Force Majeure (film)

Force Majeure
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Ruben Östlund
Produced by	Erik Hemmendorff Marie Kjellson
Written by	Ruben Östlund
Starring	Johannes Bah Kuhnke Lisa Loven Kongsli Clara Wettergren Vincent Wettergren Kristofer Hivju Fanni Metelius
Music by	Ola Fløttum
Cinematography	Fredrik Wenzel
Edited by	Jacob Secher Schulsinger
Production company	Beofilm Coproduction Office Film i Väst Motlys Plattform Produktion Rhône-Alpes Cinéma Société Parisienne de Production
Distributed by	TriArt Film
Release dates	18 May 2014 (2014-05-18) (Cannes) 15 August 2014 (2014-08-15) (Sweden)
Running time	119 minutes
Country	France Norway Sweden
Language	English French Norwegian Swedish
Box office	$1.4 million (US)

Force Majeure ([fɔrs maʒœr]; Swedish: Turist, "tourist") is a 2014 Swedish comedy-drama film directed by Ruben Östlund. It follows the marital tension resulting from an avalanche during which the husband, named Tomas, is believed by his wife to have prioritized his own escape over the safety of his family. The film's title comes from force majeure, a contractual clause freeing both parties from liability in the event of unexpected disasters.

Force Majeure was acclaimed upon release, with critics praising its script and cinematography. It won the Best Film award at the 50th Guldbagge Awards, and was named one of the best films of 2014 by various publications.

Plot

The film presents a week in the life of a Swedish family staying at a luxury resort in the French Alps: a businessman named Tomas, his wife Ebba, their young daughter Vera and preschooler Harry. The family is happy as they ski, ride the ski lift, brush their teeth, sleep, and play with Tomas' new drone toy from the balcony of their ski lodge.

On their second day of skiing, a controlled avalanche goes awry and threatens them as they are having lunch outdoors on the deck of a restaurant. Tomas, who is filming the avalanche on his phone, panics and runs as the deck quickly empties of patrons, leaving Ebba with their children encased in a dense fog. Silence ensues, and the voice of a waiter says, "It's over. It's safe now." Patrons return to their tables as the fog dissipates. Tomas returns to the table and acts as if nothing happened. No one is hurt, but Ebba and the children are subdued as they eat.

After lunch, the cleaning man enters their lodge suite to clean just before they arrive. They insist the kids go inside first so they can talk in the corridor. The kids are upset there is a stranger inside, but the parents are angry with them and don't listen. They enter their lodge suite as the cleaning man exits. The children angrily tell them to leave, as they play a video game.

That evening they eat dinner with one of Ebba's long term friends, who has picked up an American man for the evening. Ebba tells the story of the avalanche in English for the benefit of the American, but Tomas insists he did not run away from the table, and in Swedish adds that one cannot run in ski boots. They argue in front of their embarrassed guests. They pick up their kids after the meal and argue again outside the room door. Ebba is angry that he wouldn't admit he ran away from the avalanche abandoning them. He says he remembers it differently.

Ebba decides she would like a day of skiing by herself. She has coffee with her friend they had dinner with the night before, as the woman says goodbye to another man. Ebba confronts her friend on her promiscuity, asking her if she loves her husband and children. Her friend says she is fine with having an open relationship with her husband, and that she is happy if he finds a woman to have great sex with, as he is with her. Ebba becomes more insistent, and the friend advises they not argue, and leaves.

Little Harry is upset as he and his sister and father enter the ski lift. His father wants him to tell him why he is crying. He says he is afraid his parents will divorce.

Mats, one of Tomas's old friends, joins them at the resort with his young girlfriend, Fanni. In their lodge suite as they eat pizza, Ebba suggests that Mats and Tomas have a day of skiing together, since she had a day alone. Fanni is upset that she will be left alone for a day without Mats. Ebba is embarrassed. After dinner and lots of wine Ebba recounts the story of the avalanche, to the silent horror of Mats and Fanni. At which point the toy drone comes sailing into the living room and hits Mats, frightening everyone. Tomas carries the drone back out and rebukes Harry for playing with it inside.He curls up with Harry to play a video game, and listens to Mats who insists that we are not ourselves in emergencies, naming the Estonia disaster as an example. Ebba says Tomas won't admit it. Tomas returns and again insists he has a different perspective. So Ebba fetches Tomas's phone and has the four of them watch the video of the incident. Tomas reluctantly agrees "it does look like someone is running away." but is silent when Mats speculates that Tomas was running away so that he could come back and unbury his family later. Tomas cries at the table after Fanni and Mats leave. As they wait for the elevator, Fanni suggests that she would expect Mats to react in the same way as Tomas. Fanni would be attached to her children, and Mats would run. Mats is irritated.

Tomas and Mats ride the ski lift in silence. They climb the mountain side on foot and ski down fresh powder. Mats is elated. Tomas is sad. Mats advises him to scream. He says he had two years of therapy which did not help. He needs to scream from his belly. Tomas screams swear words out into the echoing Alps.

Tomas exits the suite lodge in his underwear, and waits for Ebba to emerge, she is putting on leggings. He tries to cry in the corridor, but Ebba confronts him as phony. In reality he has no tears. He confesses that he hates himself, his cowardice, his cheating in games with his kids, his unfaithfulness. And he cries. His wife insists he stop crying. He howls, blubbers and yells. His children inside huddle and cry together, hearing their parents argue and howl. Ebba drags Tomas back into their suite where he collapses on a bean bag chair. The children come into the room and Ebba tells them "Daddy is a little sad, that's all." Harry comes to hug his sobbing father. Vera hugs him, but gets up to insist her mother come hug, too. Ebba reluctantly joins the family hug.

On their final day of skiing, the family enters the elevator with the cleaning man. They ascend in the ski lift silently. Ebba asks if it is safe to ski since the fog is so thick. Tomas says he will go first, then the children, then she can follow. They will stop often. Ebba gets lost in the fog and Tomas briefly leaves the children alone to go rescue her, returning carrying her shortly after. He sets her down, grinning. Ebba stands up and says, "Okay, is everyone happy now?" She walks back to get her skis.

As the family and their friends leave the resort by coach, Ebba decides the driver is dangerously incompetent and demands in a panic to be let off, leaving Tomas and their children on the bus. The passengers all rush for the door. Mats takes charge, insisting that no-one panic, and women and children will get off first. Eventually, all of the passengers get off the bus and descend the mountain on foot. Tomas accepts a cigarette from an acquaintance. Surprised, Harry asks Tomas if he smokes, to which he replies, after a pause, "Yes, I do."

Cast

• Johannes Bah Kuhnke as Tomas
• Lisa Loven Kongsli as Ebba
• Clara Wettergren as Vera
• Vincent Wettergren as Harry
• Kristofer Hivju as Mats
• Fanni Metelius as Fanni

Production

Filming took place at Les Arcs, a ski resort in Savoie, France.

The film's title, "Force Majeure", is based on a French legal term which is the equivalent of a superior force or unforeseen accident, like an "Act of God": a disaster that is not covered by one's insurance policy, or a disaster which relieves both parties of the obligations of the contract until the disaster is over.

Ruben Östlund attributed the inspiration for the film's key scenes to a few viral YouTube videos which he felt corroborated the plausible situation and emotions of the characters. The director reasoned that "...if someone captured an event or action or pang of emotion on camera and uploaded to the Internet, then it happened in real life. And it could happen in Force Majeure." The scene where Ebba demands to be let off the bus is based on the YouTube viral video titled "Idiot Spanish bus driver almost kills students".

Reception

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a 92% approval rating, based on 133 reviews, with an average rating of 8/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Gleefully uncomfortable, Force Majeure is a relationship drama that's hard to watch -- and just as difficult to ignore." On Metacritic, the film has a score of 87 out of 100, based on 37 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".

Awards

The film was selected to compete in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival where it won the Jury Prize. It was also screened in the Special Presentations section of the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival.

The film was nominated for the 2014 Nordic Council Film Prize. It was also selected as the Swedish entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 87th Academy Awards, making the early round of shortlist, but was not a nominee. It was nominated for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 72nd Golden Globe Awards.

It won the Best Film award, and was nominated in the categories Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Sound Editing, and Best Editing at the 50th Guldbagge Awards.

See also

• List of submissions to the 87th Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film
• List of Swedish submissions for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
• List of films featuring drones

External links

• Official website
• Force Majeure at IMDb
• Force Majeure at the Swedish Film Institute Database
• Force Majeure at Box Office Mojo
• Force Majeure at Rotten Tomatoes
• Force Majeure at Metacritic