A review of the new film “Triangle Of Sadness”
The title is obscure if not downright confusing. It is a term referring to the area above the nose and between the eyebrows which is most prone to wrinkles. The title starts to make sense when the term is used very early in the story and becomes more relevant when it becomes apparent that the narrative is in three parts. In France, the film is actually titled “Without Filter” which is no more helpful.“Triangle Of Sadness” is the creation of Swedish writer and director Ruben Östlund and, although largely in English, it has a very international cast. The first part in the world of modelling has English Harris Dickinson and South African Charlbi Dean (who died just before the film came out) as a beautiful couple; the second segment on a luxury yacht has American Woody Harrelson as the ship’s drunken captain; the third section brings to the fore the ship’s toilet manager played by the Filipina Dolly de Leon; while other nationalities represented among the actors include Swedish, Danish, German and Croatian.
So, what is the film about? It is a black comedy and a biting satire which ridicules the wealthy and the privileged and reduces many of its characters to a state of utter helplessness as vomiting and diarrhoea lay them low. It is a work which has provoked mixed reactions. At the Cannes Film Festival, some walked out (presumably because of the spewing from various orifices), but it won a long standing ovation and the Palme d’Or.
I enjoyed it: it is never boring and often very funny. For me, it poses a fundamental question: how do we value people? by looks (part 1)? by money (part 2)? by skills (part 3)? Or should we value people equally as suggested by the Marxist philosophy seemingly supported by the inebriated and bombastic captain. But, while entertaining, the film has its faults: it is too long (almost two and a half hours), some of the jokes are too repetitive, and the messaging is overly blunt.