Synopsis
A prestigious Stockholm museum's chief art curator finds himself in times of both professional and personal crisis as he attempts to set up a controversial new exhibit.
Directed by Ruben Östlund
A prestigious Stockholm museum's chief art curator finds himself in times of both professional and personal crisis as he attempts to set up a controversial new exhibit.
方形, 더 스퀘어, The Square. La farsa del arte, O quadrado, Квадрат, 自由广场, 方寸見人心, Kare, A négyzet, Štvorec, Το Τετράγωνο, The Square: La farsa del arte, The Square: A Arte da Discórdia, Квадратът, Čtverec, הריבוע, O Quadrado, Kvadratas, 抓狂美術館, ザ・スクエア 思いやりの聖域, Kvadrat, Kvadrāts, Khi Nghệ Thuật Sai, Pătratul, อาร์ต ตัวแม่งงงงงง, Ruut
So you've got a heavy-handed, sorta clumsy piece of art concerning inclusive spaces, unexamined privilege, and performative allyship about people who make and promote heavy-handed, sorta clumsy art about inclusive spaces, unexamined privilege, and performative allyship rather than confront their own hypocrisies. So there you go. This works more than it doesn't mostly because it's very funny and feels spontaneous even though it's almost absurdly schematic and can't stop bluntly explaining itself.
thought i would love this, but it has about 6 different movies crammed into 1 and didn’t do much for me. although, the two main elisabeth moss scenes are absolutely hilarious
Ruben Östlund, you criminally underused Elisabeth Moss, apologize or I will create chaos with you.
can someone tell elisabeth moss's pet monkey to convince her to leave scientology
I would like to say, for the record, that this may be one of the very worst films I've ever seen. Not a single idea, image, motif, theme, joke, performance or shot connected with me. Irritating, reactionary and incoherent, this is, in a best-case scenario, a 3 minute short hammered out to an excruciating 140 minutes (reportedly cut down from 160!!). The film's intended scathing critique of art world arrogance is reverse engineered on to characters and situations that are so unbelievable and insubstantial that it ends up as a bloated manifestation of the titular Square – a vapid, experiential conceptual art piece whose purpose is justified by abstruse double-speak. I watched this film and wondered whether Ruben Östland ever had contact with another human being. If he has, there is no doubt in my mind that he was revolted by them. Since seeing it, this film has stayed with me like a weeping boil. Burn the negative.
This is the 2017 Palme d'Or winner? Really???
OK THEN....
An hour into The Square I really wanted to quit on it.
I feel like maybe I should have followed that instinct.
Let's summarize:
• the film is exactly the kind of art it's trying to make fun of
• almost everything the film comments on is very low hanging fruit in this day and age
• the most compelling character is the boy who is determined to get an apology out of the main character
• the main character is frustratingly spineless, and everyone else is some level of obnoxious ranging from mildly annoying to Elizabeth Moss's character
• the movie contains some good scenes, some good dialogue, and…
the best part about this was when i removed my glasses and the lead guy kinda looked like colin farrell
Bourgeois cynicism. Perfect calibrated to offend everyone and no one in the art world. Film festival establishment finally gets the hateful Haneke replacement it deserves.