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Lars von Trier

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Lars von Trier (born Lars Trier, April 30, 1956) is a Danish film director closely associated with the Dogme95 collective, calling for a return to plausible stories in filmmaking and a move away from artifice and towards technical minimalism.

Contents

Biography

Lars von Trier was born in Copenhagen, Denmark. He was raised by nudist Jewish Communist parents who did not allow much room in their household for "feelings, religion, or enjoyment," as von Trier later said. The young Lars found in cinema an outlet to the outside world through which he could learn about subjects otherwise forbidden from his study by his parents. He began making his own films at the age of 11 after receiving a Super-8 camera as a gift and continued to be involved in independent moviemaking throughout his high school years. [Starpulse.com Biography]

In 1979 he was enrolled in the Danish Film School.[The Tomb: Lars von Trier Interview] During his time as a student at the school he made the films, Nocture (Nocture, 1980) and Image of Liberation (Befrielsesbilleder, 1982) that both won Best Film awards at the Munich Film Festival, along with The Last Detail (Den sidste detalje 1981). His peers at the film school nicknamed him "von Trier." The name is sort of an inside-joke with the von part suggesting nobility, while Lars and Trier are quite common names in Denmark. He reportedly kept the "von" name in homage to Erich von Stroheim and Josef von Sternberg. He graduated from the film school in 1983.

After his graduation he began work on the Europe trilogy, which started with The Element of Crime (Forbrydelsens element 1984). The film was a technical accomplishment and won a technical award at the Cannes Film Festival. This film was followed by Epidemic (1987) that was also shown as part of the official programme at Cannes. For television von Trier directed Medea (1988) which won the Jean d'Arcy prize in France. He then finished the Europe trilogy in 1991 with Europa (US title, Zentropa), which won the Prix du Jury at Cannes Film Festival and picked up awards at other major festivals.

In 1992 he co-founded together with Peter Aalbæk Jensen the movie production company Zentropa, which was named after his latest movie. The reason for doing this was to achieve financial independence and to have total creative control.

In order to make money for his newly founded company[Lars von Trier fan site biography], he made The Kingdom (Riget, 1994) and The Kingdom II (Riget II, 1997), a pair of miniseries recorded in the Danish national hospital, the name "Riget" being a slang term for the hospital which is called "Rigshospitalet" (lit. The Kingdom's Hospital) in Danish. A projected third installment in the series has been derailed due to the death of Ernst-Hugo Järegård, who played Helmer, one of the major characters.

His mother revealed on her deathbed in 1995 that the man he thought was his father was not. After an initial meeting with his real father, his real father has refused to speak to him. After these revelations von Trier rebelled against his past and converted to Catholicism.

Breaking the Waves (1996) won the Grand Prix at Cannes. The film featured Emily Watson, who was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress.

Lars von Trier overcame his dislike of traveling to present the second Dogme film, The Idiots (Idioterne, 1998), in person at the Cannes film festival. As instructor and originator of the Dogme95 concept, which led to international interest in Danish film as a whole, he has inspired filmmakers all over the world.

In 2000, von Trier premiered a musical featuring the renowned Icelandic musician Björk, Dancer in the Dark. The film won the Palme d'Or at Cannes.

He has completed (2005) Manderlay, the second film in his USA trilogy. The first film in that trilogy, Dogville, starred Nicole Kidman, and met with mixed critical reaction. Some viewers considered the film bold and powerful, while others found it pretentious and affected.

His next project will be a Danish Dogme film The Boss of it All, which is going to be a comedy. This movie is scheduled to be released in 2007. The last part of the USA-trilogy titled Wasington [sic] is now planned to be produced after that film.

Phobias

Von Trier suffers from multiple phobias, which includes his fear of flying. As von Trier said himself "basically, I'm afraid of everything in life, except filmmaking." This puts a lot of strain on his ability to produce movies. Even though most of his work is set in another country, it’s mostly being filmed in either Denmark or Sweden. So even though he has produced movies about the USA, he has never been to that country. Whenever his movie is in the competition at the Cannes Film Festival, he will drive from Denmark to France and back.

Trivia

Filming Techniques

Lars von Trier has said that “a film should be like a rock in the shoe”. In order to create original art he feels that filmmakers must distinguish themselves stylistically from other films, often by placing restrictions on the filmmaking process. The most famous restriction is the cinematic "vow of chastity" of the Dogme95 movement with which he is associated, though only one of his films, The Idiots, is an actual Dogme95 film. In Dancer in the Dark, dramatically-different color palettes and camera techniques were used for the "real world" and musical portions of the film, and in Dogville everything was filmed on a sound stage with no set where the walls of the buildings in the fictional town were marked as a line on the floor.

Von Trier often shoots his scenes for longer periods than most directors to encourage actors to stay in character. In Dogville he let actors stay in character for hours, in the style of method acting. The rules and restrictions are a break from the traditional Hollywood production, though directors such as Robert Altman have long been using such techniques of working with actors. These techniques often put great strain on actors, most famously with Björk during the filming of Dancer in the Dark.

Trilogies

Most of von Trier’s films and television projects are parts of thematic and stylistic trilogies. The exceptions to this rule are his early work from before he graduated the Danish Film School and some TV projects.

The Europa trilogy illuminated the traumas of Europe in the future. This trilogy includes The Element of Crime (1984), Epidemic (1988) and Europa (Zentropa, 1991).

The Golden Heart trilogy was about naive heroines who maintain their 'golden hearts' despite the tragedies they experience. This trilogy includes Breaking the Waves (1996), The Idiots (1998) and Dancer in the Dark (2000). While all three films are sometimes associated with the Dogme 95 movement, only The Idiots is a certified Dogme 95 film.

The USA - Land of Opportunities trilogy follows the character of Grace, and is set in a stylized American past. Von Trier has stated he was inspired to make a trilogy about the United States as a reaction to Americans at the Cannes film festival who said he had no right to make the Dancer in the Dark, which was critical of a country he has never been to (and has no intention of ever visiting, due to his phobia of travel). , Lars von Trier proposed the films as ‘a series of sermons on America’s sins and hypocrisy’, they were inspired by the fact that American movie makers have not been to many places all over the world that they have made films about. The film Casablanca was his main inspiration. All three movies will be shot in the same distinctive style, on a bare sound stage with no set and buildings marked by lines on the floor. This style is inspired by 1970s televised theatre. The trilogy consists of Dogville (2003), Manderlay (2005) and Wasington [sic] (in production).

The Kingdom (Riget) was planned as a trilogy of three seasons with 13 episodes in total, but the third season was not filmed due to death of star Ernst-Hugo Järegård shortly after completion of the second season.

Filmography

References

External links

 

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