Catching up on some things we missed over the holidays. Following Kelly Reichardt’s criticism of “Barbie” (“They are part of a huge marketing machine, but they are sold as art. And all this is just celebrated. As a filmmaker, I wonder what this will do to people’s expectations for future films,” she said), two-time Palme d’Or Swedish filmmaker Ruben Östlund (“The Square,” “Triangle Of Sadness”) gave the film a sharp ding over the December break. Östlund dug in hard against the film, even claiming that toy company Mattel bought off “Barbie” writer/director Greta Gerwig to make a big piece of I.P. for corporations.
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“I saw “Barbie,” yes. For me, it’s cynicism disguised as optimism,” he began, telling Premiere France. “It perfectly describes the madness of our time. A toy manufacturer [Mattel] finances their own film and buys off an American auteur filmmaker to make their very old-fashioned dolls more presentable… It’s completely crazy, in my opinion.”
“The film is more about the virtual world than the real world. It’s about statements, quotes, constantly taking a stand against something, etc.,” he continued. I didn’t like it. One of the positives about capitalism is that as there is competition, we create more products. And we try to make them better than the last ones. And for that, we need word of mouth between audiences. But a film like ‘Barbie’ pirates this process by putting a ton of money into marketing, and there is barely any word of mouth.
One doesn’t want to call our sour grapes, but when you’re the biggest movie of the year (2023), it does put a target on your back. It’s not like anyone came out with Gerwig’s “Little Women” and maybe that’s because it really wasn’t part of the Oscar conversation (and wasn’t the highest-grossing film of the year).
Meanwhile, in a recent interview with Deadline, he said his upcoming satire, “The Entertainment System Is Down,” is “aim[ing] is to shoot in early 2025.”
Another social satire, Östlund’s bread and butter these days, the film will be set on a long-haul flight that descends into deadly chaos when the inflight entertainment system goes down.
“Modern human beings are used to being able to distract themselves with screens; we’re never bored. Soon after take-off on this long-haul flight—I was thinking something like London to Sydney—the passengers get the horrible news that the entertainment system is not working. As their iPhones and iPads start charging out, they’re doomed to analogue boredom,” Östlund explained.
“It’s been a great challenge to write the script because you’re very limited when it comes to creating dynamic, nuance, and energy in one closed environment like that. So, it took a long time, but I think I’ve managed to do something dynamic, even if it takes place in one place,” he added.
Östlund revealed that the plan is to build a life-size replica of a modern airplane in a studio.
“I don’t want to limit myself to working in small sections… I want to be able to do long tracking shots. It will be one of the biggest studio builds when it comes to airplanes that has ever been made,” he explained.
The provocative filmmaker also said he’s planning a scene that may cause walkouts at Cannes (cute that he presumes it’ll be accepted at Cannes, but as a two-time Palme d’Or winner, he’s probably not wrong.
Evidently, he’s planning a scene where a boy asks to borrow an iPad and has to wait for five minutes, and that five minute becomes an agonizingly long wait for both the boy and the audience, told in real-time.
“And then I want to challenge the audience,” Östlund he explained. “You stay with the kid in real-time. And he’s looking in the catalog, putting it back and the restlessness is coming. So he asks his mother, ‘How much do we have left?’ And she says, ‘Well, now it’s four minutes and 45 seconds, you have to calm down.’ When the audience starts to realise that this is a real-time shot, I think a lot of people are going to be very, very frustrated,” he laughed. “I want to create history.”
Of the potential walk-outs, he said, “And I think it’s going to be more provocative than any violent, and disturbing content. Because to be left alone with your thoughts and challenging the audience to do the same thing, then it’s going to be very interesting.”
I’ll just say don’t count your chickens before they’re hatched Östlund because of right now, this smells like so much ego that it’s potentially destined for backlash. Be careful, dude.