The Square

Part of privileges of being an SFS member

This film explores the existential crisis of human beings. Christian, lead curator of a Stockholm museum X-Royal, a contemporary and modern art museum, faces difficulties professionally and personally.

The film begins with Christian sleeping on an office couch and it is daylight. A fine art magazine is seen on the floor with a boop strategically hidden. One assumes he had a wild night.

A crane lifts a statue of someone important sitting on a horse on top of a pedestal by the neck. Naturally the statue breaks. In place of this prominent position in front of the museum is a square lit with flourescent tubes. According to the artist, within this square is a"safe space".
"The Square is a sanctuary of trust and caring. Within it, we all share equal rights and obligations.”

Christian is faced with this task to sell this.

When interviewed by an American journalist on the greatest challenge, he says it's too raise funds. Same problems.

He later sleeps with this journalist who lives with a chimpanzee-child. This chimp gets its own crayons to doodle and stares at its owner jealously when she brought Christian home. The many explicit sex shots are crazy and the humping and thumping. This journalist has this crazy control obsession over dumping of Christian's condom. Makes him put it on so business-like, takes off her clothes in a brisk business-like manner too and asks if he did cum. And insists he was inside her the next day at work. She's obviously infatuated with him while he doesn't think much of the sex act, like all men. The really hilarious part is when she insists on dumping his condom. I had no idea it was so elastic. Like over 60cm.

In the beginning of the film we see hoards of well-dressed working class Swedes walking out of the subway and to their destinations. And this voice in the crowd, "want to save a life today?" And no one ever stops to ask what is it. What can I do you save a life? Nope. Everyone ignores and life carried on. It's really disturbing.

When Christian is knocked into otw to work, approached by a woman who claims to be hunted down by someone trying to kill her, he stops and tries to do prevent this mishap together with another passer-by. Little did he know he was being robbed. After preventing the mishap and feeling good about this with the newly made "friend" they part ways.

In his attempt to retrieve his money, wallet and handphone, he and a subordinate hatch a plan through tracking of the mobile's GPS. They printed a letter demanding a return of the possessions by leaving the items at the nearby convenience stall and this was slotted to every level's mailbox.

His subordinate chickened out and Christan is left to do it on his own. He tries to use his star diva status to get his subordinate to do it to no avail. While he goes around arduously trying to slot the letter, there's a perpetual dog barking and in the car downstairs, his subordinate is harassed by a gang of crazies. The cropped shot from within the car gives this intense and unstable feeling like he's going to killed. It's scary. Christian is finally done and runs out and orders him to drive and get the hell out out of this place.

To their amazement somebody did return the items. They called on the first day- no news. Second day- someone from the convenience stall called.

The number of homeless people in Stockholm is prevalent. In contrast to the number of well-heeled people. A Gypsy demands for food in this convenience stall where Christian tried looking for his items on the first day. A certain kind of burger with no onions. True to his attitude he gets the burger and asked her to pick out the onions herself.

When he got the items back he donated all the money to her.

To his surprise on the third day someone from the convenience stall says someone is demanding to see Christan. This person says he was accused of being a thief and his parents now banned him from his favorite leisure. He demands that Christan apologies to his family. Strongly worded this boy is crazy and this is seen when the cowardly Christian, sends his subordinate to confront this boy, who flies into a rage, overturned rubbish and threatened that Christian will be harmed and will regret his action.

Distracted by this, Christan signs off a crazy video to promote "The Square", created by a bunch of Millennials in a PR firm. All they want is a viral video. This video eventually blows up in Christian's face when he first gets a call for reaching xxx number of views on YouTube for this video, then being told by Board that he needs to step down and having a press con to announce that. He's let off the hook when the PR firm takes blame for creating this video of a toddler with blond hair blue- eyes and carrying a ragged toy blows up in the Square. She's obviously homeless.

We realise he's married and divorced/separated when his two girls visit him. He forgot to pick them up and they go crazy quarreling with each other. The crazy boy tracks him down home one day and when Christian scared him away by accidentally pushing him down the stairs, he did not help this whimpering puppy boy.

When Christan was out looking for his girls in a crowded mall, he could not get anyone's help to look after his bags. Instead he had to approach a beggar who didn't steal any of his items.