The rule of the weird: power relations in the films of Yorgos Lanthimos

Abstract

ABSTRACT This study examines the power relations found in Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos’ films. Since 2005, Lanthimos has been making films that left his mark on art cinema. Despite the inevitable rise of the director – especially since Dogtooth (2009) – there are few studies on Lanthimos. Existing studies either focus on only one film or deal with him within the Greek New (Weird) Wave movement. However, even if the director came out of this movement, his films have a unique artistic style. The director presents us with various representations of power by using interpersonal relationships in his films. He accomplishes this by using elements from his one-of-a-kind cinematographic, thematic and narrative perspective. These films, in which bodies under authority are shown to us utilizing an absurdist narrative, distinguish Lanthimos from other filmmakers. There are no academic studies on the concept of power that is frequently used in Lanthimos’ films. In this study, this deficiency is solved and the relations of power found in the cinema of Yorgos Lanthimos are analyzed using the Foucauldian method of analysis and in light of the thinker’s concepts such as docile bodies, discipline, control, bio-power and sovereign power.