By being crowned for "Triangle of Sadness" - "Without filter" in French, the Swede Ruben Östlund, 48, joins a very closed circle: that of filmmakers who have received two Palmes d'or, namely Francis Ford Coppola, Shōhei Imamura , Bille August, Emir Kusturica, Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, Michael Haneke and Ken Loach.
As in 2017 for “The Square”, when everyone was giving “120 beats per minute” as the winner, the director thwarted all the predictions, which went rather towards “Close” by Lukas Dhont (Grand Prix ex-aequo), “Hi -Han” by Jerzy Skolimowski (Joint Jury Prize) or “Decision to leave” by Park Chan-wook (Directing Prize).
And once again, it's with a very virtuoso film, as funny as it is cynical that Östlund, who has no equal in demolishing all that is politically correct with a machine gun camera, wins the day.
"Triangle of Sadness" attacks the worlds of fashion and the ultra-rich, recounting the setbacks of models and big bosses caught in the sinking of their luxurious yacht, and who, survivors on a desert island, must bend at the whim of a ship's cook.
A killing game
And it is in this social aspect of the third part of the feature film that the president of the jury Vincent Lindon had to find his account.
Admittedly, Östlund deals with the social, but through a game of slaughter: people vomit a lot in the film, excrement overflows the toilets, the cruelty and thoughtlessness of the well-to-do are highlighted in bright red.
We understand, seeing that the Grand Prix was awarded ex aequo to "Close", which we also loved, that the jury had the choice between the Palme du cœur for the latter, and the Palme de demolition with "Triangle of Sadness”.
It is perhaps the fact that we laugh a lot in this work – whose release date is not yet known in France – which tipped the balance.
What is certain is that it is not an obvious film, and even a "mean" and divisive film.
Nothing could make Ruben Östlund happier…