Yorgos Lanthimos is the Greek auteur director of Dogtooth (2009), Alps (2011), The Lobster (2015), and The Killing of a Sacred Deer (2017). The common themes, or worldview, include cynicism and tragedy directed towards traditional family structures. Also, existential questioning of society. For example, The Lobster, Lanthimos’s English-language debut, explores a dystopian future in which legislation requires single individuals to obtain a romantic partner within forty-five days or become an animal of their choice. (The title is a reference to the main characters desire to be transformed into a lobster, if a relationship does not occur.) Other commonalities between Lanthimos’s include bizarre/awkward dance sequences (most notably by the daughters
…show more content…
For example, Dogtooth ends with the oldest daughter extracting her dogtooth via smashing it with a weight, then hiding within the trunk of her father’s vehicle. Dogtooth’s storyline follows three Greek teenage siblings whose overprotective parents forbid the teenagers to leave the house. The parents falsify information and inform the siblings, their dogtooth will naturally fall out, which will permit access to the outside. Another example is from The Killing of a Sacred Deer. The film begins with a close-up of open heart surgery and an orchestral soundtrack followed by the title card. The film ends with the Surgeon, the Surgeon’s Wife, and there daughter, Kim Murphy eating at a diner; this is subsequent to the Surgeon murdering his son Bob. Martin, the teenage orchestrator of Bob’s murder, walks into the diner to the sound of an orchestra, similar to the opening scene. The Murphy family leaves the diner, slow-motion is utilized, and the camera focuses on the face of Martin, followed again by the title card. In terms of style, Lanthimos utilizes long shots, limited camera movements, steady cameras, close-ups, naturalistic lighting styles, symmetric shots, more instrumental soundtracks as opposed to lyrical, and no abnormal editing decisions. The mise en scene in the Greek films (Dogtooth and Alps) remains minimal …show more content…
The camera mostly remains steady without dramatic movements, and the editing is inconsequential. The long shots are primarily used to emphasize the paralysis of the children, showing their bodies in hospital beds, or crawling across the floor, or in perverse sexual scenes involving both the Surgeon’s Wife and Kim. The close ups come into play when the emotions of the characters are important, such as when the Surgeon is holding Martin captive in his basement; there are multiple close ups of Martin to show his injuries, and on the Surgeon’s face demanding Martin stop the process which is paralyzing his children. The mise en scene is clean both emphasizing the clean environment of a hospital, but also showing the tidiness of a wealthy individuals domicile. The Surgeon is portrayed by Colin Farrell, in his second starring roll in one of Lanthimos’s films. Both in The Lobster and this film, Farrell uses a deadpan acting style with a very monotone voice. Another signature of the characters he portrays in Lanthimos’s films are awkward dialogue. In general, the genre is in the dramatic category, but there are elements of psychological horror and mystery, because there is never an explanation for how Martin made the children paralyzed, participators in a hunger strike, and bleeding from the eyes. Overall, The Killing of a Sacred Deer, while adhering the auteur nature of Lanthimos’s films, it is the most
For example, Dogtooth ends with the oldest daughter extracting her dogtooth via smashing it with a weight, then hiding within the trunk of her father’s vehicle. Dogtooth’s storyline follows three Greek teenage siblings whose overprotective parents forbid the teenagers to leave the house. The parents falsify information and inform the siblings, their dogtooth will naturally fall out, which will permit access to the outside. Another example is from The Killing of a Sacred Deer. The film begins with a close-up of open heart surgery and an orchestral soundtrack followed by the title card. The film ends with the Surgeon, the Surgeon’s Wife, and there daughter, Kim Murphy eating at a diner; this is subsequent to the Surgeon murdering his son Bob. Martin, the teenage orchestrator of Bob’s murder, walks into the diner to the sound of an orchestra, similar to the opening scene. The Murphy family leaves the diner, slow-motion is utilized, and the camera focuses on the face of Martin, followed again by the title card. In terms of style, Lanthimos utilizes long shots, limited camera movements, steady cameras, close-ups, naturalistic lighting styles, symmetric shots, more instrumental soundtracks as opposed to lyrical, and no abnormal editing decisions. The mise en scene in the Greek films (Dogtooth and Alps) remains minimal …show more content…
The camera mostly remains steady without dramatic movements, and the editing is inconsequential. The long shots are primarily used to emphasize the paralysis of the children, showing their bodies in hospital beds, or crawling across the floor, or in perverse sexual scenes involving both the Surgeon’s Wife and Kim. The close ups come into play when the emotions of the characters are important, such as when the Surgeon is holding Martin captive in his basement; there are multiple close ups of Martin to show his injuries, and on the Surgeon’s face demanding Martin stop the process which is paralyzing his children. The mise en scene is clean both emphasizing the clean environment of a hospital, but also showing the tidiness of a wealthy individuals domicile. The Surgeon is portrayed by Colin Farrell, in his second starring roll in one of Lanthimos’s films. Both in The Lobster and this film, Farrell uses a deadpan acting style with a very monotone voice. Another signature of the characters he portrays in Lanthimos’s films are awkward dialogue. In general, the genre is in the dramatic category, but there are elements of psychological horror and mystery, because there is never an explanation for how Martin made the children paralyzed, participators in a hunger strike, and bleeding from the eyes. Overall, The Killing of a Sacred Deer, while adhering the auteur nature of Lanthimos’s films, it is the most