Ten days after its opening here in Denmark, this movie is still playing to packed theatres, so apparently many people like it. It also has a pretty high rating, but I fear it will go down.
I am an anti-capitalist myself, so I appreciated what this movie was trying to do, which is to use ham-fisted symbolism to problematize and criticize capitalism. There were some good scenes, mainly during the captain's dinner scene, but unfortunately I just don't think Östlund is much of an accomplished writer or director. Throughout this movie I was bored - esp. By the slowness, which is really unforgivable. Very little really happened in this movie in terms of plot, and it took forever to get to the meatier parts. For a comedy, it also wasn't much fun. 2-3 laughs, tops. Comic timing wasn't good. The political message of the movie was also so heavy-handed that it can hardly be called art; it's more of a didactic tract. At 2 hours and 30 minutes, the movie is far, far, faaar too long - an entire hour could easily be cut.
The length is a particular sin because of the movie's infuriatingly terrible ending, which is sudden and nonsensical, making the audience feel like we've only gotten half of the story. That ending, which cut off the plot, leaving it unresolved, cost this movie a whole star in my rating. Endings are hard, granted - but this is the ending of a writer/director who really doesn't know how to structure a story. As a result, the movie only gets a slightly above average rating - 6 stars out of 10 - from me. A disappointment.
I am an anti-capitalist myself, so I appreciated what this movie was trying to do, which is to use ham-fisted symbolism to problematize and criticize capitalism. There were some good scenes, mainly during the captain's dinner scene, but unfortunately I just don't think Östlund is much of an accomplished writer or director. Throughout this movie I was bored - esp. By the slowness, which is really unforgivable. Very little really happened in this movie in terms of plot, and it took forever to get to the meatier parts. For a comedy, it also wasn't much fun. 2-3 laughs, tops. Comic timing wasn't good. The political message of the movie was also so heavy-handed that it can hardly be called art; it's more of a didactic tract. At 2 hours and 30 minutes, the movie is far, far, faaar too long - an entire hour could easily be cut.
The length is a particular sin because of the movie's infuriatingly terrible ending, which is sudden and nonsensical, making the audience feel like we've only gotten half of the story. That ending, which cut off the plot, leaving it unresolved, cost this movie a whole star in my rating. Endings are hard, granted - but this is the ending of a writer/director who really doesn't know how to structure a story. As a result, the movie only gets a slightly above average rating - 6 stars out of 10 - from me. A disappointment.