The foreplay is perfunctory but the tussle from the tossle to the trash-can over a used condom is quite a climax.
After a session of sweaty sex, the sophisticated male is suspicious of his impromptu female sex buddy’s request for the spent prophylactic. Is she being sanitary or does she want his semen as souvenir, the artifice of fastidiousness masquerading as a ploy for artificial insemination?!
Four corners of quirk, THE SQUARE gets you thinking outside the square for a good two hours of its 142 minute running time.
A satire set inside art circles, THE SQUARE is a visually elegant, acerbically eloquent, and absurdly relevant film that is provocative, playful, impudent and pertinent.
THE SQUARE’s protagonist is the very un-square Christian, respected curator of a contemporary art museum, a divorced but devoted father of two who drives an electric car and supports good causes.
His next show is “The Square”, an installation which invites passers-by to altruism, reminding them of their role as responsible fellow human beings. But sometimes, it is difficult to live up to your own ideals: Christian’s foolish response to the theft of his phone drags him into shameful situations.
Meanwhile, the museum’s PR agency has created an unexpected campaign for ”The Square”. The response is overblown and sends Christian, as well as the museum, into an existential crisis.
The marvellously monikered Claes Bang plays Christian, Elisabeth Moss is a journalist with a simian flatmate – don’t ask – and the contestant in the condom kerfuffle.
Dominic West appears as a bearded and bewildered artist and Tony Notary is a performance artist who literally goes ape and runs amok during a black tie do bringing a thrilling baseness to squalid sophistication.
Writer director Ruben Ostlund, the writer director of the stunning Force Majeure a few years back may have bitten off more than anyone can chew, yet the THE SQUARE is a three square meal a minute that provides plenty of food for thought and a lot to digest.
THE SQUARE is nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at this year’s Oscar and squares up with a mighty good chance of clinching it.