‘Something genuinely Norwegian’: cultural identity under the influence of American cinema in the found footage aesthetic ofTrolljegeren/Trollhunter(2010)

Norway’s film industry consciously endeavours to highlight its own unique cultural identity, but their most successful films, both in terms of artistic merit and box office popularity, honour this pledge by embracing and adapting the generic modes of American cinema. The comedy horror film Trolljegeren/Trollhunter continues this practice, but presents its verité-style aesthetics as an invitation to look more intently into the depth of the image in order to locate the real Norway. Displaying its spectacular monsters for extended periods, unlike the way most other found footage horror films invite and frustrate the viewer’s curiosity by withholding a clear view of unnatural creatures, the film encourages the viewer’s investigative gaze in other directions. Consequently, the viewer is impelled to negotiate two overlapping ‘realisms’: one involves the representation of the Norwegian landscape (both geographical and socio-political), while the other involves found footage conventions of realism in conflict with classical realist ones. Even though the influence of American cinema is never fully contained within the film’s immersive digital aesthetic, Trolljegeren/Trollhunter’s narratively motivated diegetic camera is the most important element contributing to the film’s successful balance between the need to respect Norwegian culture and the need to attract a global audience.