No. 3 (2023) TRIANGLE OF SADNESS. 14th Jan.

 

Film No. 2  (2023)  January 14th.  10:40 AM  LUNA LEEDERVILLE,  Cine 3,   Leederville.

"You're going to like this one. The last capitalist we hang will be the one who sold us the rope - Karl Marx" (The Captain quotes Marx as he and Russian capitalist Dimitry trade banter, over the ship's PA, while the super yacht tumbles in the ocean).

WINNER : PALME d'OR (Ruben Ostlund; Sweden); Cannes Film Festival 2022. GOLDEN ELM (Ruben Ostlund) Alleywood Film Critics Award.

True to Cannes form, TRIANGLE OF SADNESS, the winner of The Palme d'Or 2022, is rich in imagery and message. Given the role call of attendees at such a prestigious film event, one can't help but feel that Ostlund is holding a mirror to some who may find the message (those who have, as opposed to those who have not) a little close to home. 

The imagery in TRIANGLE is definitely stunning (the best and most graphic sea-sickness scenes of all time), the message of "capitalism running rampant" is laboured.  147 minutes incorporating three chapters to exemplify why the entitled in our world need to take stock, had me looking at my watch once, late. But do I regret my ticket purchase? No way. TRIANGLE OF SADNESS is a rollicking good ride made by a film maker never frightened to ask  questions!

TRIANGLE is part, BELOW DECK, part WHITE LOTUS, part LORD OF THE FLIES, but very much its own entity. Ostland sets us up with Carl and Yaya (Chapter One), two very pretty late 20's beautiful people. They bicker over money and whose turn it is to pay. Each of their view points are valid, the script is clever but Ruben sets out to annoy us with these entitled brats. You soon see why. Chapter two has them turning up on The Yacht. It's on the super-yacht that we learn about capitalism in its many forms. Our spoilt brats are a mere pimple on the upper thigh of mankind in comparison to the other guests on board. 

Please don't read any further if you intend watching TRIANGLE and you still haven't seen the trailer going around. I wish I hadn't seen a trailer.

Disaster strikes our yacht. Woody Harrelson playing the drunk, Marxist captain gives the script the rope it needs to hang these entitled mortals out to a fate they would never have considered. The Island, Chapter 3, sets us up for the intimate LORD OF THE FLIES conclusion. The working-class, in the form of Filipino toilet cleaner Abigail (Dolly De Leon) becomes a far more practical and manipulative leader than anyone with "money" could have been. 

There, I don't think I've given too much away. 

It is 5 days now since I saw TRIANGLE. It has had me thinking well beyond the rolling titles. The script is whip smart, the images of people forced into vulnerable states remain, and what the final scene really means continues to revolve in my mind. Thanks again Ruben Ostlund for presenting a film with lots to say in such a fun package. Two Palme d'Or's in 5 years shows that you are appreciated. Especially seeing so many judges may well have holidayed on a super-yacht or two.  11GUMS.