The Square (2017)

Baffling. And long. The curator of a Swedish contemporary art museum is the protagonist but this award-winning and -nominated movie veers wildly into contemplations of class and prestige, with one crazy performance art piece near the end. We rented it last week on iTunes for its Best Foreign Film Oscar nod and Palme d'Or win at Cannes last year.

Claes Bang, who is Danish, plays the curator, named Christian. In the beginning he seems a pleasant enough, and quite handsome, fellow, though by the end I, for one, was questioning his actions. Elisabeth Moss' (after Truth I enjoyed her intense performances in The Handmaid's Tale and Top of the Lake season two) reporter Anne is perplexing, swinging from professional to needy to just plain dumb. Dominic West (profiled in Pride) doesn't deserve the billing he gets, as he's in two scenes. Terry Notary is also top billed (and prominently pictured) on the poster with the other three, and, although he appears rarely, his one big scene is a big deal, where he plays an ape-man, appropriate for his other credits, which include stunts, motion capture, and movement choreography on several of the Planet of the Apes reboots. That said, the ape-man's big scene doesn't advance the plot as far as we could tell.

This is the fifth feature for Swedish director/writer Ruben Östland.

The locations are gorgeous: the museum, Christian's opulent apartment, several aerial shots of square stairwells.

Notably featured are Bobby McFerrin's  Improvisació n°1 and his duet with Yo Yo Ma on Ave Maria, along with other songs, listed here.

Jack and I aren't in agreement with Rotten Tomatoes' critics, averaging 82%, nor its audiences at 72. We'd give it about a 50 for the cinematography. He says, "It's too much work!" We were grateful to have watched it home so we could jeer and take breaks.