“It’s an entertaining film which wears its themes on its Che Guevara shirt sleeve.“
Con Nats
4 /5 fish
This anatomically anointed film won the Palme d’Or at Cannes this year making it Writer-Director Ruben Östlund’s second Cannes award with this film after The Square. Like almost everything in this film, it’s heavy with symbolism.
Carl (Harris Dickinson) is a male model who once graced magazine covers but is soon washed up when his ‘triangle of sadness’ – that patch above your nose and between your eyebrows – starts showing signs of age. It’s a sentiment that’s as vacuous as the industry and his relationship with Yaya (late Charbi Dean Kriek). She’s an alluring ‘influencer’ who trades on her good looks to not pay for anything, including dinner. This leads to two painfully long scenes where they argue over the bill.
Act II takes place on a luxury cruiser, which is a freebie for Yaya. They meet a Russian capitalist, Dimitry (Zlato Buric) who “sells shit” ie fertiliser. The staff are pumped by the promise of big tips to never say ‘No’ unless your lower level staff, where just a wrong look can lead to dismissal. If you haven’t realised you’re in satirical territory yet, it’s because the laughs are kept to a minimum and you’re still struggling to find anyone to admire.
Ostlund’s script holds back the laughs until he unleashes Woody Harellson as the smiling alcoholic captain. That’s when a scene with all the finesse of Monty Python’s Mr Creosote on a Xmas lunch begins and goes for an excessive amount of time. And it’s grossly hilarious. The ensuing banter between the Captain and Dimitry is as silly as it is amusing.
The third act involves our shipwrecked survivors struggling to survive, which produces sudden role reversals. It’s an old theme that goes back as far as The Admirable Chrichton and Swept Away (which Madonna remade, terribly.) This film succeeds in every way that Madge failed and is also darkly funny as these vacuous bourgeoisie characters struggle with hunger and their own apathy. Dolly Leon as the Philipino maid who could fish is a surprise as the anti-hero.
The symbolism is a tad obvious and heavy handed but it also works when it’s comeuppance time. (The triangle apparently represents positions in an economic hierarchy.) I didn’t feel anything for the passengers, especially Winston and wife, the arms dealers, who are a clear reference to Churchill, despite suffering some slippery consequences. In fact, even Abigail’s actions suggest the working class turn feral with power. But its prime targets are the rich and fatuous and all those vacuous people who hang off them.
It’s an entertaining film which wears its themes on its Che Guevara shirt sleeve. It has that slow pace and quirkiness of European films (and award winners) with a childish charm. It’s a darkly funny comedy which takes time to find its feet but sails nicely it does.
Con Nats, On The Screen
