Film Review: TRIANGLE OF SADNESS (2022) DIR. RUBEN ÖSTLUND
Triangle of Sadness, Fredrik Wenzel © Plattform Produktion
Written by Belle McIntyre
I think it is safe to say that the work of Ruben Östlund is an acquired taste. Definitely, not for everyone, although there is enough variety to expand its appeal. There is a Wes Anderson sensibility in the untethered to reality quality which pervades Östlund‘s films. He specializes in abrupt reversals of fortune, raucous scenes of unimaginable chaos, bizarre and exotic characters with extremely strange peculiarities/predilections. Almost none of them are remotely sympathetic. They are emphatically odd. Someone described this film as a cross between White Lotus and Lord of the Flies. I don’t disagree.
Triangle of Sadness, Fredrik Wenzel © Plattform Produktion
This scathingly black comedy takes on the anthropology of the uber nouveau riche in the claustrophobic confines of a luxurious cruise ship. The parvenus and arrivistes consist mostly of middle-age or older couples, There is a successful Russian agrobusiness tycoon who is fond of saying he “sells shit.” In spite of his commercial success he still sings the praises of Communism.
Triangle of Sadness, Fredrik Wenzel © Plattform Produktion
His wife is dripping in diamonds. There is an elegant older couple who grandly claim to manufacture peace keeping products. Those turn out to be hand grenades and land mines. There is a young sexy beautiful couple named Carl (Harris Dickinson) and Yaya (Charlbi Dean). They are both models and she is an “Influencer.” They have been given a free passage to add some allure and promote the cruise. The captain is a totally dissolute Woody Harrelson, who stays drunk most of the time. Also of note is the chirpy head of the ship’s wait staff who is constantly having to give pep talks to her staff about the need to cheerfully attend to every preposterous request, of which there are many.
Triangle of Sadness, Fredrik Wenzel © Plattform Produktion
When the ship goes down after a prolonged segment of precious dining followed by rough seas and extended wretched retching which some will find disgusting. It is so over the top that it becomes hilarious. That is the end of Part Two. The film is in three parts. The first is about Carl and Yaya and has some very amusing scenes of male modelling auditions and from which the title of the film comes. Östlund makes quick work of the vapid superficiality and emptiness of the fashion/beauty industry.
Triangle of Sadness, Fredrik Wenzel © Plattform Produktion
The third section is the Lord of the Flies part which focuses on the few passengers who get washed ashore. It is particularly barbed as he highlights the brittleness of the social structure which gets turned upside down when the going gets tough. It resembles an episode of Survivor. The abrupt ending left many questions unanswered. However, its point was emphatically made. It is wickedly funny and carries on in the tradition of Östlund’s previous film The Square, which savaged the pomposity of the contemporary art/museum world.
That was quite a brilliant film as well.
