The Square (dir. Ruben Östlund)

Festival favorite “The Square” is perhaps the most bizarre cinematic experience of recent memory; a tour de force in leaving it’s audience in a false sense of security and punishing those who don’t find it’s wacky and more broad comedic moments as a clear indication of societal misconduct for those who care only for themselves.

Directed by Ruben Ostlund, following up on his last feature, "Force Majure" which examined the inaction of a family patriarch, comes a similar film in the analysis of a complex man’s decisions and his mistreatment of others.

Episodic in tone and in format; our main storyline resolves around upper-class art curator Christian (Claes Bang) and the bizarre circumstances that follow his impromptu mugging. On his way to the X-Royal Museum where he is planning an upcoming art exhibition, he is robbed of his cell phone and his wallet in a victorian pickpocketing scheme which wouldn’t be out of place as an presentation in a museum itself. Using the “find my phone” app on his computer, he tracks his phone and those who stole it to local low-income neighborhood in Stockholm and leaves letters in their mailboxes asking for the safe return of his good, warranting blowback of which he never envisaged. Running in tandem to this sub-plot is the aforementioned art installation: Christian is under pressure from his esteemed colleagues because of “The Square” - a soon to be unveiled art project that will revolutionize how people think about their relationship to one another; irrespective of race, color or creed. Utilizing the popularity with which some companies have used social media to shoot their messages into the social consciousness, he hires two film-makers to get the word out and hopefully interest will show and bestow riches and fame upon his museum.

Juggling all of this would be enough for any man, but his personal life is even more complicated. When he catches the eye of a American reporter Anne (Elizabeth Moss), who is in Sweden to document Christian’s accomplishments but suddenly falls for him and ends up spending the night with him, an emotional attachment is born from the love-making, though this is clearly one-sided. Anne attempts to confront him to try and ascertain what the night meant to him, and he is only willing to accept that there congress was a reaction to his power and not the beginning of something larger.

Ostlund's running time out-ways it's gut-wrenching punch, as it's satire is not for everybody and if you're of the inclination that film's should say what they mean in an appropriate time frame than this isn't the film for you. But here, sequences range from the downright mad to the unbelievably awkward and there's a certain joy in seeing the drama play out. Admittedly, the characters aren't entirely sympathetic - and you revel in the profundity of it all, even when protagonist's behave in ways which seem to disregard all logic and reason, it all fits in the master plan of the directors vision to shock and awe you in conjunction with presenting a myriad of social situations which are full of angst and nuance.

But the most excruciating sequence of all is it's infamous dinner scene; supposedly based on a real-life incident, a high-societal dinner party is abruptly ended with an art installation involving performance art in the most bizarre fashion. A clear and conscious effort from the director to illicit gasps and groans from his audience, Oleg prances around the auditorium mimicking the aggressive nature of a gorilla - with drastic consequences. It's a bewildering sequence to sit through; perhaps the greatest achievement of the film is the scene's ability to illicit equal amounts of fear and humor and a reminder that the Swedish director wants your emotions at odds with each-other throughout the entirety of the 140 minute drama.

The lower-classes also play a pivotal role in the make up of the film; pitting beggars and those forced to live on the streets against upper echelons of the contemporary art world. And it works. Nothing shows a mans character more than how he behaves to those in great misfortune - and this is especially evident in Christian. Awkward yet always smug around the indignant; a key scene in particular in a mall, where our protagonist all but ignores a beggar asking for cash, before asking him to watch his things while he searches for his missing daughters speaks volumes about the mans sheer cowardice - proving he uses people for his own personal gain - it’s this behavior which ultimately decides his downfall.

By no surprise the winner of the prestigious Palm D'Or award at last years Cannes Film Festival, "The Square" is by no means an easy watch - it's closest ally in the bizarre and fantastical cinematic canon is probably Leos Carax's Holy Motors, though it must be said this runs more a straighter narrative edge. But where Ostlund should be congratulated is in finding new methods along the course of the film to make you think and weep in unison - there's method in his madness, and though it takes it's time - isn't that what real good art is all about?

Rating 3.5/5