Triangle of Sadness (2022)

Director - Ruben Östlund, Cinematography - Fredrik Wenzel

"Growth for the sake of growth is the ideology of a cancer cell."

Triangle of Sadness, Ruben Östlund (2022)

Triangle of Sadness (dir. Ruben Östlund) (2022)

Triangle of Sadness - Ruben Östlund (2022)

Official Clip.

Movie #75 of 2023: The Square

Films of 2022: Triangle of Sadness (dir. Ruben Östlund)

Grade: B-/C+

Harris Dickinson’s face moves enough for him to be a model but not enough to be an actor.

Brief Review: Triangle of Sadness (2022)

Rated the film 4.5 stars out of 5. Films about social inequality have been made for decades, recent Best Picture winner Gisaengchung [Parasite] being one of the best to discuss the layers of the issue in a layered manner. Yet Triangle of Sadness, nominated in virtually all the same categories for which Parasite won (Picture, Director, and Screenplay, but not International Film), adds in some interesting flavours by integrating the male modelling world, social media influencers, and luxury cruises into its plot. Arguably, this film is not as polished as Parasite, the rawer scenes difficult to watch yet juxtaposed by the scenes of pure technical brilliance. Writer/director Ruben Östlund's use of a gimbal-based set and/or tilted angles for some scenes and an extended sequence involving a flare are executed so impressively, that the film wholly earns its Director nomination. Cinematographer Fredrik Wenzel's contributions sadly went unnoticed by most award groups, but given the heavy competition this year, that's somewhat understandable. The ensemble cast also performs the social inequality themes extremely well, though the environments created by Ostlund within which to act certainly suggest they had less work to do to inhabit their characters. Overall, this is arguably one of the most cinematic films of the year, yet with such cold brutality at its heart for its social commentary, it struggles to compete with more inspiring fare, despite its unforgettable message, so at least it won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival to avoid enhancing the film's own "triangle of sadness".

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7322224/

Force Majeure (2014)

dir: Ruben Östlund

cinematography: Fredrik Wenzel

‘𝗧𝗥𝗜𝗔𝗡𝗚𝗟𝗘 𝗢𝗙 𝗦𝗔𝗗𝗡𝗘𝗦𝗦’: 𝟰🔺️ / 𝟱⁣ 🎬 𝗦𝗬𝗡𝗢𝗣𝗦𝗜𝗦 & 😎 𝗡𝗢𝗡-𝗦𝗣𝗢𝗜𝗟𝗘𝗥 𝗥𝗘𝗩𝗜𝗘𝗪⁣ ⁣ 🎬: When a model & his influencer girlfriend join some of the world’s uber-wealthy on a $250M luxury superyacht, things take a hilarious turn after a night of rough seas & food-poisoning before the vessel is attacked by pirates.⁣ ⁣ In a world where the divide between the rich & poor gets wider every day, will the surviving passengers & crew be able to work together until they are rescued?⁣ ⁣ 😎: A film in 3 distinct parts, the story shifts dramatically between each:⁣ ⁣ Part 1 introduces Carl [Harris Dickinson] & Yaya [Charlbi Dean]: Carl is a model frustrated by the gender pay disparity, whereby male models get paid only ⅓ of their female counterparts, while Yaya is an influencer who earns considerably more money than Carl - yet she still expects him to pay for everything.⁣ ⁣ Part 2 is set on an exclusive $250M luxury cruiser, led by The Captain [Woody Harrelson]: Yaya spends her days sunbathing & getting Carl to take posed photos for her Instagram feed, while their nights are spent eating stunningly-plated fine cuisine & getting to know the uber-wealthy passengers - including Dimitry [Zlatko Burić], a Russian oligarch made wealthy by literally selling ‘crap,’ as well as an old English couple, Winston & Clementine, whom had manufactured items that ‘assisted’ governments [ie land mines, grenades & combat weaponry].⁣ ⁣ Part 3 is set after a pirate attack that results in the sinking of the superyacht: the survivors, who are stranded on a remote island of unknown location, have no survival skills at all & become reliant on Abigail [Dolly De Leon], the former on-board toilet manager, who soon usurps command from Paula [Vicki Berlin], the crew manager.⁣ ⁣ 🔺️🛥💥 Writer/director Ruben Östlund has created an engaging story with sharp dialogue & clever yet hilarious imagery, thanks to cinematographer Fredrik Wenzel. With a satirical look at gender & class roles, it’s obvious why this witty comedy won the Palme d’Or at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival. 💥🛥🔺️ ⁣ Thanks to @sharmillfilms; ‘Triangle of Sadness,’ rated 𝗠, opened in 🇦🇺 on Dec 26th, 2022. ©️ (at Sharmill Films) https://www.instagram.com/p/Cm7UwkzB3J0/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

A Torch Of Class - Film Review: Triangle Of Sadness ★★★★

With such features as, Force Majeure and Cannes Film Festival Palme d’Or winning The Square, Swedish filmmaker Ruben Östlund has established himself as an expert satirist with a clean, measured approach to shooting a scene. His style feels reminiscent of Stanley Kubrick at his most diabolical with concise framing, long takes, and a cold, removed point of view. His latest, Triangle Of Sadness, which also took the top prize at Cannes, continues in this vein, albeit with a heavier hand yet no less entertaining. His interest this time out explores the natural instincts of the haves vs. the have-nots, positing that given the chance, we’re all capable of truly hideous behavior.

Told in three stylistically distinct chapters, the story begins with our main protagonist, Carl (Harris Dickinson of Beach Rats and Where The Crawdads Sing), a 25-year-old model who, after some success, finds himself put out to pasture by once again going to cattle call auditions and losing his prime seat at a fashion show. In its first scenes, we also learn the meaning of the title, which is surprising, hilarious, and resonates in different ways as the story progresses. Carl’s model/influencer girlfriend Yaya (Charlbi Dean, a promising actor who tragically passed away shortly before the film’s release) has a soaring career and little patience for Carl’s downward trajectory. An early and masterful sequence starts with Carl reminding Yaya that she promised to pick up the check at their expensive dinner, leading to her passive-aggressive dismissal of his request. This argument spills over into their hotel elevator, the opening and closing doors of which underscore the class divide between the pair. Östlund finds that perfect mix of anger, confusion, and manipulation at play between a couple where love plays second fiddle to whatever else defines their devolved relationship. Arguably the strongest section in navigating the complexity and minutiae of human interaction, the film segues into a more global view of our doomed species.

Next, we find ourselves on a luxury yacht, where amongst the super rich, Carl accompanies Yaya, who has used her Instagram clout to secure a free trip for the pair. We meet a gaggle of one percenters, chief among them being Dimitry (Zlatko Buric), a Russian capitalist fertilizer baron and an elderly couple who you’d never suspect have spent their lives as arms dealers. The upstairs crew consists of one Aryan beauty after another, while downstairs we find all of the people of color who do the most menial of tasks. One housekeeper in particular, Abigail (a fantastic Dolly De Leon) barely registers in this section, but keep an eye on her as she’ll find her spotlight soon enough.

Woody Harrelson plays the Marxist captain of the ship and spends quite a bit of time nursing a hangover behind closed doors before we finally get a glimpse of him halfway through the film. His clash of ideologies with Dimitry nearly hijacks the story and exposes the total lack of subtlety in the story. Luckily, we have many encounters between passengers and staff which shine a light on the impenetrable bubble the rich inhabit. Some of these moments, such as when the staff get trained on always saying yes, or when one guest insists an employee drop what she’s doing and get in the water fully clothed, nail the absurdity so perfectly. Same goes for an unimpeachably disgusting central set piece in which the boat hits rough waters, the seafood our passengers dine on has gone bad, and bodily fluids rain down on everyone. To call it a literal sh*tstorm would only describe half of it. Needless to say, this section does not lead to sunshine and roses, yet it’s beautifully shot by Östlund's mainstay cinematographer Fredrik Wenzel. It can take its place among the more memorable boating disaster sequences such as those from The Poseidon Adventure and Titanic, albeit on a much smaller scale.  

Where this all goes in its final third I will leave a mystery. All I’ll say is that the story strips away everything about our characters to expose their true natures. It’s like an entire season of Survivor compressed into 45 minutes as we watch people who make chess moves on each other in order to find a higher place on the pecking order. Unfortunately this last part slows down to a crawl at times, but gets saved by De Leon’s contributions and Östlund's thesis about human nature determining outcomes more than such constructs as wealth and background privilege. The penultimate moment features a delicious ambiguity followed by a head scratcher of a final shot which will make you want to analyze with anyone within earshot. Triangle Of Sadness may feel thuddingly obvious at times and painfully slow at others, but sometimes a dark reflection of who we are can make us laugh while also churning our stomachs. I can’t wait to see what bear Östlund pokes next.

We Are Who We Are (2020) dir. Luca Guadagnino

The Square (2017)

Director - Ruben Östlund, Cinematography - Fredrik Wenzel

"The Square is a sanctuary of trust and caring. Within it we all share equal rights and obligations."

Do you want to save a human life? Not right now.

The Square (2017) dir. Ruben Östlund, dop. Fredrik Wenzel

Composition no. 77

Force Majeure (2014, dir. Ruben Östlund) Cinematography by Fredrik Wenzel

Composition no. 1-76.  

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The Square (2017)

“The Square is a sanctuary of trust and caring. Within it we all share equal rights and obligations.”

The Square (2017) dop. Fredrik Wenzel dir. Ruben Östlund