Why did she kill the donkey?

Why did she kill the donkey? - Top view of slogan Stop Killing Us on surface of square blackboard on black background

In the opening scene of "The Lobster" there is this woman driving in the countryside. She stops somewhere in the middle of a pasture and then she shoots a donkey dead. Why?

Transforming people into animals is a very important aspect of this movie, so I suppose the donkey was some ex-human enemy/husband/father/... of her. However, I see no connection to the main plot and the rest of the movie. Is there any? Did I miss something? Who is the woman? Who is the donkey? Or is it just a shocking introduction with no meaning?



Best Answer

The film's director, Yorgos Lanthimos indicated that it was supposed to be intentionally enigmatic:

PS: I wish I hadn't read about the film before seeing it, because when I saw the opening where the woman shoots a donkey—

YL: I've had people sending me emails, trying to decode that.

PS: I just saw it as an introduction to the world. Here's a cheating husband, who ends up divorced, gets turned into a donkey, and then she goes to get revenge on him. Probably she gets the wrong donkey, probably her husband is the other donkey that survives. That's the sequel to The Lobster, there you go.

YL: I like starting a film like that — you set the tone but you don't explain or go back to it. When the film finishes, the viewer can return to the beginning if they want and give their own interpretation.

Obviously in hindsight (once the film has been seen) the murder of an animal takes on a vastly different tone than it does at the start of the film before you're aware that animals = people.




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Why did she kill the donkey? - Overhead view of phrase Not Today Racism on square framed signboard on black background



Did they kill the donkey in The Lobster?

Bookmark this question. Show activity on this post. In the opening scene of "The Lobster" there is this woman driving in the countryside. She stops somewhere in the middle of a pasture and then she shoots a donkey dead.

What does shoot the donkey mean?

The term \u201cShoot the Donkey\u201d refers to a classic scene in the movie \u201cPatton\u201d (based upon a true life event) where the Third Army gets critically held up in battle on a bridge, by a cart-pulling donkey that had stopped and refused to budge, totally blocking the bridge. Life and death are at stake.

What animal was the heartless woman turned into?

This inturn would drive david to turn the heartless women into a cat for a complete switch of power for her and life that would have the people she made not run or were court away due to fear turn on her or have in one way or another be somewhat come round to bite her on the ass.

What was the point of the movie The Lobster?

So what is \u201cThe Lobster\u201d really about? The whole film is essentially a satire on how society views single people and how social norms play a huge role in human behaviour. Most of the guests at \u201cThe Hotel\u201d are not really looking for love or a soulmate, they just don't want to be single.



Film Theory: Shrek's Donkey was SECRETLY a Human! (Shrek Movie)




More answers regarding why did she kill the donkey?

Answer 2

Source IMDB:

The donkey she killed was with a another adult donkey and a foal. Later in the film it's mentioned that being an animal gives you another chance at love. I kinda thought the donkey was an ex partner who maybe left her and ended up as a donkey who partnered with another donkey and consequently the woman was angry and jealous. My take is just that it was a forward reference to the idea of humans being turned into animals because of failed romance.That was probably her ex husband.

Answer 3

The opening image of any film is meant to set up the tone for the rest of the movie. It doesn't have a direct relationship with the story following the film, but it tells the audience what type of film they're about to experience. In this case, she was very specific about which donkey to shoot, meaning that that particular donkey was likely her ex-husband.

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