I’ve heard of the name “Lars von Trier” with relation to films such as Antichrist and Nymphomaniac but it wasn’t until recently that I ended up watching his films. As I perused the Disturbing Movie Iceberg for the few films that I was actually interested in seeing, I noticed an interesting title called “The House That Jack Built”. I found the film on Blu-ray for a respectable price and eventually watched it. While not a perfect film by any means, I still found The House That Jack Built to be fascinating and I was immediately curious about the rest of his filmography. Eventually I managed to order the majority of his filmography and, having recently finished watching them, I thought it would be interesting to share my thoughts on the films of Lars von Trier.
Lars von Trier typically splits his films into thematic trilogies so I’ll be taking a look at each trilogy and what I think of each film that make them up. The first trilogy that Lars von Trier created was the Europa trilogy which is made up of The Element of Crime, Epidemic and Europa. Since I ended up watching the Lars von Trier films that I had in production order, I started with The Element of Crime which I found to be a very odd film that I felt quite mixed about. The lighting and cinematography are excellent but the colour scheme, sepia, ended up frustrating me after a while. The plot was quite confusing on first watch but I did end up watching it a second time and felt more capable of understanding the plot. Epidemic may be my least favourite film that I’ve seen from Lars von Trier which I think is a shame as the film does have a clever premise. However, I found the pacing poor and I ultimately ended the film feeling “Why did I watch that?”. Thankfully, Europa proved to easily be the best of the trilogy with a wonderfully intriguing story, an interesting main character and an ending that proved to be incredibly memorable. While Lars von Trier’s first trilogy proved to be quite rough, it’s clear that, by the end, he’s finding his style and improving as a director.
Lars von Trier’s next thematic trilogy was called the Golden Heart trilogy and consisted of Breaking the Waves, The Idiots and Dancer in the Dark. Breaking the Waves proved to be quite a powerful film with superb performances from the cast, particularly Emily Watson and Katrin Cartlidge, and allowing us to become familiar with the characters and settings before introducing tragedy and conflict. The Idiots was the only Lars von Trier film that, as far as I know, ended up being certified by the Dogme 95 movement despite him being a founding member. I do confess to feeling quite mixed about The Idiots as it definitely succeeds as being an emotionally raw experience but the characters generally felt a little too flat and the exploration of the subject matter too surface level. Dancer in the Dark surprised me as it unexpectedly ended up becoming my favourite Lars von Trier movie! The performances from all of the cast members is exemplary but special praise has to be reserved for Björk who delivers one of the most heart-wrenching performances I’ve ever seen. The contrast between the world of musicals that she imagines as being happy and joyous and the real world where she goes through so much suffering serves as a superb highlight.
The next trilogy is a little odd as, in its current state, its unfinished with only two films having been made with a third one planned but whose production and release is indefinite. The so-called Land of Opportunities trilogy makes a strong first impression with the film Dogville, an unusual production which sees minimalist sets where the outlines of buildings, paths, bushes etc. are drawn on the ground but treated as real and genuine by the characters. However, the cast does an exceptional job with their performances and it’s easy to become drawn into the world and forget about the minimalism. I do confess that much of the last hour of Dogville isn’t particularly pleasant to watch and leads to some mild frustration but we are blessed with one of my favourite movie endings ever. Manderlay is a bit unusual as it is actually a narrative sequel to Dogville but sees most of the returning characters, of which there are only a few, mostly played by new actors. Manderlay retains the minimalist set design of Dogville and the cast does another excellent job with their performances. However, the film didn’t feel as emotionally powerful as Dogville and the ending, while still decent, felt a little lacklustre compared to the many other Lars von Trier endings.
Finally, we get to the Depression trilogy which consists of Antichrist, Melancholia and Nymphomaniac, the films that I was most aware of prior to watching any of Lars von Trier’s films. I think it’s fair to say that Antichrist is one of Lars von Trier’s most infamous films so it may surprise those who haven’t seen it that the violence and gore is present in only brief, intense bursts. Instead, the film is a sharp look at the sorrow and grief of a couple over the loss of their child and features strong performances from leads Willem Defoe and Charlotte Gainsbourg. I do confess that the ending left me scratching my head but Antichrist nonetheless proved to be a fascinating watch. Melancholia ended up being a really excellent experience with Kirsten Dunst delivering a powerful performance where she’s dissatisfied with what is meant to be the greatest day of her life and those surrounding her struggle to understand her emotions. I also ended up loving the structure of the film being split between two halves and, while I think a few characters end up being superfluous, I really did end up enjoying Melancholia. Nymphomaniac is certainly one of the most unusual films I’ve ever seen even if the plot is relatively straightforward. Across the five and a half hour watch, you read that right, we are treated to the life of a woman struggling with her excessive libido and is played outstandingly by Stacey Martin and Charlotte Gainsbourg. Perhaps the thing that I love most about this film is how willing it is to look at and examine subjects that the vast majority of other media steer clear of. I ended up being surprised at how much I liked Nymphomaniac so I would encourage you, if you have the stomach for intense sexual content and graphic scenes involving blood, to seek the film out.
Watching the vast majority of Lars von Trier’s catalogue proved to be a fascinating and surprisingly diverse experience and, while I can’t say that I enjoyed every film, many of these movies have proven to be some of the most memorable that I’ve seen in recent memory. Let me know what you think of my thoughts on the films of Lars von Trier, which of his films you’ve seen, what your thoughts were of them, what you think about the style of Lars von Trier and any additional information you might have on the topic.
Hopefully you have found this article interesting and informative and, if you wish to seek any of the works I mentioned, don’t hesitate to use amazon.co.uk and amazon.com for all of your needs!