Force Majeure (Ruben Ostlund, 2014) : Sweden/France/Norway/Denmark

Reviewed by Nathan Pécout. Viewed at Antioch University/SBIFF 2016.

It is in the magnificence of the French Alps that Swedish director Ruben Östlund decided to set his family drama Force Majeure. And it is in this white immensity that a normal family of Swedish tourists will lose itself.

The first noticeable thing is the inspiration coming from The Shining (Stanley Kubrick, 1980) : a family surrounded by a white hell, alone in a hotel that seems empty beside the worrying jack-of-all-trades, the family stability gradually falling apart, the black screen counting the passing days and the classical music theme, cherished by Kubrick not only in The Shining. At some point, I really thought the father was going to go insane and try to kill his family. All these elements set an uncomfortable environment where the tearing of the couple will occur.

Troubles start when the family is surprised by an avalanche while having lunch on a terrace. The father runs away without his wife and kids, and she will never get over it. From there, she will constantly attack him on that, first face-to-face, then humiliating him in front of other people during meal scenes that are a key element of the film. During one of them, the absence of a classic shot/reverse shot editing emphasizes on the incomprehension and the difficulties of communication between the diffrerent characters. One other key scene is a dialogue between Tomas, the father (Johannes Kuhnke) and Ebba, the mother (Lisa Loven Kongsli). The contrast between her nervous laugh and her tearful eyes shows her anger and her incomprehension. Their relation will go worse and worse until this scene where Tomas breaks down in tears : very odd scene, his cries becoming more and more exaggerated, to a point where it becomes ridiculous. There we can ask ourselves questions about the desired effect of this acting performance. Only the kids’ reaction to their dad crying will trigger a feeling of guilty in the mother’s mind, helping the family to advance together through the fog, leading to the final part of the film.

Force Majeure raises some questions on gender expectations : has the Tomas failed so much to deserve the severe treatment Ebba inflicts him, humiliating him in front of their kids and their friends ? What is expected from a father in this kind of situation ? And what about the mother ? What would happen is the case was reversed ? The end of the film has a few surprises to offer.