A performance artist tests the art-for-art’s sake resolve of a bunch of pompous urbanites in a scene from “The Square.”

A performance artist tests the art-for-art’s sake resolve of a bunch of pompous urbanites in a scene from “The Square.”

Sprawling satire of pretentious artist types scores rich humor

“The Square” features a star-making performance by a 50-year-old Danish actor named Claes Bang.

I once interviewed filmmaker Steven Soderbergh on stage in front of an audience that included one person who occasionally made canine barking sounds that resounded through the hall. This was only mildly distracting, and if it was a person with Tourette’s Syndrome or something, I’m glad he came and took in the event.

It did make me wonder, sitting there on stage, what I should do if things got actually disruptive.

Things get disruptive under similar circumstances in “The Square,” and — typically for this wicked film — nobody’s reactions help anything. A pretentious artist (Dominic West), who apparently always wears pajamas, is being interviewed before a museum crowd when an audience member begins screeching out obscene suggestions.

The snooty spectators quickly turn on the unfortunate man, while the artist grandly shows everyone how cool he is by welcoming this chaotic moment. The scene is both excruciating and funny, and thus in tune with the rest of what happens in “The Square,” the sprawling winner of this year’s top prize at the Cannes Film Festival.

There are at least a half-dozen subplots buzzing inside the film, at the center of which is a contemporary-art installation that gives the movie its name: a marked-off rectangle in the pavement outside a Stockholm art museum, a space where people are meant to practice kindness and behave responsibly.

Literally and figuratively, the characters in the movie stay outside the square — this fizzy satire is a showcase for vanity and shallowness.

But don’t tune out just yet: the saving grace of “The Square” is its relentless humor. Director Ruben Östlund’s previous film was the icy-sharp “Force Majeure,” which was focused in a way “The Square” is definitely not.

Here Östlund lets his imagination fly in every direction, and the result is a movie that stays alive — often hilariously — from moment to moment, even when it doesn’t seem to be adding up.

Our main character is Christian (Claes Bang), the director of the museum. When his phone is snatched one day, he goes off on an ill-conceived plan to confront the culprit, an exercise that has all kinds of unforeseen consequences.

Things fall apart after that, from Christian’s strange one-night stand with an American journalist (Elisabeth Moss, of “The Handmaid’s Tale”) to a disastrously tasteless ad campaign devised by the museum’s ultra-hip marketing team.

The absurdities of the art world are an easy target, and some of Östlund’s satirical jibes are musty. But even if the points have been made before, they’re energetically played. The most outrageous sequence is a posh museum fundraiser where a shirtless performance artist is presented as the evening’s special offering; he runs amok, in imitation of a wild beast.

At first the assembled flatter themselves on how transgressive they all are; then everybody nervously wonders who will step in and end the violence. Terry Notary, a motion-capture actor who specializes in apes, is appropriately unsettling as the performer.

“The Square” is a big, bursting movie, and it includes ideas and characters that are set up without being resolved. When you’re a director coming out of nowhere (well, Sweden) and you score an international success like “Force Majeure,” you really ought to swing for the fences with your next project. Östlund does exactly that.

For me the excitement waned as the film got into the last stages of its 142-minute running time, but until then it fulfills the requirements of an arthouse roller-coaster ride. It helps that Östlund has a secret weapon in the splendidly-named Claes Bang, a tall, dapper Danish actor who glides through the film’s nuttiness with the aplomb of a born leading man — his Christian is smart, stylish, and just morally complacent enough to mess up everything.

Bang is 50, and if there’s any justice this film will do for him what “Inglourious Basterds” did for Christoph Waltz: put a quirkily distinctive actor in front of a much wider audience.

“The Square” (3 stars)

A sprawling art-world satire, in which a glamorous museum director (star-making performance by Claes Bang) stumbles into a series of disasters after his phone is stolen one day. Swedish director Ruben Östlund previously did the gem-like “Force Majeure,” and this is a very different animal, but the free-swinging satire frequently hits its easy targets, and humor is rich throughout. With Elisabeth Moss.

Rating: R, for subject matter, violence

Opening Friday: SIFF Cinema Uptown, 206-324-9996

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Life

Children play and look up at a large whale figure hanging from the ceiling at the Imagine Children’s Museum (Olivia Vanni / The herald)
Fun for all ages: The best places for family adventures

From thrilling activities to relaxing outings, here’s where to make unforgettable family memories!

Everett P. Fog, 15, in front of an Everett mural along Colby Avenue on Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Hello, Everett! No escape when your name is same as the town

Everett P. Fog, 15, sees and hears his first name wherever he goes. His middle name is also epic.

Jared Meads takes a breath after dunking in an ice bath in his back yard while his son Fallen, 5, reads off the water temperature on Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Chill out: Dive into the cold plunge craze

Plungers say they get mental clarity and relief for ails in icy water in tubs, troughs and clubs.

Schack exhibit to highlight Camano Island watercolorists

“Four Decades of Friendship: John Ebner & John Ringen” will be on display Jan. 16 through Feb. 9.

XRT Trim Adds Rugged Features Designed For Light Off-Roading
Hyundai Introduces Smarter, More Capable Tucson Compact SUV For 2025

Innovative New Convenience And Safety Features Add Value

Sequoia photo provided by Toyota USA Newsroom
If Big Is Better, 2024 Toyota Sequoia Is Best

4WD Pro Hybrid With 3-Rows Elevates Full-Size

2025 Toyota Land Cruiser (Provided by Toyota).
2025 Toyota Land Cruiser revives its roots

After a 3-year hiatus, the go-anywhere SUV returns with a more adventurous vibe.

Enjoy the wilderness in the CX-50. Photo provided by Mazda USA Newsroom
2025 Mazda CX-50 Adds Hybrid Capability to Turbo Options

Line-Up Receives More Robust List Of Standard Equipment

Practical And Functional bZ4X basks in sunshine. Photo provided by Toyota Newsroom.
2024 bZ4X Puts Toyota Twist On All-Electric SUV’s

Modern Styling, Tech & All-Wheel Drive Highlight

Photo provided by Mazda USA Newsroom
2025 Mazda3 Turbo Premium Plus Hatch Delivers Value

Plus Functionality of AWD And G-Vectoring

2025 Mazda CX-90 Turbo SUV (Provided by Mazda)
2025 CX-90 Turbo models get Mazda’s most powerful engine

Mazda’s largest-ever SUV is equipped to handle the weight, with fuel efficiency kept in check.

Provided by Bridges Pets, Gifts, & Water Gardens.
Discover where to find the best pet supplies in town

Need the perfect store to spoil your furry friends? Herald readers have you covered.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.