The Square (2017) dir. Ruben Ostlund

The Square (2017) 2h 31min 
Directed by Ruben Ostlund


I like it

The Square (2017) 2h 31min 

Director: Ruben Ostlund (born 13 April 1974 Sweden)

Producer: Kalle Boman

Writer: Ruben Ostlund  

Stars: Claes Bang, Elisabeth Moss, Dominic West and Terry Notary 

Language spoken: 

Some English, Swedish & Danish with English Subtitles

Ruben Ostlund’s THE SQUARE is a satire drama that followers a likeable Museum curator Christian, who’s personal life has taken his focus away from his job, which then allows for a number of embarrassing events to happen, this eventually leads to him resigning from the Stockholm X-Royal Museum.

The SQUARE is a long film (2 hours 31 minutes) but unlike many other films it doesn’t drag on (even though I managed to fall asleep on my first viewing, but I think that it says more about my condition that night, then the ability for the film to hold my attention).  I have since seen it a number of times, the first was to allow myself to enjoy it. The fact that it was a long film and full of richly crafted scenes (which could have been because of their fully resolved nature, released as a number of short films. This isn’t to say that those scenes weren’t well-woven into one feature film) I needed to view the film a number of times as there was a lot to digest.

Ostlund says of THE SQUARE “it’s about taking responsibility especially in public spaces”. He makes this point effectively through out the film. It is also about the taking of things to an absurd point.  We see it in the intense dramatic ape performance and that’s just to mention one scene.        

It is a well-balanced film of satire and intense drama.  He satires the museum world with some moderation which in infect only highlights the absurdities of that world, a world that Ostlund knew very little about until he started researching it for his film’s script.  

Ostlund was a ski champion and wanted to make ski movies and did so and got into film school with a folio of ski films.  His previous film Force Majeure (2014) is about a family on holidays on a ski resort. Marital tension resulting from an avalanche has left the wife believing that her husband had prioritized his own escape over the safety of his family.  Ostlund likes to write dilemmas and awkward moments that his characters have to deal with.

The Square originated from conversations between Ostlund and producer Erik Hemmendorff about social responsibility in public spaces. The result of these conversations resulted in the creation of an installation titled ‘The Square’.  The installation was exhibited on the request of an art gallery. The concept is that a square area of a public space is coordinated and reserved for those people who are facing some personal difficulty. They would have to stand in The Square where they would be safe.  Pass-byers would have to then take it upon themselves with the responsibility of resolving that person’s problem. 

The film opens with Christian lying on a couch, he looks beaten.  Take away food wrapping littered on the floor amongst his shoes, a glass and a magazine.  This is a man who looks emotionally worn out, but he has to soldier on, and get up and face another interviewer. 

(Please Note: The following dialogue is not word-by-word as spoken on the film but at times comes close.  It is how I recall it after seeing the film a number of times, it is here to give the reader the flavor and types of exchanges the main character Christian has through the film.)

Journalist - Ann(Elisabeth Moss) “So is everything all right”

Curator - Christian(Claes Bang) “Sure”

They are sitting facing each other; there is a neon artwork on the wall that spells out ‘You have nothing’ Set in a gallery space with hills of dirt reminiscent of an Anish Kapoor installation. 

Excited by the sight of Christian, Ann fumbles and drops her paper work.  

Christian  “Are you ready”

Ann“My first question is a broad one. What are the biggest challenges of running a museum like this?” 

Christian“I hate to say it, it probably is money.  That is obtaining art that is cutting edge, it’s expensive, and the competition is fierce, etc. etc. etc.

Ann“I agree”

Ann“I read this on your website” 

Ann reads out what she saw on the website. Exhibition non-exhibition. etc. etc. 

Ann- “I don’t understand it, I wanted you to explain this.”

Christian asks to look at Ann’s notes and then pauses to think.

Christian“If you place an object like your hand bag in a museum, does that make it art?”

Ann looks a little puzzled. 

Ann“That is all we have”

In this interview scene Ostlund asks you the viewer to question what is being passed off as art by museums and art galleries, and to question the support text and artist statements that accompany such objects, performances and exhibitions.  

A statue of man on a horse is hulled off its base only to fall and break off the head from its body. Workmen are busy capturing the fall and breakage on their iPhones. The statue is being replaced by the installation ‘The Square’. The cutting into the paving to place The Square, which is a flexible clear conduit installed with a light tube within it, it is placed in the shape of a square along side a plaque embedded into a coble stone exterior entrance to the museum. 

Is this about? Out with the old and in with the new.  Contemporary art replacing an old museum statue.  Or is this about the ridicules’ lengths Museums and Galleries go to, too appear that they (the institution and it’s curators) are showing work that is not only new but also at the cutting edge. 

The noun ‘cutting edge’ is often misused in the arts to validate and elevate an object or a performance’s importance onto the general public.  The real home for that term is with technology and used as an adjective for a highly advanced, innovative or pioneering technology. ‘Cutting-edge technology.’  Or as a noun, for the latest or most advanced stage in the development of something. ‘Researchers at the cutting edge of molecular biology.’  As you can read I’m no fan of the term when speaking about art. 

The damage to the statue and the cutting into the stone paving could only be described as sheer vandalism.   The workmen showed no effort or care in making sure that the statue was lured down safely.  (In other words they didn’t do their job) The workmen where concentrating on capturing the dismantling of the statue on their mobile phones.  Another example of workers faltering with their responsibilities, for the sake of staying connected to social media. 

Ostlund put his crew through a grueling with 70 shooting days and up to a 100 takes (and says the second last take was usually the best one).  His actors’ and crew say of the long duration of the shoot and the many takes was not only exhausting but also beneficial as both actors and crew could spend more time trying out things with the view of making a fully resolved film. This is what they seemed to me, to have achieved. 

Ostlund’s observations of people (that are made in ‘The Square’) are that they are generally bullies who just go too far for their own good to get what they want.  And this can be seen when Ann (the reporter) allures and seduces Christian (the curator) and then decides to confront Christian with the news she wants to have a relationship with him. When he responds with “that wasn’t possible” she berates him and bullies him.  She takes no responsibility for her instigation of the seduction.  

There’s the beggar who wants money from Christian and isn’t happy when she hears he has no cash on him.  She berates him and bullies him until he offers to buy her a roll with his credit card. The beggar eventually concedes to a roll without onion. When he gives her the roll and tells her that she will have to take out the onions herself she curses him. 

On the opening night dinner for the installation ‘The Square’ a performance artist (played by Terry Notary) performs the features of an ape.  He walks on the dinner tables and bullies the dinner guests until he goes just that little to far and then finds his fate is in the hands of the dinner guests. 

The performance artist is based on the Ukrainian born Russian artist Oleg Borisovich Kulik (b.1961) and his performance where he inhabits in the persona of a dog. Kulik in 1996 performed in a Stockholm gallery chained next to a sign labeled ‘dangerous’. He attacked the public who ignored the sign and bit a man.

Ostlund’s other inspiration was the completely anarchistic punk artist GG Allin (born 29 August 1956 – died 28 June 1993) known for Transgressive stage acts featuring Coprophagia (the consumption of feces)   

When casting for the performance artist, Ostlund googled actors imitating monkeys and came up with Terry Notary’s name. After reading Notary’s CV Ostlund Skyped Notary and after a long conversation Notary agreed to play the part.    

Terry Notary (b. 14 August 1968) is an American actor and movement coach and stunt performer and mainly portrays animals for films like Avatar, Planet of the Apes and The Hobbit film Trilogy to mention a few.

Thanks to Tony Mighell for mentioning ‘The Square’ and his response to it on his Facebook post.

Written by Nicholas Nedelkopoulos 8 April 2018