THE SQUARE: The Frida Cinema

305 East 4th Street,Santa Ana CA 92701

04 October, 2021

Description

October’s Volunteer of the Month is Hiroki Funahashi, who has selected Ruben Ostland’s Palme d’Or-winning THE SQUARE as his VOTM pick. October’s Volunteer of the Month is Hiroki Funahashi, who has selected Ruben Ostland’s Palme d’Or-winning The Square as his VOTM pick. “The Square” is a sanctuary of trust and caring. It is the latest exhibition at the X-Royal art museum in Stockholm that curator Christian (Claes Bang) is overseeing. Christian is a well respected, divorced but devoted father of two who drives an electric car, and supports good causes. As the opening date of “The Square” nears, a disastrous PR campaign threatens to damage the museum’s good reputation in the community, sending Chrstian into a philosophical crisis of morality. A scathing portrait of the modern art world, The Square is supported by brilliant and playful performances from Elisabeth Moss, Dominic West, and a simian-like Terry Notary that must be seen to be believed. “As he demonstrated in his 2014 drama, Force Majeure, Östlund is a brilliant anatomist of upper-class male fragility and all-around human selfishness. But he is also a generous and unapologetic entertainer, a provocateur whose cool, clinical touch comes wrapped in seductive compositions (the cinematographer is Fredrik Wenzel) and sharply contoured performances.” — Justin Chang, The Los Angeles Times “Throughout the film there are many small gags and standalone vignettes – half-Tati, half-Vine – that take a stab at the contradictory, unequal nature of western liberalism.” — Violet Lucca, Sight and Sound Magazine “As much as The Square enjoys poking fun at the buffoonery of the art world, it’s more interested in what that world represents: a self-sustaining bubble where money, power, and posturing commingle — a placeholder for capitalist society writ large. What this creates is a world that runs on a series of contradictions.” — Craig Hubert, Hyperallergic The Frida Cinema is a non-profit organization dedicated to enriching, connecting, and educating communities through the art of cinema.  Founded in 2014, it is Orange County's sole non-profit, independent cinema.OC's year-round film festival.