M Francisco Dulog

Powerfully thought-provoking. I am watching it for the first time and doing it WITHOUT sound. I wanted to have the ability to watch it without the psychological impact or disturbance of sound/music. I must say, in doing this, within the first 24 minutes, it is already quite graphically scathing in terms of what is being revealed. [SPOILER ALERT] Looking at this character, Christian, in his disheveled moment, waking up from a nap on a couch along with the things around him and then, seeing himself pull together for the interview, and how effortless he looks then -- WOW. It is like watching Kim Kardashian pick her nose while sitting on a toilet bowl, passing gas and poop, and then, coming out of the bathroom, all KimKardashian-Instagram ready within five minutes. And the way the director/writer presents the dynamics between Anne and Christian during the interview makes it even more interesting to watch. She is reacting to him from the rose-colored glasses of not having seen what he looked like just a few minutes before. I mean, no one wants to see Kim Kardashian picking her nose, passing gas, and pooping all at once but, it is not hard to realize that this happens. There are so many statements being made in this satire that reveals the many ways in which we humans operate in varying levels of pretense. The majority of these are culturally-societally accepted as simply a part of "life". But, this movie does NOT allow the viewer to look away. I can see why there are a good number of poor reviews. To watch this fully without being annoyed and/or enraged requires there be as little judgment as possible. To witness the depth of silliness we humans create for ourselves is a good thing. Part of what can also make it hard to watch is that one has to be willing to be shown "how the magic" was done. Often even when we beg to want to know how it was done, we cannot help but feel disappointed because the sense of wonder has been stripped. One could almost say that some part of us prefers the feeling of being "duped" to being shown what goes on. The movie reveals how much the human mind is drawn to the cult of hero personality and to the cult of CULTure. I have seen "Force Majeure" and it is from the same Swedish filmmaker, Ruben Ostlund. His films are what I would call, "interactive". It requires the viewer to engage very deeply with themselves as scene after scene unfolds. Ruben does NOT handhold or spoonfeed. One is either ready to be undressed to one's self....or not. What helps? Be a witness and NOT fall into judging yourself as you see many aspects of yourself (persona) revealed. In a way, though there are no guns, blood, and guts flying all over the screen, this movie is what I would call, "graphic". It is violent in terms of the psychological impact it has -- and that is a testimony to the mastery of the craft which Mr. Ostlund has. The silences between characters, the way that they interact without words, the small sounds or words that they say, and WHEN they say it, are where the "gore" (hard to watch) scenes appear. I must say, I have never seen Claes Bang before but he is unforgettable in this role. He successfully portrays Christian in a way that is both revolting and endearing, like watching a cockroach eat and then clean itself afterward. A roach has a vital place in the fabric of the ecosystem and the rest of the ecosystem provides amply for his presence...otherwise, it would not be around at all.