Art Movie Night

In the last week, I’ve SEEN two films on Netflix that are set within the contemporary artworld: Velvet Buzzsaw (2019) https://www.netflix.com/gb/title/80199689 and The Square (2017) https://www.netflix.com/gb/title/80191371. Written and directed by Dan Gilroy, Velvet Buzzsaw is a thriller based in LA’s contemporary art scene. In The Square, written and directed by Ruben Östlund, a prestigious Stockholm museum's curator finds himself in professional and personal crisis as he attempts to set up a controversial new exhibit.

In Velvet Buzzsaw Art critic Morf Vandewalt and Josephina, as assistant to Rhodora Haze, owner of the Haze Gallery and formerly a member of the rock band Velvet Buzzsaw, work together to promote the paintings of Vertil Dease. This is when things start to go seriously wrong… In The Square we are told that ‘The Square is a sanctuary of trust and caring. Within its bounds we all share equal rights and obligations’. And the film is, in fact, based partly on a similar installation Östlund and producer Kalle Boman had made in 2011 and exhibited in Sweden and Norway. Early on, Christian is robbed and the path the curator pursues in retrieving his wallet and phone is at odds with the ethical ideals presented by the exhibited piece.

Both films showcase fantastic acting. Jake Gyllenhaal, Zawe Ashton, Rene Russo, Toni Collette and John Malkovich make a fabulous cast and play their parts to perfection. Likewise, Claes Bang, Elisabeth Moss, Terry Notary and Dominic West give excellent performances. For me, Zawe Ashton is brilliant as Josephina and Terry Notary as a chimpanzee-fixated performance artist at a patrons’ dinner is both thrilling and excruciatingly painful to watch. Just to also note here, for this scene, Östlund was inspired by a notorious incident involving Oleg Kulik in Stockholm in 1996 where the Russian artist became an angry, violent dog attacking visitors and works in the gallery.

1. Theatrical one-sheet for THE SQUARE, a Magnolia Pictures release. Photo courtesy of Magnolia Pictures.

1. Theatrical one-sheet for THE SQUARE, a Magnolia Pictures release. Photo courtesy of Magnolia Pictures.

Slick and stylish, we are immediately immersed into the high-end art worlds in which both films are located. Money, opinion and publicity, the commercial aspects of the artworld, seem to prevail. However, both films shift and it becomes apparent that they have a social and moral message: a supernatural force taking revenge on those who let their greed get the better of them and an artwork which is simply an enclosed space where people are told to behave responsibly. What starts as a satire on the contemporary art world in Velvet Buzzsaw soon becomes a dark and, at times, really gruesome horror movie. And similarly, what seems like an amusing take on the practicalities of exhibiting contemporary art, soon shifts positioning Christian’s downfall within the mantra put forward by The Square. Both films move from the totally believable to more dramatic and fanciful theatre. They are satirical and uncomfortable, elusive and suggestive.  

If it’s entertainment you’re after, I recommend watching either, or like me, binge and watch both!