The Square is great. It will hopefully not become just a hidden gem, after winning Palme d’Or at Cannes.
I should emphasize that it brings up serious social issues, which are worthy to contemplate about, but it also holds lots of funny moments. (sex scene and the talk after that, how that poor worker swept those piles of rocks or debris, which they stated as art, Tourette scene)
This installation plays an oblique role in the film, not in the centre of it. It is just a tool which will be presented in an upcoming exhibition and a quote comes alongside with it, which is the following (more or less): The Square is a sanctuary of trust and care.
This so called art doesn’t only represent that aforementioned quote, but it’s a symbol of how the classical art is changed by modern art. They disrupted a statue to build The Sqaure in its previous place.
However, the story proves that this statement is not true, because the characters, who are the members of the high class, mistrust in everyone, especially who are below them in the society. There are several evidence.
For instance that repulsive and disgusting viral video which was made by those infantile marketers.
Christian, the main character who immediately thought after he accidentally lost his phone and wallet that he has become a victim of a stealing. It also revealed something else. How he and his assistant (and most of the people) can’t take responsibility for their actions. They tracked down the building were his phone is, and wrote some menacing letter to everyone in that building to give his belongings back. But when Christian realized it hasn’t been a stealing, he could not have apologized to the kid who’s found his stuff.
I also loved how the film depicted pretentiousness. At some point an artist’s interview was constantly interrupted by a man who has Tourette syndrome. But someone said to the others, that they had to tolerate his behavior, because of his condition. On the other hand, this community could not tolerate the Monkey man’s act, who started to mock the audience but later on he got more violent with a woman, so the always calm and well-mannered people became animals and tore that Monkey man apart. Of course he was really obnoxious, but the Tourette man was as well, just they didn’t dare to mention it)