Force Majeure

2014 family drama

Rating: 16/20

Plot: A family of four on a skiing vacation find their relationships tested because of the response of the father during an avalanche scare.

One of my favorite things in movies is beautiful shots of inconsequential things. Ruben Ostlund's movie is filled with those. A lovely shot of snowy mountain peaks against a nighttime sky backdrop with an unidentified flying object that turns out to be a drone, a wall of shoes, ski-lift mechanisms, lots of skiing, a character disappearing in this chilling fog. Of course, some of those might not be inconsequential. But anyway, this is a beautifully shot movie, and I would contend that it's even a movie you could understand without having any dialogue. There is language, the kind you have to read at the bottom of the screen unless you happen to speak Swedish or whatever language these people are using. But is the dialogue in this really necessary? So much of this story is told through the imagery and the body language and the way these characters are shot. Most of what is going on with this married couple isn't spoken anyway, but these two can't conceal their issues because Ostlund just won't let them.

A plot synopsis might make this sound like a downer, a film all about a disintegrating marriage. Knowing that two kids are also experiencing trauma because of how their parents are acting or that a bearded pal of the father also gets sucked into the whole thing makes it seem like even more of a downer. A film that dives into an investigation of masculinity, contains a scene where characters are sharing primal screams, and showcases characters who are the "bloody victim[s] of [their] own instincts" just sounds like a hoot, doesn't it?  Force Majeure, however, is definitely a comedy. My favorite funny moments involved the patriarch of the family being called "the best looking man in the bar," the contradictory arguments (instinct vs. logic) of his friend after hearing the story about the avalanche, some hilarious whimpering, and some windshield wipers. The windshield wipers even made me laugh out loud.

Two knock-out parallel scenes: synchronous teeth-brushing, urinating, sideways glancing, and lowering of toilet seats. Those scenes show so much about this couple's feelings toward each other without a single word exchanged.

This was pretty enough and fun enough that I'd like to see it again soon. I have questions about the colors of the children's coats, why we see three out of four of the family members urinating at some point in the movie, and what smoking has to do with anything. And the irony of using the "Summer" part of Vivaldi's Four Seasons in a movie that won't make anybody think of summer. That's got to mean something, right?

Oh, I almost forgot to mention my favorite character--a nosy, wordless (as I recall, at least) janitor who kind of watches a lot of this unfold at the same time we do. He's great!