Waiting for what David Cronenberg has in store for us with his Crimes of the future, a meditation on technology and its connection with the body that will invite more than one to leave the room, in the words of the director of Crash himself, the festival of Cannes has already been shaken by the new from Ruben Östlund, another director whose films do not exactly go unnoticed in terms of raising controversy.
The Swedish director won the Palme d’Or five years ago for the risky The Square, where he satirically addressed the attitude of the wealthy classes and modern art. With Triangle of Sadness he returns to social satire, placing the excessive cult of money and the superficiality of the world of fashion and influencers at the center of the target.
Right from the start, the title alludes to the triangle of sadness, the frown that many models must hide with Botox because it is unfeasible in the industry. Divided into three long episodes -the film lasts 2 hours and a half- the beginning is situated in a casting of male models where the viewer discovers Carl (the British Harris Dickinson), an attractive candidate to parade on the catwalk who does not take very well the to charge less than his girlfriend Yaya, model and influencer, and during a dinner they have a dispute over who pays the bill, which gives rise to issues such as gender roles. Things seem to calm down when both are invited to spend a few days on a luxurious cruise, but jealousy will continue to surface (with heavy flies involved).
The superficiality of the guests, among them there is an English couple who manufacture weapons, a Russian oligarch who sells “shit” and a lonely IT businessman who gives Rolex as a gift to have friends, explodes on this journey in which the ship’s employees strive to be extremely kind to receive good tips.
During the dinner offered by the captain of the captain, a drunken Marxist played by a sympathetic Woody Harrelson, a storm lurks that will shake not only the cruise ship from one side to the other but also the stomachs of the guests while they taste oysters and champagne.
It is then that Ostlund films a delirious 15-minute sequence with vomiting in the foreground and bathrooms full of excrement that forced some attendees to march in the official pass while the rest burst into laughter.
The tape was applauded for eight long minutes, more than Top Gun: Maverick, because in addition to these scenes of bad taste, the director gives a thoughtful story about capitalism that ridicules the rich. Would they be able to survive on a desert island looking for some food? Would they know how to make fire? because money, in certain unexpected situations, is useless.
The origin of the story stems from the fact that the director’s wife is a fashion photographer and when he met her eight years ago he became interested in that world. “My wife introduced me to that industry. We began to talk a lot about how beauty is treated as a market value and that it can be both attractive and terrifying,” she explained at a press conference.
Questioned about his jump to English, Östlund has pointed out that it seemed “the most logical step” since it is his second language. “As a director you want to reach as many people as possible,” he maintains, although he has also lamented the “Anglo-Saxon domination” of cinema. Therefore, it is not surprising that he has had an international cast. The American Harrelson has been happy with the filming experience and has clarified that he is an “anarchist”, not a communist like his character. “It has been an honor to work with Ruben. He is a teacher, he can make you extremely uncomfortable and make you think while he makes you laugh. It has been quite a journey.”
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