If "Square" is strictly classified, it should be regarded as a comedy movie, and it is also a comedy movie with a clear laugh.
Comedy film, the earliest type of film, has a history of more than 100 years. In the past ten years, it has gradually shown signs of stagnation. It is difficult to find works that can be "handed down" in the new century. It's not that comedy films are not funny anymore, but the comedy mode of the movie is gradually finalized, and the creators are only short of material. After the routine is fixed, it is not so important to play long and short.
The comedy style of "The Square" does not have the strength to establish a school. It mixes the middle-class moral anxiety of Woody Allen's films and the dark humor of British comedies, and also brings some unique gloomy atmosphere of Nordic films. Or the unique reaction of placing the protagonist in a unique situation, less hilarious, more laughing.
Director Ruben Ostrund is an emerging director who did not receive much attention for his previous feature films until his short film "Banking Affair" won the Golden Bear for Best Short Film in 2009, and "The Tourist" in 2014. " was shortlisted for the "Un Certain Regard" unit in Cannes, and then slowly began to emerge internationally. This "Square" also won the Palme d'Or, the highest award at the Cannes Film Festival last year, bringing enough honor to Ruben.
"Bank Incident" tells the story of an attempted bank robbery in 2006 with a long shot. The camera is fixed on the square in front of the main entrance of the bank, and only a push-pull camera is used to replace the camera switching. The characters enter and leave the screen like a stage performance. Everyone's behavior is absurd and funny. When pedestrians on the roadside see the robbery incident, they don't run away as they imagined, some are helpless, and they don't know whether to leave or call the police; Some of them behaved as usual, as if the gunmen had nothing to do with them; others trotted away from the scene without the sense of urgency that their lives were at stake.
When a large-scale event occurs, the reaction of the crowd does not change in an instant. Most of the unknowing people are onlookers who have nothing to do with themselves. "Banking Incident" cuts into this sense of reality. Although the whole short film is not long , the ornamental value is very high, and there is a sense of all beings.
The setting of "Tourist" is also much more interesting. An ordinary family encounters an avalanche by chance while on vacation. The father chooses to escape and leaves behind his wife and children. Since then, there has been a gap between the husband and wife, saving time during the vacation. Li and the two had many disputes. The wife stood on the moral high ground and accused her husband, while the husband tried to justify his escape again and again. It was just the first reaction. Eventually, another avalanche occurred, which resolved the incident.
The main storyline of "Square" also follows the moral dilemma of "The Tourist", and the several stories told are not very related, but they are extremely ironic.
In the main storyline, the protagonist Christian is a curator of a modern art museum. He is planning an installation art exhibition called "Square". One day his mobile phone is stolen. Through technical means, the location of the lost mobile phone will eventually be located. in a residential building. In order to get his mobile phone back, Christian sent a vehement letter to every household in the residential building. Although the mobile phone was recovered, he also got into unnecessary trouble.
A teenager upstairs was punished because his parents received a letter from Christian. He was misunderstood as a thief. He followed the clues left by Christian in the letter to find him and asked for an apology in person. But Christian didn't want his scandal to be known to more people and refused the teenager's request.
At the press conference of the art museum, the artist and the host were chatting on the stage, but there was a Tourette's patient under the stage, who kept interrupting the normal progress of the press conference. Dare to come forward to accuse or drive him away.
At the gala dinner in the art gallery, an artist was invited to perform a performance art performance. The performer imitated the behavior of a savage. At first, he was gentle, and he still interacted with the celebrities at the banquet. As time went on, the performers' behavior became more and more savage and violent. Some people were harassed and fled, but no one stood up to resist the strong "savages". The performances developed in different directions. When the female guest made an unruly attempt, the farce was stopped by an old man.
The installation art named "Square" is a work of art that does have something in reality. It is actually just an ordinary square. "The square is a sanctuary of love and trust. Within its boundaries, we share equality. rights and obligations”, placing this abstract social concept in the real world in order to re-awaken and think about the relationship between people. Of course, what makes people think is just the appearance of this work of art, and the "square" also satirizes people's behavior towards the concept of equality.
Christian's profile represents the hypocritical side of the middle class, who neither wants to get himself into trouble or lose his belongings, but also wants to maintain a good public image. He is usually resolute and decisive, but when faced with things that want to harm his own interests, he begins to obey and tiptoe. He represents the cold majority of the middle class, or rather, the majority of our people.
For the "square", political correctness is actually the ultimate deception. On the surface, it pursues absolute rationality and justice, but it castrates the voices of dissidents. Similarly, in order to ensure its own political correctness, when it is in a moral dilemma, it has no choice. Like the Tourette's patients at the art museum's press conference, everyone wanted to stop them, but they forcibly showed sympathy. Of course, the organizers would be criticized no matter what they did, and things could only stay in an awkward space.
The savage at the banquet raised some kind of question about the concept of "society". Before the artist came on stage, someone read the rules to all the guests: "The essence of hunting is a game. If you show fear, the savage will pay attention to you first. If you try to escape, the savage will hurt you right away, but if you stay still, he may not pay attention to you hiding in the herd." While the savage appears harmless, the "herd" is relaxed and righteous. The savage's ridicule, but when the savage is full of violence, the "herd" only shows silence and forbearance.
It is true that the weaker side has no power in this game. The behavior and thoughts of the herd depend on the actions of the wild people. Although the herd is large, it is useless if there are no people who raise their arms. As mentioned above, if If your own safety is not involved, then everyone's behavior is tolerant.
The movie "Square" is actually composed of a lot of these little jokes, most of which are very interesting and ironic. I believe that everyone will find some problems in it after watching it. There are many symbolic symbols in the movie. The look is also good. The level of the film is definitely better than what I have written, I hope every potential middle class can watch it~
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