The social themes in Scandinavian cinema from an auteur perspective: The case of Joachim Trier and Ruben Ostlund

The fact that the art of cinema continues to exist as a narrative tool in today's contemporary world leads to the emergence of the unique style and characteristics of many directors. According to the views of François Truffaut, Andre Bazin and Peter Wollen, who are important theorists of the auteur theory, the auteur theory is that directors leave their personal traces in their films and develop a unique cinematographic language. When we look at Scandinavian cinema, the unique styles of directors such as Joachim Trier and Ruben Östlund offer a wide field of analysis. In this study, the social themes in three selected films by Joachim Trier and Ruben Östlund will be analyzed from an auteurist perspective. In the first part of the study, an overview of auteur theory and the history of Scandinavian cinema is presented. In the second part of the study, its purpose, method, scope and limitations are mentioned. In the third part of the study, the films selected as a sample are examined and analyzed in terms of social themes. Joachim Trier's Reprise (2006), Oslo 31, August (2011) and The Worst Person in the World (2021) and Ruben Östlund's Force Majeure (2014), The Square (2017) and Triangle of Sadness (2022) were selected as the sample. The selected films were limited to five scenes using purposive sampling method. In the film analysis of the selected films of Norwegian director Joachim Trier and Swedish director Ruben Östlund, themes such as individual-society relations, class inequalities, identity crises, social norms and ethical dilemmas, which are shaped by the directors' unique stylistic and narrative features, are brought to the fore.