The Square film review: Sometimes feels it has bit off more than it can chew
RUBEN Östlund directed Force Majeure with surgical precision.
Ruben Östlund directs The Square
His follow-up The Square may have won the prestigious Palme d’Or at Cannes but it is a sprawling beast of a lm that is thrilling in its ambition but sometimes feels like it has bitten off more than it can chew.
Christian Nielsen (a star-making performance from Claes Bang) is the director of a cutting-edge art museum in Stockholm.
He is persuaded to adopt a PR strategy designed to generate social media interest and the resulting film goes viral but is in poor taste, showing a homeless girl being blown up.
When Christian’s phone and wallet are stolen, he seeks revenge.
But his righteous anger becomes a poison infecting his behaviour at work and his affair with television journalist Anne (Elisabeth Moss).
Then a gala dinner to honour artist Julian (Dominic West) becomes the stage for an outrageous comic set-piece with an overenthusiastic performance artist.
A bracingly original satire that highlights the growing divide between rich and poor and the failings of modern man.