Lars Von Trier

Lars Von Trier takes cinema to another realm in films like Dogville.

Lars von Trier has it all. A reputation as a Scandinavian bad boy, sufficient levels of scandal surrounding nearly every one of his films, the ability to attract funding and star power from around the globe, and the status of founder of a manifesto.

And most importantly, of course, he has piles of talent, more than most can hope for throughout a lifetime. If every person represents a different worldview, then Lars has one of the most audacious, outspoken and well-expressed among us.

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Lars von Trier has come to define Danish cinema over the last decade, while simultaneously coming to stand for much of what is great in European cinema at large. He once infamously made a splash by saying he wished (Swedish director) Ingmar Bergman would die so other Scandinavian filmmakers could stand a chance at success, but it seems like he didn’t really need to be so bold.

His own films, beginning with Epidemic (1988) and Europa (1991), have put forth a stark visionary world no less potent, if more grim, than Bergman’s own, appealing to a new generation of film buffs and disaffected youth. His films always seem set in a time and place apart from our own, whether actually set in the past/future or not.

The characters are obtuse, the locations otherworldly. The themes, as in Europa, often focusing on decay of everything contemporary. But he suffuses these visions with as much black humor as wry, bleak commentary, making the films a challenge to read.

His manifesto, Dogme 95, set forth principles for creating ‘true cinema’, which include no special effects and a return to simple, non-manipulative moviemaking (believing all the while that cinema is by its very nature manipulative, hypnotic).