Triangle of Sadness (C- or 1.5/4 stars)
Winner of the Palme d'Or at Cannes this May, 'Triangle of Sadness' (directed by Ruben Ostlund, of Force Majeure) is ... a huge disappointment, for me. The director is more of a niche art house auteur, while fans of the film would assure: 'don't worry, this movie is for mainstream audiences'. To that I say: think again. The Triangle of Sadness is a term used to describe the deep line btwn. one's eyebrows. By the end of this film, however, the title takes on a different meaning. This movie purports to be a biting & humorous indictment of the super wealthy + the importance that we place on beauty. Some people will find it utterly horrifying, while others will appreciate the ironies on display. Me? I simply did not like it, at all. More on that later.
Up & coming male model, Carl (Harris Dickinson) & his successful instagram influencer/model girlfriend, Yaya (Charlbi Dean Kriek), find themselves on a mega-yacht courtesy of one of her jobs -- the fact that she makes more $$ than he becomes a real point of contention btwn. the lovers. Even before boarding, the staff is lectured by platinum-haired Paula (Vicki Berlin), the chief steward, about pampering & catering to their guests' every whim. Aboard are the likes of Russian oligarch Dmitry (Zlatko Buric) & his wife, a couple of elderly arms dealers (Oliver Ford Davies, Amanda Walker), a rich programmer (Henrik Dorsin), among many others. With the Captain's Dinner - and a huge storm - approaching, Paula is unable to coax the yacht's alcoholic - and Marxist - captain (Woody Harrelson) out of his cabin.
Things progress fine until the storm strikes and, well, the fabulous 7-course meal that everyone is ingesting simply cannot be contained in the bodies of these people. The ship lists to & fro, causing most of the passengers to lose their delectable food of their mouths & rear ends. What occurs next is an unhinged circus of vomit & diarrhea the likes that has never been shown on film before -- I can almost bet on it. And soon enough, toilets start exploding all over the yacht. It's a horror to watch, and yet, it is the kind that you can't really look away from, either. While the vessel rocks back & forth in the dark high seas like a toy boat in a tub, pirates attack, culminating in an extraordinary yacht-sinking explosion.
Hours later, only 8 survivors end up on a remote isle with no clue how to fend for themselves; that is with one exception, Abigail (Dolly de Leon), a decidedly 'lower class' worker who merely managed the toilets on the yacht. She is the only person knows how to catch fish or start a fire and, though her 'superiors' scoff at her ... Abigail asserts that SHE is now in charge. In time, Abigail sets her carnal sights on hot young Carl, allowing him to spend evenings with her on a beached lifeboat that she occupies. Yaya is not thrilled, but she & Carl realize they need Abigail to survive. It's only when Carl starts having feelings for the older woman that problems arise; culminating in a bizarre climax that assumes a bloody end for at least one character.
My, oh, my, did I not care for this 148 min. portrait of petty human cruelty. I was into the 1st Act. Effort is spent in making us connect, in some way, with Carl & Yaya. But I found the lengthy yacht segment to be 'cold' & uninvolving. When the sh*t hits the fan - literally - I eventually became numb to it all. It is a problem, for me, that I didn't care much about anyone on the boat. And there is a scene on the shoreline involving the Dmitry character & his wife that utterly disgusted me. The treatment of the wife was so flippantly callous that it makes me question the writer/director's taste level. There is a scene involving a donkey that is very upsetting. And the only character I enjoyed was Yaya; whose future, to say the least, looks dire.
And what a shame about the actress who plays Yaya, Charlbi Dean Kriek. She died of an illness before this movie released and, she was a beautiful, magnetic young woman who showed real talent. The only interesting aspect of the film was the Yaya/Carl dynamic and, they fade to the background as the film drones on. Director Ostlund's idea of farce in the film is really like 'satire for beginners'. He hits us over the head with his themes early {we must hate out-of-touch rich people; men suck} & then has nothing of any depth to add later. After the slick, surface-clever opening segment, my interest & enjoyment precipitously dropped with each passing scene. And Ostlund's ambiguous cliffhanger ending makes for an unsatisfactory conclusion to boot.
Up & coming male model, Carl (Harris Dickinson) & his successful instagram influencer/model girlfriend, Yaya (Charlbi Dean Kriek), find themselves on a mega-yacht courtesy of one of her jobs -- the fact that she makes more $$ than he becomes a real point of contention btwn. the lovers. Even before boarding, the staff is lectured by platinum-haired Paula (Vicki Berlin), the chief steward, about pampering & catering to their guests' every whim. Aboard are the likes of Russian oligarch Dmitry (Zlatko Buric) & his wife, a couple of elderly arms dealers (Oliver Ford Davies, Amanda Walker), a rich programmer (Henrik Dorsin), among many others. With the Captain's Dinner - and a huge storm - approaching, Paula is unable to coax the yacht's alcoholic - and Marxist - captain (Woody Harrelson) out of his cabin.
Things progress fine until the storm strikes and, well, the fabulous 7-course meal that everyone is ingesting simply cannot be contained in the bodies of these people. The ship lists to & fro, causing most of the passengers to lose their delectable food of their mouths & rear ends. What occurs next is an unhinged circus of vomit & diarrhea the likes that has never been shown on film before -- I can almost bet on it. And soon enough, toilets start exploding all over the yacht. It's a horror to watch, and yet, it is the kind that you can't really look away from, either. While the vessel rocks back & forth in the dark high seas like a toy boat in a tub, pirates attack, culminating in an extraordinary yacht-sinking explosion.
Hours later, only 8 survivors end up on a remote isle with no clue how to fend for themselves; that is with one exception, Abigail (Dolly de Leon), a decidedly 'lower class' worker who merely managed the toilets on the yacht. She is the only person knows how to catch fish or start a fire and, though her 'superiors' scoff at her ... Abigail asserts that SHE is now in charge. In time, Abigail sets her carnal sights on hot young Carl, allowing him to spend evenings with her on a beached lifeboat that she occupies. Yaya is not thrilled, but she & Carl realize they need Abigail to survive. It's only when Carl starts having feelings for the older woman that problems arise; culminating in a bizarre climax that assumes a bloody end for at least one character.
My, oh, my, did I not care for this 148 min. portrait of petty human cruelty. I was into the 1st Act. Effort is spent in making us connect, in some way, with Carl & Yaya. But I found the lengthy yacht segment to be 'cold' & uninvolving. When the sh*t hits the fan - literally - I eventually became numb to it all. It is a problem, for me, that I didn't care much about anyone on the boat. And there is a scene on the shoreline involving the Dmitry character & his wife that utterly disgusted me. The treatment of the wife was so flippantly callous that it makes me question the writer/director's taste level. There is a scene involving a donkey that is very upsetting. And the only character I enjoyed was Yaya; whose future, to say the least, looks dire.
And what a shame about the actress who plays Yaya, Charlbi Dean Kriek. She died of an illness before this movie released and, she was a beautiful, magnetic young woman who showed real talent. The only interesting aspect of the film was the Yaya/Carl dynamic and, they fade to the background as the film drones on. Director Ostlund's idea of farce in the film is really like 'satire for beginners'. He hits us over the head with his themes early {we must hate out-of-touch rich people; men suck} & then has nothing of any depth to add later. After the slick, surface-clever opening segment, my interest & enjoyment precipitously dropped with each passing scene. And Ostlund's ambiguous cliffhanger ending makes for an unsatisfactory conclusion to boot.