Fest Track On Sirk TV Film Review: THE SQUARE [Tribeca Film Festival 2025 - New York, NY]
The spareness or embracement of rules has taken on a bigger context in terms of how one functions in society. With "The Square" [International Narrative Competition], the animated texture of unfulfilled love unfurl in what eventually becomes known as North Korea. A translator falls in love with a traffic cop but is followed and told not to engage. Borg is a blond haired Swede who just can't accept that she can't leave and he can't stay. The environments are mostly bathed in snow and the story is highlighted by long zooms and wide shots of walking. Borg is beside himself and of course makes a fool of his position and yet pines undeniably even as Bok-Joo, his love is taken away (and more specifically disappears into thin air). She understands the situation and as a ward/property of the state, she cannot resist. It is only through the viewpoint of a long standing North Korean agent who realizes that the love is true does something begin to open up. The tone works although some more lush music or classical might have worked better.
There is an aspect of animation like the characters are swimming and barely staying above water which is a pertinent metaphor. Running at a short 73 minutes, the story does seem a elongated. There is no international intrique...just a foolish young man overstepping his bounds in a place he does not understand. Myeong-jun, his interpreter and handler by trade, is the one who seems to be the crux of the story ultimately. His reactions are the ones that carry the most weight possibly of a love or a time lost that he cannot get back. When the Swede diplomat asks him why, the response and explanation is simple and that speaks to the power of the film. IJt doesn't try to hit you over the head...and it doesn't particularly overstate what it wants to do. But the reality of returning is an interesting concept that the movie explores since one can never really return to where they were. "The Square" uses a space that adequates to an environment but more than anything it is a reminder to not forget but to move forward in what form allows for the most peace and countenance. B
By Tim Wassberg
