The Square

"What is the point of that? Nothing, that was the point."

A critique of art-world pomposity and self-importance. But also an exploration of empathy.
Gloriously skewering art world pretension, liberal guilt and the patronising middle class.
Horrific or darkly comic depending on your point of view.
Satire of the top tier.

A film by an artist who recognizes art can't save the world. But it can at least help us laugh at it.

It's interesting to see how this film has divided people down the middle. Genius satire about the art elite or pretentious drivel? Ironically, the same can be said of art itself - it's all in the eye of the beholder, and is down to personal taste. Personally, I thought the satire worked well, and not as pretentious as others have claimed. It played with interesting themes, doing so with both comedy and tragedy. I thoroughly enjoyed the film, and despite it's length, it probably deserves a rewatch for a more detailed deconstruction.

The Square is the story of the curator for Stockholm's Museum of Modern Art, how his life unravels, and how this unraveling is paralleled in his museum's exhibits. It's a send-up of the art world and beautiful social commentary about inaction where intellectuals and movie goers will see it and say it's a beautiful social commentary about inaction, and then do nothing else.

The Square is more a series of loosely connected vignettes than one cohesive story. I almost got distracted while watching for the connective tissue, but the only through-line is the search for help and the theme of power imbalance and domination. Despite the long runtime and the feeling of something missing tying it all together, I was never bored, which is testament to the excellent direction and camera work. There is so much beautiful symbolism, giving you always something to look out for in almost every frame.

The dinner party scene is amazing. Up until that point of the movie I thought it was a black comedy with some commentary on polite society. But that scene throws an entirely different light on it. How would you respond in that situation?

"The Square" is a 142-minute film that follows Swedish art curator Christian, played by Claes Bang, after his phone is stolen. This sets off a chain of events that threatens to unravel his self-absorbed world. The film also stars Elisabeth Moss and Dominic West and is directed by Ruben Östlund. It is a savage satire that explores the art world and is both hilarious and thought-provoking. The film challenges viewers' assumptions and is similar to the film "Kynodontas" in its ability to make the audience question their understanding of the rules. It appears innocent on the surface but delves into chaos and farce, expertly puncturing the bubble of the art world and leaving a lasting impression on viewers.
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"The Square" es una película de 142 minutos que sigue al curador de arte sueco Christian, interpretado por Claes Bang, después de que le roben el teléfono. Esto desencadena una cadena de eventos que amenaza con desentrañar su mundo ensimismado. La película también está protagonizada por Elisabeth Moss y Dominic West y está dirigida por Ruben Östlund. Es una sátira salvaje que explora el mundo del arte y es a la vez hilarante y estimulante. La película desafía las suposiciones de los espectadores y es similar a la película "Kynodontas" en su capacidad para hacer que la audiencia cuestione su comprensión de las reglas. Parece inocente en la superficie, pero se adentra en el caos y la farsa, perforando hábilmente la burbuja del mundo del arte y dejando una impresión duradera en los espectadores.

2 / 2 directing & technical aspect
0 / 1 story
1 / 1 act I
1 / 1 act II
0 / 1 act III
1 / 1 acting
1 / 1 writing
.5 / 1 originality
0 / 1 stays with you

0 / 1 misc

6.5 out of 10

We haven't quite figured out how to make this kind of movie just yet. As far as satire of the 'artsy liberal type' goes, I think this is slightly better than _The Menu_, but not by much. Having seen _Triangle of Sadness_, the problem with Ruben Ostlund is that he's about as subtle as Adam McKay when it comes to doing satire. So much of this is heavy handed, painfully on the nose and sometimes it's downright disingenuous or stupid. The story is lacking proper structure and build up, and because of that the edit is in dire need of trimming. Yet despite those major flaws, it's actually not an unpleasant watch. The acting and dialogue are actually pretty great, Elizabeth Moss in particular has a lot of really great moments in this. Despite not showing himself to be a great storyteller here, Ostlund continuously finds the right comedic note in almost every scene. The choice to linger on the faces of actors and let their performances do the work is a good choice. I wish that his compositions and lighting were more interesting though, stylistically the movie isn't very distinguishable. All in all, I'd recommend this to people who need/like some accessibility with their arthouse films. For me it's too watered down to get a lot out of, I wish it was weirder and more abstract.

5/10

I’m sorry to say that it’s a waste of time. The sound track was quite good, but the rest…