With the 2022 film “Sad Triangle”, Ruben Östlund’s signature satirical abilities were applied to the world of the ultra-wealthy. As the Swedish filmmaker said in 2017, he always wanted his work to show some “combination of sociology, stand-up comedy, and moments of terrifying awkwardness.” In “Triangle,” he gets all three — and adds a dash of masterfully brilliant comedy, when patrons of a luxury cruise ship fall ill with food poisoning in the midst of the chaos. chaos of a stormy night on the ship. For a director who likes to go for a walk, even this scene is close to too much territory. Using his intercom, the Captain (Woody Harrelson in an all-too-brief, triumphant performance) always explains his Communist philosophy.
It’s a wild ride from the opening scene, set in the competitive world of male modeling, to the ending, in the seemingly isolated jungle of an uncharted island. In the most literal sense, all the film is doing is following the journey of a pair of young models, from high urban culture to that island where all they have built are all put on duty. No longer rich, all they have is what gave them access to luxury in the first place – their good looks. That won’t get them far when removed from civilization. Or will it?
Another goal that Ruben stlund sets for his films, according to an interview with Vanity Fair, is to ask essential questions about the human condition in modern times, such as “Who do we want to be? What kind of society do we want?” By the final act of “Triangle”, we can see a new society in motion.
Relax Your Sad Triangle
As the title suggests, “Sad Triangle” is a trilogy, with three separate chapters. Its first chapter introduces the main characters Carl (Harris Dickinson) and Yaya (Charlbi Dean), two models at different levels in their careers.
Although Carl is no ordinary person, he has an oblivion, a lack of understanding of how the world works. In his opening scene, we see a particularly edgy but deftly handled male model shoot, with a wide angle and minimal crop to add to the awkwardness. You can never accuse Ruben Östlund of opposing the models here. The men were instructed to relax the “sad triangle,” the area between the bridge of the nose and the forehead, where eyebrows furrow and people express a world of emotions. That kind of expression is higher than the salaries of these models.
Meanwhile, Yaya is wildly successful and she pays the bill at an upscale restaurant after a long and complicated argument. Instead of the glitz and glamor expected of a model lifestyle, Östlund dedicates this first chapter to focusing on the more utilitarian and cool side of things. The two serve each other, even as Carl looks to be in a love relationship and Yaya is getting a chance to become a social media climber.
Chapter two takes the couple to a luxury yacht, where Yaya asks Carl to take pictures of her on deck, the ocean behind her. One of the great jokes of the movie, like “The Menu” of the same year, is that the characters experience the joys of wealth and their obscene access without ever enjoying or participating in a meaningful way into any of them. Here, Carl and Yaya meet others with similar philosophies.
Food poisoning
On the boat, the themes of the film are emphasized even more. Head of staff Paula (Vicki Berlin) is a veritable tyrant, ordering her crew to obey the wishes of every passenger on board, and one crew member was even left out. after Carl was jealous of Yaya’s attraction to him. In the kitchen team is Abigail (Dolly De Leon), a modest Filipino woman who continues to do her job, even going into the sea when a passenger asks.
That led to a massive bout of food poisoning, which led to the vomiting and other liquid mess for which the film became famous, one in which the dining room was turned into a battlefield. Wealthy passengers may be worth billions of dollars, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re worth listening to.
As the sun rose, the passengers were given a clear explanation of the chaos. In fact, Winston (Oliver Ford Davies), a British arms manufacturer, has been peacefully observing it with his wife. It didn’t take him long before one of their own grenades was thrown onto his balcony by the pirates, blowing up the boat and forcing the surviving passengers onto the island, beginning the third act. and also the last act of the movie.
Only a handful of survivors found their way to the beach, including Carl, Yaya, and Abigail. In the group, only one person has the necessary abilities to survive on hostile terrain. And it’s not one of the billionaires (including a tech billionaire and a Russian tycoon), nor is it one of the role models. It’s Abigail.
Abigail’s Power
Abigail quickly took control of the situation, fishing offshore and cooking. With access to a private bedroom on a lifeboat and control over the feeding of the castrated, she was soon seen as a leader. She forces Carl into an erotic relationship, a relationship that arouses the envy of Yaya, who, with her unfavorable posture, cannot even get the former waitress fired. waste as Carl can.
Abigail may not say a word during the boat scene, but here she is unstoppable. It may not be a subtle social commentary when abandoned people, worth billions of dollars in their past lives, are now reduced to serving others. But Ruben Östlund seems rarely to care about subtlety, but more to how you can play bluntly to devastating, compelling effect. That’s what makes the satire of “Triangle” is bittersweet.
If much of the entire “Triangle” is made up of one-dimensional caricatures, we still remember the first scenes of Carl and Yaya.
What can jealousy motivate someone to do? When Yaya decides to go hiking and Abigail goes with her, there’s a hint of danger in Yaya’s behavior. We’ve seen her assessment of Abigail’s treatment of Carl and he’s also skeptical. But as their journey continues, Yaya and Abigail realize they’re on a resort island – they’ve been on the wrong side of it all the time. A beautiful physical world awaits them.
And when Yaya talks about how she can’t wait to join civilization again, and that she’ll even offer to hire Abigail, the film cuts Abigail holding a rock above her, ready to go. ready to drop it. After a brief shot of Carl running, the film ends.
hesitant
“Should I drop it on the ground or should I kill it?” was just one of many hypothetical questions that Ruben Östlund asked himself about the ending of “The Sad Triangle”, each inclined magazine. The ambiguity of when and what happens next is the perfect pitch for a movie that deals with wealth, class, and power, with all the expected questions about sex. and violence. If you want to know how a director of unique films can win an Oscar nomination with this movielargely concerned with the nuances of the moment, even for a largely unrefined film.
As stlund told the Hollywood Reporter, he wanted Abigail to “take command immediately.” Due to the degree of running her activities on the island, her personality immediately becomes quite complicated. movie promotion, Dolly De Leon to GQ“I’ve always felt discriminated against because of my stature in real life, just like how Abigail did in the movies.”
Given the opportunity to lead those she has been forced to serve her whole life, she immediately embraces it. And it makes sense that she would kill Yaya, given how she’s been treated historically. Yaya can destroy the precious and fragile civilization Abigail has built, just by informing them of the resort.
Even if Abigail’s thinking is justified, there are plenty of reasons not to commit the murder. Yaya’s biggest crime up to that point in the film is probably being Instagram-obsessed and being a bit cruel to her romantic partner. Hence the hesitation.
On the clouds
Another thing the movie does in the final chapter is hint at the island’s true nature right before the final reveal.
While Therese (Iris Berben), a German stroke survivor who can only say one phrase, “in den Wolken” (literally “in the clouds”), is bathing, she notices what looks like a member of a local tribe. When they show up to her and offer to sell her stuff, we realize something is amiss, and by the end of the film it’s clear they’re salesmen, in resort attire. But even when she doubts, she has no one to express her doubts to or who can understand her. If Abigail continues to kill Yaya, no one will be held accountable for her.
Unlike the “eat from the rich” ending in “The Menu,” there’s no rightful ending for monstrously rich characters. Just a moment of darkness and ambiguity, one whose potential consequences seem far-fetched. We received the utter humiliation of the wealthy with food poisoning, but many of the survivors seemed comfortable with their new full-fledged lifestyle. And their trained ignorance, whether it’s their partner’s love life or the suffering of a service worker, means they’re likely never to find out that they’re in the middle of nowhere. in a resort — unless Carl catches up.
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