Palme d'Or-winning satirical drama from Swedish helmer Ruben Östlund (Force Majeure). Stars Claes Bang and Elisabeth Moss.
"Christian is the respected curator of a contemporary art museum, a divorced but devoted father of two who drives an electric car and supports good causes. His next show is "The Square", an installation which invites passersby to altruism, reminding them of their role as responsible fellow human beings. But sometimes, it is difficult to live up to your own ideals: Christian's foolish response to the theft of his phone drags him into shameful situations. Meanwhile, the museum's PR agency has created an unexpected campaign for "The Square". The response is overblown and sends Christian, as well as the museum, into an existential crisis." (Cannes Film Festival)
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85%216 reviews
Ruben Östlund’s Force Majeure took aim at a specific type of wounded masculinity, in ways that veered between comedy and tragedy. In his new film The Square, a similar satirical lens is applied to the art world. It might seem like low-hanging fruit, and Östlund definitely takes a few pot shots at pretension, but he lets his comically-barbed scenarios meander into other unexpected territories.
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The ‘shot reverse shot’ is among film and television’s most common editing techniques, used to reveal who a character is looking at and the person returning their gaze. It imparts a sense of stability, continuity and clarity. These bedrock comforts are deliberately eschewed – and the basic rule of the shot reverse shot upturned – in service of a thoroughly unsettlingly psychological effect in Swedish writer/director Ruben Östlund's new film The Square.
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Most of the film’s best scenes could function as their own short film; string enough of them together and they all shed different light on a central theme, though never quite fully articulating it.
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It’s two hours and 22 minutes long, and though it has a strong first half, the more it goes on the less it hangs together.
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If the film has any flaw, it could be that it juggles too many good ideas. But why complain about that?
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Slow burn – and at almost two and a half hours, the burn here is positively languid – has a culminative force that can’t be resisted.
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"The Square" is ultimately a long version of Christian's rambling apology, ostentatiously smart, maybe too much so for its own good, but ultimately complacent, craven and clueless.
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It doesn’t have the pure weapon-like clarity of Östlund’s previous film Force Majeure. But it sets out to make your jaw drop. And it succeeds.
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It affirms that art, this movie very much included, can tell us things about ourselves that we'd prefer not to know.
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...a potent, disturbing work that explores the boundaries of political correctness, artistic liberty and free speech in provocative ways...
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The Square (2017) is available to stream in New Zealand now on Google Play and Apple TV and Academy On Demand.
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