Review: The Square

Being crowned the winner of the Palme D'Or at Cannes gives it such a hype that expect it to be a possible Oscar front-runner or contender at the very least.

Recent winners that have done well with audiences and in the major awards are films like I, Daniel Blake, Blue Is The Warmest Colour and Amour.

With this, we see Swedish director Ruben Ostlund follow on from his breakthrough hit Force Majeure. Sadly, I have yet to see it yet. But it has been on my watchlist for some time. But I think after seeing this, I will definitely be checking it out soon.

Given that I knew very little about this, I was really surprised at the amount of comedy this had. Not only that, it was pretty black comedy as well. While clever, it also felt childish and mildly quirky. It was as if it was written by Martin McDonagh’s (In Bruges, Seven Psychopaths) or Armando Iañnucci’s (In The Loop, The Death Of Stalin) quirky European cousin.

It took a few of the gags for me to adapt to the tone. But once I tuned into its style, I was chuckling pretty consistently throughout.

Whilst bringing out the laughs, it was also tackling a lot of topics. There were so many topics it was covering that I'm amazed they managed to cram everything in. I liked at what they were covering such as how society and communities today react to certain situations, making a mockery of art and PR and showing it's possible future. It really makes you think about yourself, your day-to-day experiences of walking through busy places and fearing where the media could go.

The performances on the whole were great. None of them felt out of place with the tone and they seemed to execute the gags quite effortlessly.

The star is definitely Danish actor Claes Bang. He carries the film well and you feel a lot of sympathy for him. Bang's comedic chemistry with Christopher Laesso was a real delight in the first half of the film. It was just like a couple of school kids looking for mischief.

Despite not being a lead, I thought Elisabeth Moss did well with the content she was given. I also noticed Dominic West was involved in a minor role. It's not a big enough role to steal the show. But it was nice to see a familiar face.

I have to mention one other performance. The actor is Terry Notary. He is involved in an extraordinary scene towards the start of the final act that while it almost felt out of place, it was quite captivating.

It's the type of performance that would give Andy Serkis a run for his money.

However, when I read about this film afterwards, Notary is a very well known movement choreographer and has played a character in the recent Planet Of The Apes trilogy and played Kong in Kong: Skull Island.

Only a couple of things to mention from its technical department. I enjoyed experiencing the cinematography. There is one particular moment that whilst looking impressive in its camera movement, it also felt slightly disorientating.

Also, while the score is not the type I would listen to, it certainly felt ideal for the style Ostlund was going for.

I only have two gripes with it, and it is a picky one. There were moments where some scenes felt more like a set-piece than helping the story. I didn't mind that as the set-pieces were good. It's just that it felt like it needed to stop the story to get it's point across. I feel like I've slightly contradicted myself, but I hope that makes sense.

As mentioned before, I was amazed at how much stuff this film was trying to fit in. Despite saying that, it felt a tad too long. It's 2 hrs 22 mins and I think they could have cut out about 20 mins.

On the whole, I was pretty impressed by it. I loved the ideas Ostlund and his team were putting across and it was executed quite masterfully.

The messages and themes felt similar to Argentinian drama Wild Tales. If you are aware of it, then I would say The Square is not as extreme in its presentation.

With all these ideas coming from a Swedish director is even more fascinating, as Scandanavia is known for being very safe, with low crime rate and good quality of life.

If you're into dark satires then a director like Ruben Ostlund will be someone to look out for in the future.

Rating: 8/10