Major spoilers.
I don't believe this movie to be a commentary on Swedish society only, but on society as a whole - at least, recent real life events mirrors those in the movie so well that I'd imagine it's themes are relevant everywhere.
We follow Christian, an art curator who's the leader of a modern art museum that struggles at creating hype for it's new exhibition, The Square. He's arrogant and narcissistic, but not anymore so than any other person he meets. While everyone is in love with the idea of a loving society, none of them possess the empathy to demonstrate exactly that. Too caught up in their own dramas, they all do their best to avoid helping each other, thus creating situation after situation that snowballs out of control. Christian, especially, will be the victim of this.
And living in a Nordic society, I can't get over how realistic some of the situations were; how people will not help those clearly in need, unless the victim(s) literally make too much of a fuss for the receiver to bear. There are several examples of this in the movie; Christian is not really worried when his children are fighting violently - he will only truly react when one of them slams the door. Or how a woman is quietly begging for help whilst she is being sexually assaulted during a piece of performance art - and everybody keeps their head down 'till she starts screaming loudly.
Stuff like this all rang too true to me, and I see people do this every single day, albeit in more subtle ways. A weak example, but I think most people has overheard a conversation where someone is trying to say something, but because they aren't talking loudly enough - or aren't "important" - everyone pretends they didn't hear and keep cutting them off. It's a special, and sadly very prevalent, kind of narcissism; "You didn't cry loud enough and/or are weak, thus I'm not obligated by society to help you - and I won't, even though I know in the back of my head that you are in pain".
This is the core of this movie, the message; we are just not that selfless or likely to even help someone, unless the person is either a) bothering us somehow by being in pain, or b) asking us loudly and directly, so that saying no will reflect badly on us. Thus, most people in this movie are clearly in pain, yet they only get help when they break the social contract. It goes both ways, but that doesn't prevent inequality to happen. According to this movie, the person of authority - or the power of the many - has more impact on people than truth or justice, so you better be born into privilege if an accident were to happen. But the homeless people staring into space on the streets, the problems of some kinds of political correctness, and the many immigrants in this movie are only a small part of this. Everyone suffers because of the narcissism of others. And yes, everybody lose.
Watching it, I kept thinking "Maybe a little misanthropic, an exaggeration of humanity's dark sides". But then I thought of the recent sexual allegations against people in the entertainment industry. So many of them. And the most gruesome acts,(the pedophilia of Woody Allen, the rape of so many others) ignored, simply because it served the people surrounding them better at the moment. And now, everybody knows. Only now are they upset. How many times have similar things happened throughout history? How much of our conscience really comes from the inside?
The strong message and it's great execution aside, this is not a perfect movie. I found it way too slow and drawn out in parts, and the repetitive music was annoying me to the extreme nearing the end. I liked the cinematography, and I loved the many metaphors. It had a consistent tone and some occasional humor(if you like it deadpan, and dry as a desert). It would've been completely mediocre, though, if it didn't make me think the way it did. It made me view all too common situations in a new light, and even though it's been several hours since I left my seat, I'm still depressed about it. All those hours people can spend in an art museum pretending to be aware, when this! This is what truly needs to change about humanity. The boring Christian(pun intended) message of loving thy neighbour.
I don't believe this movie to be a commentary on Swedish society only, but on society as a whole - at least, recent real life events mirrors those in the movie so well that I'd imagine it's themes are relevant everywhere.
We follow Christian, an art curator who's the leader of a modern art museum that struggles at creating hype for it's new exhibition, The Square. He's arrogant and narcissistic, but not anymore so than any other person he meets. While everyone is in love with the idea of a loving society, none of them possess the empathy to demonstrate exactly that. Too caught up in their own dramas, they all do their best to avoid helping each other, thus creating situation after situation that snowballs out of control. Christian, especially, will be the victim of this.
And living in a Nordic society, I can't get over how realistic some of the situations were; how people will not help those clearly in need, unless the victim(s) literally make too much of a fuss for the receiver to bear. There are several examples of this in the movie; Christian is not really worried when his children are fighting violently - he will only truly react when one of them slams the door. Or how a woman is quietly begging for help whilst she is being sexually assaulted during a piece of performance art - and everybody keeps their head down 'till she starts screaming loudly.
Stuff like this all rang too true to me, and I see people do this every single day, albeit in more subtle ways. A weak example, but I think most people has overheard a conversation where someone is trying to say something, but because they aren't talking loudly enough - or aren't "important" - everyone pretends they didn't hear and keep cutting them off. It's a special, and sadly very prevalent, kind of narcissism; "You didn't cry loud enough and/or are weak, thus I'm not obligated by society to help you - and I won't, even though I know in the back of my head that you are in pain".
This is the core of this movie, the message; we are just not that selfless or likely to even help someone, unless the person is either a) bothering us somehow by being in pain, or b) asking us loudly and directly, so that saying no will reflect badly on us. Thus, most people in this movie are clearly in pain, yet they only get help when they break the social contract. It goes both ways, but that doesn't prevent inequality to happen. According to this movie, the person of authority - or the power of the many - has more impact on people than truth or justice, so you better be born into privilege if an accident were to happen. But the homeless people staring into space on the streets, the problems of some kinds of political correctness, and the many immigrants in this movie are only a small part of this. Everyone suffers because of the narcissism of others. And yes, everybody lose.
Watching it, I kept thinking "Maybe a little misanthropic, an exaggeration of humanity's dark sides". But then I thought of the recent sexual allegations against people in the entertainment industry. So many of them. And the most gruesome acts,(the pedophilia of Woody Allen, the rape of so many others) ignored, simply because it served the people surrounding them better at the moment. And now, everybody knows. Only now are they upset. How many times have similar things happened throughout history? How much of our conscience really comes from the inside?
The strong message and it's great execution aside, this is not a perfect movie. I found it way too slow and drawn out in parts, and the repetitive music was annoying me to the extreme nearing the end. I liked the cinematography, and I loved the many metaphors. It had a consistent tone and some occasional humor(if you like it deadpan, and dry as a desert). It would've been completely mediocre, though, if it didn't make me think the way it did. It made me view all too common situations in a new light, and even though it's been several hours since I left my seat, I'm still depressed about it. All those hours people can spend in an art museum pretending to be aware, when this! This is what truly needs to change about humanity. The boring Christian(pun intended) message of loving thy neighbour.