Cinema Styles: Power corrupts in Triangle of Sadness
Film: Triangle of Sadness (2022)
Director: Ruben Östlund
Cast: Woody Harrelson, Dolly De Leon, Harris Dickinson, Charlbi Dean, Zlatko Buric
How to Watch: In Theaters
Runtime: 150 minutes Genre: Comedy, Drama
Rating: R
Awards: 2022 Cannes Film Festival - Palme d’or
Note: This movie was screened at Fantastic Fest 2022 in Austin, Texas. This was the U.S. Premiere, and included a post-film Q&A with actor Dolly De Leon.
Triangle of Sadness is the newest film from Swedish auteur, Ruben Östlund, and it’s one of the most unforgettable film experiences of the year. It’s a satirical examination of social structures and hierarchies, and it explores the way one’s status can be upended overnight. This is a movie that believes nothing is permanent, and life is filled with beautiful chaos. Östlund is known for his social commentaries, and this movie is another excellent entry in his catalog. Triangle of Sadness gets its title from the area at the top of the nose and between the eyebrows that becomes wrinkled when one is experiencing sadness.
Like the three sides of the shape in the film’s title, the movie is divided into three sections. It starts with models Carl (Dickinson) and Yaya (Dean) navigating the fashion world while also examining their own relationship. They’re the main characters in this first part of the movie. When the couple is invited on a luxury cruise with an array of other super-rich passengers, the film shifts focus. From the staff to the passengers, everyone becomes a main character in the story; the focus being shared by all. Some of the quirky passengers include an unpredictable Russian oligarch, polite and meek British arms dealers, and an alcoholic, anarchic, Marx-quoting captain played by the always-reliable Woody Harrelson.
The third part of the film is best left unknown before seeing this movie. It’s drastically different from the two sections that precede it, and refreshes the film midway through; essentially becoming an entirely different movie. Östlund thought of the film’s concept during the COVID-19 pandemic. Viruses are the great equalizer. They don’t care about social statuses, tax brackets, or income inequality. The wealth gap isn’t wide enough to prevent a deadly disease from coming for even the richest people in the world. The third section of Triangle of Sadness doesn’t involve a virus, but it does involve a situation that similarly upends the social status of everyone on the yacht. In this third section, the film’s triangle is flipped upside down. Some characters fall out while others stay in, but no one is the same as they were in sections one and two.
Ruben Östlund has been making films for more than two decades, and he has developed an unflinching style with a wry sense of humor. His movies are known for inviting the audience into the present moment with the characters, allowing viewers to experience every awkward moment in all their glory. When several passengers on the yacht begin to get seasick, Östlund shows their misery in painstaking detail, wringing it for every ounce of humor the situation could contain.
Östlund uses his brand of dark humor to explore the disparity between the working class and the leisure class. He examines the power structures that are inherent in a capitalist society, offering the viewer a chance to laugh while also thinking deeply about the problems that plague human beings. Still, Östlund doesn’t merely paint the wealthy as villains. This film isn’t focused on labeling any single character or class as good or bad. It’s a movie that draws a direct correlation between power and corruption. Power changes hands several times in this story, and every time, it causes great suffering for those being manipulated and controlled.
The ensemble of actors in this film is one of the best ever assembled. There’s pitch-black humor throughout and it’s made all the funnier because the actors were all instructed to play it straight. No one is ever winking to the camera or acknowledging in any way they’re aware of their bizarre behavior or the ridiculousness of their situation. The characters all feel so inhabited, and that’s mostly thanks to the pre-production process on the movie. Before filming began, Östlund led long improvisation sessions with the cast, and this helped the actors use their instincts to develop important parts of their characters’ personalities. Östlund would then incorporate these aspects into the final draft of the script, and allow the performances to be a fascinating blend of the actors’ real personalities with that of the character they were portraying.
The breakout star of Triangle of Sadness is Dolly De Leon, an actor from the Philippines known mostly for her work on the stage. In the midst of the movie, she emerges out of nowhere to become the main character. She steals the spotlight for herself, just as her character similarly takes control of a dire situation. Ruben Östlund wrote her section of the story during the early days of the Me Too Movement. Östlund became interested in the idea of people facing the consequences of their actions, and the hope for an eventual matriarchal takeover.
Triangle of Sadness is difficult to describe, but impossible to forget. It’s a hilariously profound film that views beauty as pecuniary and power as catalytic. This is a movie that draws a parallel between power and beauty; each capable of extracting the worst in people. Most of the characters bring about their own demise, losing themselves to the intrinsic corruption of power. Triangle of Sadness doesn’t let anyone off the hook, least of all the audience, urging them to ask themselves what they would do in similar circumstances.
Bobby Styles studied Film at UCLA, and worked as an editor and producer on several film, commercial, and music video projects in Los Angeles. He currently teaches the intermediate and advanced Video Production courses in the Multimedia & Technology Academy at Monache High School. His column appears in The Recorder every Tuesday.