Force Majeure

The movie depicts issues around ideals, masculinity, femininity, feminism, autonomy, family, guilt, shame, and (absence of) forgiveness in a very compelling way. It is one of the best movies I have seen in a while.

Force Majeure is a disaster movie of the uber-allegorical maxi-metaphorical contra-comedic type.Its initially literal presentation might leave a viewer wondering "What just (really) happened?"Swedish married couple Tomas and Ebba take a hard-earned skiing vacation with their son, and daughter. Pre-existing marital discord is overtly manifested in the kids' behavioral problems and sass. What they all need is a little cataclysm to get them to open up. Ironically, it's only the children who can explicitly state their fears and anguish with a painful economy of words. The adults bumble along in marital ineptitude: acting out, finger pointing, hand-wringing and cerebral dithering. Couples sporting different relationship variations enter the fray: open marriage, April-December romance. The catastrophic paradigm shift introduces a new pivot point to the relationship dynamo. Meanwhile, a lone janitor observes all. He is looked down upon until they need him for something.It's all funny insofar as a guffaw is a laugh and stupidity and ridicule are a sub-genre of comedy. Every scene invokes cringing, blanching, and twitching.So how could THAT be a 5-star movie?Force Majeure was written and directed by Ruben Östlund. One has to separate out what they think Östlund really means versus what they think he wants a viewer to "get" versus it might all just be an observational expository with no single point and no heroes or villains. There is a lot of subtext here that goes as deep as a viewer is willing to go. There are no absolutes in societal gender roles. The same is true for watching movies. When we think we have identified some truism, it can become ridiculously reductive. Regardless, the fact is we are exposing our children to dangers - both real and imagined - everywhere with everything we say and do.The visuals are stunning. When not crystal clear, they are provocative and often downright absurd. The dialog is original and unexpected. The acting is both sublime and in your face. (Watch Tomas's face fall - but rise again - in one of the many bathroom scenes. It's subtle, yet childish. It's as if he could only catch and hold Ebba's attention, everything will be put back aright.) The emotional reactions invoked can be remarkable, even if they are surgically uncomfortable. Scenes are complicated; there is humor, but it creates disorder. The laughs may come days after watching Force Majeure.Östlund claims Force Majeure was inspired by an online video, which it certainly does mimic acutely. But where he takes it is, well, debatable. Hugely debatable. The initial furor seems to center on gender roles, but it is what he does NOT expand or expound upon that is most chilling. Who is minding the children during this? And what are we telling them with our words and actions? Who's fit for their safe-keeping? And if you're not, and I'm not, then who is? Because someone is going to.THAT is the unspoken takeaway. Say what you will about feminism being the death of chivalry, self-preservation trumping altruism, etc. Our first priority - and our last best hope - is to stop acting like children and actually be raising our children.NOTE: To avoid any SPOILERS, the Comments section has a question that still makes my brain writhe. Please don't go there if you don't want SPOILERS.

As I continue to play catch-up on 2014 in time for the Oscars, I took the opportunity tonight to watch the Swedish film, FORCE MAJEURE. The second definition in the Oxford Dictionary for "force majeure" is "irresistible compulsion or greater force." While an obvious connection can be made to the avalanche which occurs in the film, and is a pivotal moment for the family at the center of the story, it also works as a metaphor for the husband's instinctual reaction towards it. Thematically, the film deals with issues like familial bonds, masculinity and control (or the lack thereof). This was a human drama, first and foremost, and I thought it did an excellent job at dealing with these questions. At the end of the day there aren't any concrete answers given, and while some might feel cheated, I thought it was very judicious of the filmmakers to leave things up for interpretation and just present the story as is. There were also a number of excellent scenes which neatly captured the discussion they seemed to be going for. Among them were a pair of scenes in which the wife recalls to friends (with her husband present) how things went down during the avalanche. The second of these was rather intense and just further indicated how much it affected both of them. Other elements which stood out to me was the use of Vivaldi's Summer movement from the "The Four Seasons" as a musical motif. Perhaps ironic considering the winter weather, I also thought it added to dramatic tension and created a sense of impending doom, i.e., an oncoming storm. The only downside I could really find were the two actors who played the children. While they weren't in too many of the scenes, or at least didn't have that much dialogue, I thought the moments when they panicked and screamed were unbearably annoying and screechy. Overall, I thought this was a well-made and well-acted film that explored some really interesting themes with humor, sensitivity and balance. The typical moviegoer probably wouldn't give this a second glance, but for those with more discerning tastes I feel like this could be a rewarding, cathartic experience.

Billed as a "wickedly funny" drama is totally misleading. Wicked in parts perhaps, but funny? There is nothing I found very funny in this movie, unless you find humor in seemingly mundane interactions and/or you really have a low bar for humor (or I am not as black-souled as I need to be?). I feel like this billing is doing the audience a disservice, as I went into it purposely looking for some comedy (I didn't think it was an outright comedy, but comedy does imply a bit of levity) and instead, realized over time that this movie was solely about underlying themes of priorities, selfishness and self-preservation, instinctual decisions, morality and the effect these have on one and one's relationships with others. Heady stuff, no real comedic counterpoint to be found. The trailer seems to suggest a bit of comedy as well. You are much better served going into this movie thinking it will be a family drama and an exploration into human reactions than anything else.On that note, I thought it was well done. The pace is slow; perhaps lending a bit more tension to the already pervasive stress of the subject matter. There are a couple scenes in particular which are quite socially awkward and baring, and powerful.Overall, this was a good, thought-provoking movie. Perhaps a good one to watch as a couple, because it touches on how men and women might think, feel and handle things differently. There is a potential for good discussion there. It's a bit long overall, with no real conclusion, just a presentation of an interesting set of circumstances, reactions and consequences.

The script, direction, acting, and editing are close to flawless in this lengthy yet tense comedy drama set at a ski resort in the mountains, where the avalanche implied in the title sets in motion {both real and metaphorical} a seemingly unbridgeable impasse in the up-to-now fairly happy marriage of Tomas and Ebba, with their two young children, resulting in scenes often so painful to watch one feels one is evesdropping on intimate emotions as well as their visible enactments.Director Ruben Östlund's brilliant screenplay allows us unrelentingly to peer at scenes which go beyond marital strife into areas of pained existential shame and guilt, with viewpoints {theirs and ours} shifting and rumbling like the ostensibly innocent forces surrounding the characters on all sides.The actual dialogue between the now chilly couple is so forensically accurate I was inwardly squirming in recognition of some of the unresolvable rows and arguments I've had with partners, in which so much is said, or not said, and so little heard. Both Tomas and Ebba, because of the almost unique nature of the cause of their disaffection, behave in ways that are at once understandable and exasperating.You feel their misery.Östland's cinema has been rightly compared to Michael Haneke's edgier films, such as Hidden or the merciless Funny Games, and my only quibble with this one is that it does take a while to take flight, though once it does I for one was gripped.My DVD copy gets a docked star for the frustrating letterbox format, and the fact that too often the subtitles are difficult to make out due to having white print set against white snow!Otherwise, this is a rare and dazzling film.

Having purchased this DVD looking forward to watching, it had arrived today, 20th January 2021. Having put the DVD into my DVD player, it began to play, but stopped at 000.34 secs, it literally wouldn't play any further.So i removed the DVD and decided to play it on my iMac Desktop, it got jammed, I was not able to even play it, an error code appeared for a split second and I then could not eject the DVD. Strange and alarming, considering that it took me to shut down my iMac and restart and press the CTRL/ALT/ESC keys to eject the DVD, felt like it was burning.I am awaiting a replacement and shall not be paying again...hopefully it was a faulty DVD, i'll have to wait for the replacement to see..It's an early night for me as i am not able to watch this evening...Sigh!

I purchased this DVD because I had recently seen the staged version of Force Majeure at the Donmar and wanted to "compare notes"........

dull ... I gave up watching after 30 minutes

Clever revelations of a strong man's weakness within the family with added twist illustrating wife's weakness without words. Very human story. Well worth reading slowly to pick up every nuance. Very Good indeed.