Smartphone Stories: Author’s Strategies in the Films of Ruben Östlund
Abstract
The film work of Ruben Östlund seems to be one of the most interesting exemplifications of systemic, thematic and formal changes that took place in the Swedish cinema in the 21st century. The images of the director of The Tourist and The Square disturb the perceptive habits of viewers, escape easy film classifications and accurately comment on many of the current problems. With their liminal form, they not only reveal the insufficiency of thinking about the contemporary world and filmmaking in terms of binary categories, but also tend to recognize the relativity of popular judgements, beliefs and methodologies. What is more, thanks to the fluidity of the form and the ambiguous subject, the interpretations of Östlund’s creativity are not limited only to voyeuristic attempts to look at the banality and insincerity of human behaviour and criticism of the Swedish welfare system and the neo-liberal policy of the European Union. On closer examination they may in fact also be taken for a more intimate form of philosophical reflection on the spiritual and intellectual condition of modern man.
Keywords:
Ruben Östlund, Swedish cinema, welfare state, neo-liberal policyReferences
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Authors
Sebastian Jakub Konefałkwartalnik.filmowy@ispan.pl
University of Gdańsk Poland
Dr, adiunkt pracujący w Instytucie Badań nad Kulturą Uniwersytetu Gdańskiego. Stypendysta Fundacji Systemu Rozwoju Edukacji. Autor książek: Corpus Futuri. Literackie i filmowe wizerunki postludzi (2013) oraz Kino Islandii. Tradycja i ponowoczesność (2016). Redaktor naukowy i współautor książek Anatomia wyobraźni (2014), Powieści graficzne: leksykon (2015), Strefy mroku: groza w kulturze audiowizualnej (2017) oraz współredaktor antologii tekstów Sacrum w kinie. Dekadę później (2013). Jego zainteresowania akademickie obejmują m.in. kino gatunkowe, współczesne kinematografie nordyckie, badania post-humanistyczne, komiks, telewizję i gry komputerowe.
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