spousal neglect

His films like 'Scenes from a Marriage' and 'Cries and Whispers' anatomize emotional distance and marital estrangement with unsparing psychological depth.

'8½' and 'La Dolce Vita' explore how professional obsession and infidelity create chasms between spouses, often portraying marriage as emotionally hollow.

His austere style in films like 'Funny Games' and 'Amour' confronts the alienation within intimate relationships and the ways couples fail each other.