On Friday 20 January 2023, the Luxembourg Press Critics' Association (ALPC) held its Annual General Meeting in Val-Ste-Croix, with one of the main items on the agenda being the voting for the 2022 Film of the Year.

Prior to the AGM, the association's president, Pablo Chimienti, had compiled and distributed a list of 315 feature films that had gone on general release in the Grand Duchy in 2022, with members voting for their top 10. A short-list of 5 films was then compiled, with the meeting then deciding, by ballot, which was their favourite.

In the second ballot, the ALPC singled out the film Triangle of Sadness, directed by Ruben Östlund. Involving international ensemble cast, including Harris Dickinson, Charlbi Dean, Dolly De Leon, Woody Harrelson and Zlatko Burić, the film satirises the ultra-rich. In particular, it follows a young couple (models) embarking on a luxury cruise ship, occupied by a number of billionaires – oligarchs, shipowners, entrepreneurs – as well as by an alcoholic and Marxist captain. The trip turns into a disaster after the boat is trapped in a storm, forcing the passengers into a complete reversal of the social hierarchy.
 
The Swedish director, Ruben Östlund, produces a work halfway between grotesque farce and realism, in the tradition of Buñuel or Ferreri. A highly corrosive and definitively divisive feature film, carried by an excellent cast and a direct, “unfiltered” direction, Triangle of Sadness exposes, dissects and then explodes the strings of capitalism and appearances. The perversion of the balance of power between rich and poor is particularly successful, and is at the heart of a film which divides its time between the analysis of the contemporary world and politically incorrect entertainment. Triangle of Sadness – winner of the Palme d'Or at the 75th Cannes International Film Festival – even finds its climax in a central sequence, memorable as much as it is sordid, through which the filmmaker forces the viewer to question his own conception of the notions of comfort and vulgarity. After The Square (2017), Östlund redoubles his ferocity and offers his most insolent film.

The Finalists

Triangle of Sadness by Ruben Östlund was delared the ALPC winner ahead of (2) Close by Lukas Dhont, (3) Drive my Car by Ryusuke Hamaguchi. The final two finalists were Licorice Pizza by Paul Thomas Anderson and Avatar: The Way of the Water by James Cameron.

Previous Winners

Last year (for 2021), the ALPC chose Jane Campion's The Power of the Dog. The previous “ALPC Films of the Year” are: Tenet by Christopher Nolan, Joker by Todd Phillips, Dunkirk by Christopher Nolan, Spotlight by Tom McCarthy, Birdman by Alejandro González Iñárritu and Mommy by Xavier Dolan.

The Association

The ALPC was created in 2014 by a group of journalists, employees or freelancers, carrying out a regular activity in the field of film critique or similar. It currently has 19 members working in print, radio, television and online media.

Since 2020, the association has been the Grand-Ducal section of FIPRESCI (International Federation of Cinematographic Press). 

For details, see http://www.alpc.online and https://www.facebook.com/critiquesdecinemaluxembourg