Everyone is boarding Ruben Östlund's madcap flight
Tuesday, May 21, 2024 at 7:00PM ;)
TRIANGLE OF SADNESS (2022) Ruben Östlund
Though the movie's but a premise in its director's imagination, The Entertainment System Is Down is shaping up to be a starry affair. Ruben Östlund's follow-up to Triangle of Sadness, his second Palme d'Or winner, has been on the news. The Swedish provocateur even did a press conference at the Croisette, joined by Keanu Reeves and Kirsten Dunst, both set to take part in the satire cum disaster movie. Other cast members include Samantha Morton, Daniel Brühl, Nicolas Braun, and Vincent Lindon.
In case you've forgotten, the French thespian presided over the Cannes Jury that decided on that Triangle of Sadness victory…
According to early reports, The Entertainment System Is Down will be a chamber piece set sky high, inside a long-haul flight where, as the title implies, the little screens with movies and other forms of passing the time stop working. Because this is an Östlund lark intent on making dark observations on Human nature, this leads to violence and general chaos. How can people be expected to behave when confronted with the horror of getting bored? The content-guzzling modern populace will simply go stir-crazy, a veritable Lord of the Flies for the jet set. Or they'll take drugs, have sex, and enjoy some musical shenanigans, according to Almodóvar's I'm Still Excited! But I digress.
As someone for whom the pleasures in The Square and Triangle of Sadness were elusive, I'm not too psyched about the project. However, Östlund always gets good work out of his actors – think Claes Bang in former Cannes champion and Dolly De Leon's should-have-been-Oscar-nominated turn in the latter. With such a sterling cast, one can expect some dazzling performances out of Östlund's next misadventure. Dunst is an especially interesting presence, having just shown she's still one of American cinema's most exciting performers in Civil War. It feels like she's having a moment of popular resurgence, which couldn't happen to anyone more deserving.
Since Cannes fever is in the air, one can't help but note that the production is already partnered with A24 for US distribution. After being upstaged by NEON in the past, it almost seems like the distributor is trying to secure some future festival glory. As it happens, NEON has picked the rights of the last few Palme d'Or winners, a string of wise choices and sheer luck that have made the company something of a festival prize predictor. A24 has settled for the Grand Prix, second place honors of The Zone of Interest.
But speaking of such victories, isn't Lindon's involvement a curious thing? One wonders what other pairings of Jury President and Palme winner could have happened across the years. Imagine Cate Blanchett directed by Hirokazu Kore-eda, or Robert De Niro in a Malick film, perchance a Coen script with Audiard in the director's chair. The mind reels with so many possibilities.
What other potential pairings come to mind between Jury Presidents and their Palme winners? And are you excited for The Entertainment System Is Down?
Reader Comments (6)
Claudio, thanks for the tease on this film! I loved both The Square and Triangle of Sadness, and am thrilled to hear about this movie, because I think Ostlund is best when he gets into a contained environment where he just keeps turning the screws on you, making everything more and more uncomfortable. My only Ostlund note is his tendency to go overlength, so hopefully he can make this one lean and mean!
I love his international casts, and this one looks super interesting!
EricB -- Glad you enjoyed this overview, even if my dislike for the Swedish filmmaker is sprinkled throughout. However, I'm very excited about that cast of actors and what performances they'll deliver.
It's interesting that you say he tends to go too long, as my favorite works of his are probably his shorts. AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL SCENE NUMBER 6882 is the best thing he's done as far as I'm concerned, and I'd love to see a feature of his with that kind of steady detachment but keen observations.
"Satirical disaster movie" would be a hard sell in Best Actress, so let's hope Kiki has a meaty supporting role (which she will nail no matter what) for a winning Oscar campaign. If it's another sprawling ensemble like Triangle of Sadness I could see her stealing the show.
If Dolly de Leon had a mainstream Hollywood profile, she would've cleaned up in 2022. Leagues more deserving than both "frontrunners" that year.
One of the (many) things I adore about Kirsten Dunst: She works with these great directors but they clearly don’t see her as an interchangeable widget (like most prestige actresses who are all vying for the same parts). Example, I can think of 20 actresses who could've played Kitty Oppenheimer but Blunt happened to win it.
It seems like she gets cast in things because directors see a particular strength or resonance in her tremendous skill. She’s cast not because she’ll make the movie really high-profile, but because she’ll make it really good.
I think Spike Lee could maybe do some fascinating stuff for Julia Ducournou, either collaborating on a script to direct or giving some kind of strange performance for her. I'm also quite amused thinking of Ken Loach in a Mad Max film, or a team-up between Jane Campion and Nuri Bilge Ceylan, or Pedro Almodovar and Robin Campillo (who I know didn't win the Palme, but still).
I like his short films and really liked Force Majeure a lot but The Square is a good film but I don't think it's as great as everyone claims it to be. I still need to see Triangle of Sadness to get a more nuanced opinion on Ostlund.
Sounds like Los amantes pasajeros.