"Triangle of Sadness": In Ruben Östlund's film, the rich are poor
Created: 10/11/2022 10:46 am
Multiple awards: Ruben Östlund is now bringing his new film "Triangle of Sadness" to the cinemas © Maurizio Gambarini/dpa
The Swedish director and author Ruben Östlund won the Palme d'Or in Cannes with "Triangle of Sadness".
Before the satire hit theaters, we spoke to the 48-year-old filmmaker.
His fourth feature film, Force Majeure, brought director and author Ruben Östlund their first Golden Globe nomination.
With his fifth and sixth film, he finally achieved an extremely rare coup: he won the Palme d'Or in Cannes for both "The Square" and "Triangle of Sadness".
The latter film will hit theaters on Thursday, October 13, 2022;
After the German premiere of this black humorous satire at the Hamburg Film Festival, we met the 48-year-old Swede in a hotel on the Dammtor.
Just before our interview, his lunch was served;
in order not to let it get cold, Östlund simply answered with his mouth full.
How did you convince Woody Harrelson to play the communist captain of a luxury yacht in "Triangle of Sadness"?
Ruben Östlund:
I said to him: "You can play a Marxist who, in a storm on the high seas, is drunk and yells class-struggle slogans into a ship's public address system, while all around him are seasick super-rich puking up the oysters they have just slurped up." He then said: "Give me that role!" I was drawn to the idea of this idealistic communist from the USA having a verbal duel with a hard-nosed capitalist from Russia on a yacht.
Marxist ideas are rarely heard in the cinema anymore...
Ruben Östlund:
Yes, but I sucked it in with my mother's milk, so to speak: my mother, who has remained a committed communist to this day, fed me with radical left-wing and feminist ideas at an early age.
Of course, on the small island in south-west Sweden where we lived, such views were completely exotic.
Books by Marx and Lenin stood on our living room shelves, and I turned them over, out of sheer fear of trouble, whenever friends announced they would be visiting.
You once said that you were convinced that cinema could change society. What would you like to achieve with your films?
Ruben Östlund:
Above all, I denounce the rampant fixation on the individual, this absurd hyper-individualism that leads us to believe that problems like climate change can be solved with cheap Instagram posts.
In truth, one must combat such crises on a social level – and recognize that, last but not least, unbridled capitalism alienates us from one another and prevents us from working together in a sensible way.
That's why I always place the behavior of my film characters in a social context.
In “Triangle of Sadness”, for example, I examine the phenomenon of abuse of power.
Iris Berben plays an unusual role in it: a passenger who keeps repeating the words "in the clouds". How did you come up with them?
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Ruben Östlund:
The model for this role was my mother-in-law, who after suffering a stroke can actually only say these three words.
Because she is from Germany, I was specifically looking for a German actress - and Iris impressed me the most during the audition.
In your film, Sunnyi Melles throws up a lot as the wife of an oligarch - similar to Dieter Dorn's Resi production of Yasmina Reza's "The God of Carnage". Did you see a video of her performance and therefore cast her?
Ruben Östlund:
No, she only told me about that performance later.
But Sunnyi really is a phenomenon: she can provoke and simulate a deceptively real seizure on command.
On the set she was definitely our bucket queen!
We even used a 3D printer to scan their vomit and use it to create a trophy that we hope to present one day: the Golden Barf Ray!
Wait a minute, you have to see that...
(He shows a photo of a sculpture covered in gold paint on his cell phone.)
A Brecht quote will be emblazoned on the pedestal of the trophy: "First comes the eating, then comes the morals."
The millionaire played by Sunnyi Melles demands the most absurd things from the ship's personnel. Does obscene wealth lead to obscene behavior?
Ruben Östlund:
Sometimes, certainly, but not necessarily.
During my research, a boat rental company told me that he had the whirlpool that was originally in the bedroom of his luxury yacht removed again: he was still able to accept that his customers all demanded that the pool be filled with champagne - but when they in addition to the Bubbly also wanted goldfish in the pool, so he pulled the emergency brake.
Such excesses exist, but I also know respectful millionaires with charming manners - like the sympathetic, extremely rich arms dealer couple in my film.
The world isn't black and white!
You yourself have an almost obscene wealth of trophies. For example, who needs two Golden Palms? Have you ever thought of gifting either of them? Maybe to a poor South American filmmaker who deserved it too?
Ruben Ostlund:
No.
I may be a communist, but I'm not an idealist!
(Laughs.)
The interview was conducted by Marco Schmidt.