Incipit

A "gay Aryan ubermensch" interviews models and deduces that being good-looking is enough to do this job, but you also need to know how to walk; who knows if one can do both at the same time.

The alternation between wearing the H&M face and the Balenciaga face is hilarious... luxury requires a sulky face, while the popular brand requires a smile.

First part: Yaya and Carl

She is an influencer and he is a model: an embarrassing discussion at the restaurant about who should pay the bill and why. The same embarrassment that Östlund constructs in The Square when, after a sexual encounter, two people argue about who should dispose of the condom and why.

Male/female stereotypes, cultural legacies, and presumed equality.

Second part: The Yacht

Luxury cruise: the crew, under the motto "money, money, money," which means obtaining a generous tip, must always respond that anything is possible, even when a Russian guest requests that all the staff go for a swim to provide a false sense of equality to her "consciousness," which artfully demands a change of place between master and servant.

And while some other deluxe guests point out that the sails are light gray instead of the pristine white shown in the brochure, a storm begins to approach.

The captain refuses to leave his cabin while "The Internationale" plays "scandalously" throughout the yacht. He is drunk and obviously cannot handle meeting all those multimillionaires, he who specifies that he is not a communist but a Marxist.

The captain's dinner takes place, and a clash of aphorisms and Marxist and Reaganite quotes becomes the derby between the yacht's host and the Russian capitalist who "sells shit," while the guests are served sea urchins with seaweed extract and grilled octopus smoked with lime-flavored comic books...

The sea is stormy, and the waves of vomit are higher than the saline ones, while the toilets overflow with human sewage: the crew offers ginger candies.

The captain eats hamburgers and fries:

"The rich cleanse their consciences with philanthropy, without looking themselves in the face and thinking..."

The ship is sinking while the two rivals, with illustrious pop/rap quotes, have the time of their lives.

Third part: The Island

The shipwreck has occurred, and only a few people arrive on an island, where a lifeboat also arrives carrying the manager of the toilets, Abigail, the only one who knows the weapons of survival, like fire and fishing, and who practices the law of retribution, especially when she entertains young Carl on hot nights to the rhythm of pretzel sticks.

"From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs"... while the sea fills with dead deluxe bodies floating with life jackets.

That's all.

The brand Östlund is served, recognizable, bold, codified.

Captain Östlund does not hesitate to offer his anti-capitalist vision on a silver platter, and that is very interesting, rare.

Less impressive is the manner in which he serves it: appealing, mainstream, seductive.

His need to succeed, to communicate to everyone, to play with the viewer, with the market, and to mock the system is evident: great talent.

In his films, especially in this one, the director of Force Majeure is the capitalist, the Marxist captain who sells his luxury product and uses luxury to make a profit.

He knows well that he "sells shit" like the Russian guest, and he does it because he needs to repeat his concepts clearly, almost idiotically, as if he wanted to say, "Did you understand, marvelous imbeciles?"

Triangle of Sadness is the triangle of idiocy rather than sadness; that wrinkled expression of those who do not understand. Therefore, he wants his viewers to clearly understand his messages and have a amused expression, not a frowning one.

Östlund produces and dresses H&M but sells Balenciaga...

He wins the Palme d'Or at Cannes a few years later because he is a skillful producer of profit; and how do you make a profit? By fetishizing merchandise.

Nothing could be further from the sophisticated, metaphorical anti-capitalist artwork of Lars von Trier, Dancer in the Dark... but that is TRAGEDY!

In the era of FARCE, all that remains is to make a profit to the face of capitalism!

Chapeau, Östlund!

03-May-2023 by Beatrice