GLASGOW FILM FESTIVAL GLASGOW FILM FESTIVAL 2015 CLOSING GALA: FORCE MAJEURE
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k R b Confrontational Scandinavian i lmmaker Ruben C f Östlund’s previous feature, Play was button-pushing, state-of-the-nation cinema based on an account of real-life bullying which tackled tough societal issues. It caused much controversy among the left in Sweden. His latest i lm and Glasgow Film Festival closer, Force Majeure, isn’t afraid to provoke either. Östlund mercilessly needles at the cracks in a marriage and questions the idea of modern masculinity in this clever subversion of the disaster movie which is designed to get under the skin.
and creative partner as his relationship with Jennifer Jason Leigh headed for a 2011 divorce.
FRANCES HA (2012) Gerwig co-wrote the script for this mild paddle through late- twentysomething lifestyle angst, as well as taking centre stage as the eponymous Frances, a woman perpetually surprised by the fact that she can’t seem to fund Manhattan rents simply by drifting about smiling gooi ly. Frances loses direction even more when her best friend moves out of their shared apartment, straining their friendship and bringing Frances face to face with her own lack of a life plan. As she meanders through i nancial disarray and awkward social interactions on the way to a reconciliation with herself, audience members either swoon at the kooky adorableness of it all, or resist the urge to shout ‘PULL YOURSELF TOGETHER, WOMAN’ at the screen. WHILE WE’RE YOUNG (2014) For his new i lm, Baumbach teams up again with Ben Stiller, who, as in Greenberg, plays a weary older man who experiences some rejuvenation via friendship with younger and edgier people. Isolated by their age-appropriate friends’ continual breeding, childless couple Josh (Stiller) and Cornelia (Naomi Watts) instead i nd fun with a pair of feckless hipsters, played by Amanda Seyfried and Adam Driver. But how authentic is the friendship? Premiering at Toronto, the i lm met with signii cant acclaim; its Glasgow Film Festival screening will be its European premiere.
While We’re Young is the Opening Gala i lm at the Glasgow Film Festival, Glasgow Film Theatre, Wed 18 Feb. General release from Fri 3 Apr.
Who are the main players? Married couple, Tomas and Ebba, are holidaying at a ski resort in the French Alps with their two children. Apart from Tomas continually checking his phone for work emails and calls, their holiday is a relaxing idyll. That is, until what they think is a near-death experience changes everything. As well as being very tense the i lm’s observational style makes for incredibly funny viewing Östlund centres in on the i ght-or-l ight response by creating grand, exhilarating spectacle in the form of an avalanche. He astutely and wittily challenges society’s ingrained gender role expectations in one single scene.
It’s basically a disaster movie about marriage It’s difi cult to look away from Tomas and Ebba’s declining relationship with their explosive arguments often ending in elongated wailing sessions. Östlund sets up confrontational discussions which will make you squirm in your seat. While the focus may be on masculinity, Östlund creates some interesting female characters too Karin Myrenberg gets the great role of Charlotte who hooks up with an American toy boy and upends the traditional values of matrimony with a laid-back attitude to her open marriage.
Force Majeure was the ofi cial Swedish entry in the foreign language i lm category at the Oscars… Östlund’s outrageous man-child response to not being nominated for an Academy Award makes much more sense after you see his darkly humorous i lm. (Katherine McLaughlin)
■ Force Majeure is GFF’s Closing Gala, Glasgow Film Theatre, Sun 1 Mar, . General release from Fri 10 Apr. 5 Feb–2 Apr 2015 THE LIST 19