Triangle of Sadness
Director: Ruben Östlund
Starring: Thobias Thorwid, Harris Dickinson, Charlbi Dean, Woody Harrelson
Genre: Meaning of Life
True laugh-out-loud movie comedies are hard to come by these days. Long gone are the glory days of Blazing Saddles (1974), Life of Brian (1979), Flying High (1980), The Blues Brothers (1980) and This is Spinal Tap (1984). So, it was great to watch Triangle of Sadness embrace its inner Monty Python.
Now, admittedly that doesn’t mean it’s to everyone’s taste. There were scenes where some people in the audience were squirming and watching the film between their fingers. But to me, that’s a good thing (and as an aside – full credit to Everything, Everywhere All at Once for its Oscar nominations as it is so surreal, funny and weird in parts that only those capable of dumping their reality perceptions at the cinema entrance can fully embrace it).
That’s not to say that Triangle of Sadness compares to a TV skit show of cutting edge humour bordering on gratuitous violence undertaken by extreme personalities.
But where Triangle of Sadness does resemble Monty Python is that it operates at two levels. Every comic scene is underwritten by social commentary, with insights into racism, sexism, socio-economics and politics. This is realised by pointing out that beauty and billions of dollars don’t help when you’re stranded on a desert island, nor do they prevent you from getting seasick and embarrassing yourself in front of friends, family or other billionaires.
Summing up Triangle of Sadness is best done by quoting Monty Python; “Always look on the bright side of life” and “Better get a bucket”.
Rating: Four and a half flesh wounds
