Lars von Trier

Lars von Trier (born Lars Trier, April 30, 1956 in Copenhagen, Denmark) 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.

Biography

Lars Von Trier graduated from the Danish Film School in 1983 and the films he made as a student, Nocture (Nocture, 1981) and Image of Liberation (Befrielsesbilleder, 1982) both won Best Film awards at the Munich Film Festival 1984, an award which he again won in 1991 for Europa (US title, Zentropa), which also won the Prix du Jury at Cannes Film Festival and picked up awards at other major festivals. His 1987 film Epidemic was also shown as part of the official programme at Cannes.

Related Topics:
1983 - 1981 - 1982 - Munich Film Festival - 1984 - 1991 - Europa - Zentropa - Cannes Film Festival - Festivals - 1987 - Epidemic

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For television von Trier directed Medea (1988) which won the Jean d'Arcy prize in France, and The Kingdom (Riget, 1994) and The Kingdom II (Riget II, 1997), a pair of miniseries about a haunted hospital. 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. A thirteen-episode American television series, based on The Kingdom, was written by Stephen King, under the title Stephen King's Kingdom Hospital, which was broadcast in 2004.

Related Topics:
1988 - The Kingdom - 1994 - The Kingdom II - 1997 - Hospital - Ernst-Hugo Järegård - American - Stephen King - Stephen King's Kingdom Hospital - 2004

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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.

Related Topics:
Breaking the Waves - 1996 - Cannes - Emily Watson - Academy Award for Best Actress

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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.

Related Topics:
Dogme - The Idiots - 1998 - Cannes - Dogme95

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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.

Related Topics:
2000 - Iceland - Björk - Dancer in the Dark - Palme d'Or - Cannes

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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.

Related Topics:
2005 - Manderlay - USA - Dogville - Nicole Kidman

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His next project will be a Danish Dogme film Direktøren for det hele, which is going to be a comedy. This movie is scheduled to be released in 2007. The last part of the USA-trilogy titled Washington is now planned to be produced after that film.

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Trivia

• Von Trier added the "von" to his name when his peers at film school nicknamed him "von Trier". He also reportedly added the "von" in homage to Erich von Stroheim.
• He has described himself in Interview magazine (June 1989) as "a melancholy Dane masturbating in the dark to images on the silver screen."
• He is heavily influenced by the work of Carl Dreyer and the film The Night Porter.
• Like many auteurs, he uses the same regular group of actors in many of his films. Some of his frequently used actors are Jean-Marc Barr, Udo Kier and Stellan Skarsgård.
• In a 2003 interview with The Agehttp://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/12/13/1071125713337.html?from=storyrhs&oneclick=true, von Trier claimed not to watch films anymore, saying his hard-drive was full. Instead, he prefers video games. He also enthusiastically endorsed prozac and pornography.

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 takes place in another country, it?s mostly being filmed in either Denmark or Sweden. So even though he has produced movies about USA, he has never been to the country. Whenever his movie is in the competition at the Cannes Film Festival, he will drive from Denmark to France and back.

Related Topics:
Denmark - Sweden - USA - Cannes Film Festival - France

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