' films. The idea of turning a corporate disadvantage into an artistic advantage felt creepy until i read on the internet that this guy and his script writing partner were advertising gurus in Greece before shifting into film making. So, no wonder.
Another disadvantage he has turned into an advantage is... being Greek. 10 years ago his skills or even his style would simply be inadequate for the film industry, coming from a country with no film tradition or industry. Today, a man who can make films that look three times their budget (the norm expertise required in small advertising markets like Greece) and himself costing 5 times less than any other director in the market who can produce the same stuff is pure gold.
He also tells the dark awkward stories the teenagers love to see in a film (I have no doubt that the average age of the Lobster's audience is 17, add some older barely educated childish hipsters on top). Youngsters are the fresh butter.
Everyone loves the youth. Even star actors like Kidman (soon to star on a lanthimos film) who want to reboot their career and introduce themselves to a new generation of film consumers. Why not do it with a man who for an indie newbie knows how to light, frame and tell a seemingly more sophisticated story than the Ring II (the Oscar gravitas must remain intact). Kidman appeals to older ages? Good for lanthimos, maybe this is the last awkward film he has to make and can finally move to level 2. I love win-win situations.
It is clear that Lanthimos plan is to pose as an indie film director as much as he can to preserve fresh status until he hits it big on the mainstream market (god knows what will happen then, does anyone remember edgy Francois Ozon?). He won't stop repeating his maniere teasing awkwardness (good recipe, why spoil it like other directors have done?) until there's not a stone in this planet that hasn't seen one of his weird films. His ticket to big money. Good luck Yorgos!
Boo hoo (again) for the cinephile.
ps. Lanthimos interviews where he goes on and on in a painfully slow and funny way describing a total nothing are a must watch.