The book is good. Its main strength is the interior monologues of Isserley. While the factory farm allegory and class/corporate themes are pared away in the adaptation, I believe much more is gained than lost. A straight forward adaptation would have been far less interesting. Glazer made the story his own in a visually stunning film. There is much to contemplate, but it won't be for everyone. Typical storytelling signposts are eschewed in favor of trusting the audience to pay attention to what we are shown.
The beach scene is disturbing, powerful and essential. Laura (Isserley in the novel) is on the job, seeking a suitable male to lure to the Black Pool house. She witnesses a woman risking (and losing) her life to save her dog. Her husband goes in to the dangerous surf to save her, and soon finds his own life in peril. The swimmer tries to save the man before collapsing on the beach, exhausted. The husband immediately makes a second attempt to save his wife, an attempt which leads to his death by drowning.
Laura has witnessed humans’ heroic potential for self-sacrifice. She is unmoved. The wailing baby on the beach will surely perish in the rising tide, but Laura is unmoved. She regards the baby with no more interest or concern than we might regard a bleating lamb. The reaction of many viewers is horror at the loss of life and helpless infant. Laura goes about her job, securing the man for transport to the Black Pool. The red conveyer reveals that the men are harvested for their flesh. Humanity reduced to meat.
Later, when Laura is again in the van and on the job, she hears a baby cry. She notices its cries. Her subtle reaction is one of many moments that mark her gradual transformation. Kind hands help her rise from the pavement after she trips and falls. She is welcomed and gathered into the group of women heading to the nightclub.
She has her own conception of beauty and ugliness, which does not adhere to human norms. As experiences accrue, Laura’s sense of self and of humanity are altered. She abandons her job. Did the woman we see at the outset of film experience similar a similar transformation? Did she also attempt to abandon her job? This seems probable. The work is neither redemptive nor rewarding. The motorcycle men are bosses, higher up in the organization securing the meat.
It is after the abandonment of her work that we first see Laura in two long shots outdoors.
Prior to this, we have mostly viewed Laura in the van, in the Black Pool house, or in the red neon lighting of the bar. As she walks outdoors we see that she has abandoned the van and the fur jacket. She is now vulnerable: small in the frame. The long shots reveal her isolation and vulnerability. The natural light and beauty that surround her will intensify later, when she reaches the woods. Having been a predator, she will be the hunted by one after meeting the would-be rapist in the woods.
For me, there is much to contemplate seeing Laura in this new vulnerable state. The long shots are important and transitional. We are reminded of her vulnerability when the bus stop man helps her to safely navigate the steps of the castle. She wishes to join with humanity, but whether attempting to eat a slice of cake or couple sexually, she in not physically capable of crossing the divide. Still, she has attained a better grasp of “being human” than the rapist.
For me, the close of the film possesses a combination of sorrow and beauty that is profound. The smoke rises as the snow falls. Laura is transformed. Many viewers will be as well.
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