The Square

2017
7.1| 2h31m| R| en| More Info
Released: 27 October 2017 Released
Producted By: ARTE France Cinéma
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website: http://www.squarethefilm.com/
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.

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StrictlyConfidential Shame! Shame! Shame! on "The Square" for its incessantly gabby bullshit and for the guilt-trip that it tried to lay on any viewer who wasn't a homeless person.Being a non-homeless person, myself - I lived in Vancouver's Strathcona neighborhood for a number of years (which is right next door to Skid-Row Capital) - And, at that time, I saw 2 beautiful buildings go up in that area that were specifically meant to house the homeless.Well - Within 6 months both of these buildings were an utter mess of litter, filth, and excrement. And the reason why this was so was because the homeless don't give a damn about anything, and they don't respect anything, or anybody.These people, who are always screaming for their rights, want the rest of society to always be cleaning up after them and always taking care of them. They refuse to take responsibility for anything in their lives (though they are quite capable of doing so).And, so - With that in mind - I refuse to have some narrow-minded, little movie, like "The Square", lay its bullshit guilt-trip on me.
Tejas Nair Claes Bang is charming in this satirical commentary on the state of freedom of expression and politics in the Swedish art museum scene which depends on shoots of massively appealing sequences but falls flat when you see them as a whole. Director Ruben Ostlund uses the narrative story of a man (Bang) in the upper strata of society who has to brave the world as he doesn't know it. Starting from the loss of his wallet and phone to the uphill task of managing the museum of which he is a director, he fails to use his intelligence or charm and ends up facing the wrath of the merciless collective world. I am not sure what more Ostlund tries to say here but his primary theme of how far freedom of speech can go and who is supposed to cap it is loud and clear throughout The Square. Elizabeth Moss also stars in this sleek little abstract film that has some great music (Justice, for instance) and enjoyable shots of people enjoying themselves. Special nod to whoever designed the sets and the costumes of the characters because now I want to dress like Bang. The sex scene between two characters is one of the most natural thing I have seen all year in film, which is why I should stress that The Square has some extraordinary sequences for you to enjoy, but as a whole it still is an overlong mess. TN.
hrkepler 'The Square' is visually beautiful, well acted not so subtle (I mean, all is seen on the surface and it doesn't go deeper) satire on modern art and modern society with its political correctness and freedom of expression. Although the modern art is very easy target for parody and satire, 'The Square' does not fall into banal mockery of subject and touches the matter quite briefly. I mean, there are not too many puns towards the art scene. The film concerns more about other, and more serious subjects that definitely needs the discussion - political correctness, freedom of speech and creativity, how far we must go with tolerance, the hypocrisy about the care for weaker ones. All important themes, but the film played too safe too many times. The humor (or satire) could have been darker and sharper. More edgy! Pacing was little bit uneven and the film seemed to drag its feet for the last 35 minutes.
seriouscritic-42569 A clever, and insightful, but somewhat meandering, social satire that, in hindsight, feels more like a series of vignettes loosely connected by the films protagonist, a well-known museum curator. The satirical sections that focus on the Modern Art world are dead on, although with, perhaps too much restraint. For the most part they are so understated you might find yourself wondering if the filmmakers were intentionally being satiric; except for, obviously, the film's high-point "Welcome to the Jungle" - both its most humorous and chilling sequence - which literally has a punchline at the end. It could easily be argued the film is worth watching for this section alone. Primarily concerned with how individuals interact with society and the world around them, scenes often play out with the camera focused on one character's reaction as opposed to the action, or conversation, occurring off-screen. This can be a disorienting choice, and, at times, confusing, yet undoubtedly all that is intentional. But be warned, the film will make no attempt to tie up all its lose ends: some characters just drop out of sight, storylines are left dangling and the movie just comes to a stop as opposed to having a real climax. You can be left feeling poked and prodded by the film for having watched it, as opposed to rewarded. But, hey, it's Art.