The Square

YOU HAVE NOTHING is emblazoned in large illuminated letters in the background of the museum wall while Christian Nielsen (Claes Bang) is being interviewed by US art journalist Anne (Elisabeth Moss). The self-centered chief curator of Stockholm's X-Royal Museum actually has everything from his point of view: the good looks, the competent appearance, and a new, sensational exhibition in the starting blocks: THE SQUARE - a kind of interactive, four-by-four-meter installation that is intended to serve "as a protective zone for trust and care", in which "everyone has the same rights and obligations". Life man Christian is in high spirits when he himself becomes the victim of a not at all caring attack. Trick thieves steal the art expert's wallet, cell phone and cufflinks in the street. Christian, who actually has his hands full with his affair with Anne and art superstar Julian (Dominic West), devises a perfidious plan to get his valuables back. However, just like the PR campaign for "The Square", the room where everyone is supposed to behave morally, Christian is on the wrong side of the fence - and he is hurtling full steam ahead into trouble. In "The Square", Ruben Östlund takes aim at the art world in all its bizarre excesses and contradictions. The square installation presented in the film actually exists: it was developed by Östlund and his producer Kalle Boman in the run-up to the film and is a permanent installation in the Swedish town of Värnamo. The film thus inscribes itself in the utilization of art and, above all, takes the cynical media to task, which exaggerate every banality into a world event. Two famous faces from the socio-critical US series cosmos appear in the European co-production: Elisabeth Moss from "The Handmaid's Tale" and "The Wire" star Dominic West. Together with its renowned stars, the art satire becomes a reflection on power and its abuse, manipulation, insecurity, humanity... and its absence. The Square" fits seamlessly into the Swedish director's previous work, which is particularly known for its razor-sharp look into human abysses: "Force Majeure" subtly traces the disintegration of a family after a huge avalanche of snow falls directly in front of the terrace of their ski resort. The head of the family flees in panic, while the mother stays with her terrified children - all of them remain unharmed, but the emotional wounds are deep. In Östlund's three-part satire "Triangle of Sadness", a posh cruise develops into a stormy horror trip with shipwreck, in which rich and poor, top and bottom and the associated power structures are powerfully and deliciously divided. Östlund has so far been showered with prizes for his biting portrayals of our society. The two Palme d'Or in Cannes for "The Square" and shortly afterwards for "Triangle of Sadness" are considered the crowning glory of his impressive body of work to date. "[W]ith "The Square", Östlund takes the liberty of simply negotiating everything: the blown art world, social inequality, the limits of charity and compassion. As in his breakthrough film "Force Majeure", Östlund takes a fop as his main character. Christian has an expensive car, great suits and eloquent curator-speak at the ready, but never has change to hand when a beggar asks him for it. The fact that we are still interested in a jerk like Christian for almost two and a half hours is one of the many narrative stunts that Östlund manages to pull off. He really scratches Christian's smart façade, and yet the next moment you can identify with him again when the events, which all somehow have to do with the opening of an art happening called "The Square" in Christian's museum, get to him more and more violently. [...] Which scenes follow one another and what kind of humor Östlund uses is incalculable - which makes up the outrageous entertainment value of his film and makes it one of the first big highlights of the festival (Cannes)." (Hannah Pilarczyk, on: spiegel.de)