As his new film looks at society’s relationship with the camera, the double Palme d’Or winner talks about the power of the screen – big and small – and why the next generation will be Marxist
‘I have an idea,” says Ruben Östlund. “What if you were only allowed to use a camera if you have a licence? You need one for a gun – at least in sophisticated countries. The camera is also a powerful tool.”
He laughs, slim and bearded, in a book-lined coffee shop in Stockholm. A double Palme d’Or winner – for art satire The Square and bilious kill-the-rich comedy Triangle of Sadness – Östlund takes cinema seriously. Others, he fears, may be less responsible.
