“My primary interest is human behavior and a sense of identification with the character who is struggling with something internal, getting inside the character’s ambivalence and complex, psychological issues.” —Joachim Trier

The Danish-born Norwegian director Joachim Trier has described his filmmaking as a “cinema of intimacy”: where the dynamics between characters and their internal journeys—of self-realization, purposelessness, loneliness, or mental struggle—supersedes that of plot. Which is not to say that his films are aimless or avant-garde, but rather that human behavior—in all its messy, tumultuous unpredictability—takes center stage. Trier’s characters must confront the tension between their real and imagined selves—his 21st century portraits reflect on what it means to fulfill or to fail to live up to one’s promise. Unafraid to explore different genres (including a surprising sideline in, and fascination for the supernatural), Trier can bring a novelistic approach to his films: Some have literary origins, while others are organized into chapters and epilogues. Even with this interest in formal structure, they are imbued with an improvised rhythm and effervescent attention to human emotions, subtly observing the fluctuations of his characters’ inner landscapes. Often at a crossroads, arriving at a critical bend in the road of their lives, Trier’s mercurial figures must tackle some of the most important issues in their lives head on. Instead of burying their heads in the sand, they are required to be present at the center of their own stories, because their life depends on it.