In an effort to watch more World Cinema that isn’t Korean or Japanese, Force Majeure came to my attention and is highly recommended by a vast majority of film critics.
From Swedish-born director Ruben Östlund, this is a narrative about a family who go to France on a skiing holiday. After initially being happy as Larry, a controlled avalanche speeds towards them and appears to have gone wrong. It just so happens that despite the chaos within the resort’s restaurant when its crowds believe the avalanche is going to complete envelop them, everything goes exactly as planned and not a speck of snow lands upon them.
So, what’s the big issue? Well, in a spurt of panic, the father of our leading family (played by Johannes Bah Kuhnke) does the opposite of what any father is ‘supposed’ to do; instead of attempting to shield his wife and children from harm, he pushes them aside and runs to safety by himself, not forgetting to take his iPhone and his gloves with him. Yikes. Someone’s in the dog house.
For a film in which very little happens, Force Majeure is really gripping and intense. The themes of masculinity, human instinct, and family values are really prevalent and well done here, which is cool because it’s not entirely obvious where this movie is going after the main event, mainly because it conspires relatively early on in the movie.
Most of the plotting is well paced, although it is a slow burn so you do have to be in the right mindset to watch it. However, the ending was a mild disappointment for me. I just did not understand the purpose of it at all. There’s a whole rigmarole with a bus, and its passengers refused to be escorted from the resort in it that just felt really out of place. I’m sure there’s some deep meaning somewhere but I’ve just been left scratching my head if I’m honest. You might get it though? Maybe I’m just not using my cranium enough.
Secondary cast member Mats is portrayed by Kristofer Hivju, who really showed what he was capable of in this movie, even though he was only a supporting character. I for one was super impressed by his acting here; he gives an even better performance than the one he did in Game of Thrones.
There’s an unashamed use of one song within Force Majeure that really set the tone to perfection. Vivaldi’s Four Seasons is literally peak tension music, and although it will always remind me of Portrait of a Lady on Fire, it was a perfect choice here too. I love it every time I hear it, so the soundtrack here gets top marks.
I’m not sure how to put this any differently, but I didn’t enjoy this as much as I’d hoped to. The cinematography was brilliant, and it is clearly well made, but it’s a really deep sort of movie thematically that I’d not been aware of.
I can see the merits of it, and the commentary on masculinity that it offers is really outstanding, but it’s really one of those movies that you have to be up for mentally to enjoy. Make sure that you’re ready for it and you’ll love it.
Force Majeure is available to rent on the Google Play Store for £2.49 in the UK.
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