The Square director inspired by punk rocker

The Square, Swedish director Ruben Östlund’s Palme d’Or-winning satire about social behaviour, is two hours and 22 minutes long. But there’s one 11-minute scene that grabs viewers and won’t let go. In it, a group of art patrons at an upscale banquet are accosted by a shirtless Tarzan type who doesn’t share their refined sensibilities.

“I was inspired by a YouTube clip of a punk rock artist that was called GG Allin in Boston,” says Östlund during the Toronto International Film Festival, where The Square had its Canadian première. “He was creating such a complete anarchistic feeling during his concerts, beating up the audience and things like this. I’ve never experienced someone breaking all the rules on how you’re supposed to behave.”

The director wanted to create that feeling in his movie, a follow up to 2014’s similarly satiric Force Majeure. “I wanted a tuxedo-dressed audience in the Lumière (cinema) in Cannes sitting there looking at another tuxedo-dressed audience trying to handle someone who comes into that room and is behaving in a completely different way from themselves.”

Specifically, he wanted a performance artist acting like an ape. “I was starting to Google ‘actors monkey imitations.’ And then I found a clip of Terry (Notary) imitating a gorilla, a chimpanzee and an orangutan.”

Östlund hired Notary based on that clip. “When someone is doing Hamlet, then it’s very hard to say is he goo doris he bad ,” he says .“When it comes to the kind of acting that Terry is doing, then even a child can say that guy is the best one.”

Here Notary picks up the story, his loose manner and soft California accent making it seem like he just stepped off a surfboard. “I watched Force Majeure and I said: I’m doing this, because this guy knows about timing and he knows how to let people complete their emotions in time and not rush through things.”

Notary was scared going in, what with 300 extras, the entire crew and a camera focused solely on him. “I was trying to use it as fuel,” he says. “And I was using it within the character. He was afraid, too. He wasn’t coming in there like he knew everything and he was the boss. His fear was something that was compelling him to expose the fear in others.”

After a day of rehearsal and three days shooting the scene, director and actor were happy with the result. “It takes someone who is completely dedicated to the moment and is wild and willing to go very, very, very far,” says Östlund. Adds Notary: “It was challenging ... but also freeing at the same time. Because I just stopped caring or worrying about doing anything right.”

Clearly, however, they did something right. In addition to favourable reviews and the Cannes Film Festival’s top prize, The Square is Sweden’s foreign-language Oscar contender for this year. If it wins, here’s hoping Östlund brings Notary with him to meet another tuxedo-dressed crowd.