Biography and filmography of Lars von Trier

The films of this director can hardly be called the standard leaders of the rentals. Sometimes they are so provocative that they do not even go to big world screens, and their demonstration is limited to large festivals and views, so to speak, without leaving home.

The filmography of Lars von Trier is very diverse both in terms of the manner of shooting and the subject matter involved in this or that film. Despite sometimes scandalous stories, such stars of world cinema as Willem Dafoe, Bjork, Nicole Kidman and Charlotte Gainsbourg willingly co-operate with the director. The latter, by the way, often appears in the films as the performer of the main roles.

Origin of the director

Lars von Trier, whose films the whole world knows today, was born in Copenhagen in 1956. His parents were ordinary civil servants and could not even imagine that their son would ever be able to hit the world public so much.

The mother of the future director completely and completely shared the idea of free education, which at that time was extremely popular, and this could not but affect the formation of the boy's personality. On the one hand, Lars von Trier, whose films often address the problems of relations between parents and children, quickly learned independence and responsibility. On the other hand, he left high school very early, because he could not make friends with his classmates and was constantly subjected to childish ridicule because of unusual behavior.

early years

In fact, the filmography of Lars von Trier begins in his very childhood. As an eleven-year-old boy, he created his first directorial work. Animated tape called "Journey to the Pumpkin Country" lasted only a minute, but for a child who was keen on cinema so hotly, it was a real step towards a great future.

Mother fully shared the desire of her son and encouraged the child to be drawn to the camera in all possible ways. It was she who gave him her old camera and constantly brought films from the work so that the future director could learn the editing.

The first step in a big movie

The filmography of Lars von Trier as an actor began at the age of twelve. Then he managed to get a role in the film by Thomas Winding "The Last Summer". Despite the fact that participation in the shooting process was an invaluable experience, the child was much more interested in the technical side of the process, which he, however, never concealed.

Perhaps, that is why during the next visit to the studio he was entrusted with participation in the technical component of filming. The boy was allowed, for example, to put on the light and perform some other simple work of an organizational nature.

Striving for serious work

The filmography of Lars von Trier continued in his first serious work. With the help of his uncle (known at the time documentary), a young man who was refused admission to the Copenhagen school, got a job as an editor at the Danish Film Fund. It was then, combining the main work with his favorite hobby, he spent every spare minute to create his own paintings. During this period, a young enthusiast created a short film "Blessed Mente" and a picture called "Gardener growing orchids."

It was during this period, in fact, was born director Lars von Trier, whose filmography includes dozens of various works today. In particular, after completing work on the "Gardener" young director added to his name the prefix "background", which gave him greater aristocracy.

The beginning of a professional career

In 1983, Lars von Trier successfully graduated from the national film school in Denmark, where he initially could not even get. The talent of the future director developed so rapidly that the tape "Pictures of Liberation", the graduation work of a young man, won the main prize at the Munich Film Festival, which was a huge achievement for the future star of alternative cinema.

Lars von Trier, whose biography changed abruptly after graduating from film school, entered the big movie with the film "Element of Crime", released in 1984 and immediately won the praise of world critics of the cinema. The director's debut film won first place in a number of festivals, starting from Cannes and ending with the event in Mannheim.

Films that brought ultimate fame

Despite such a stunning debut, the following two works became really stellar: "Epidemic" and "Europe" published four years later. It was then that director Lars von Trier, whose films were a resounding success, became known throughout the world as a talented creator of non-standard cinema.

An unusual idea

As mentioned earlier, this director is not one of those who can leave the audience indifferent - his ideas have always been distinguished by some extravagance and complexity of performance.

For example, in the early nineties, director Lars von Trier conceived the idea of making a film, which was to be premiered in 2024. All the unusualness of the tape consisted in the fact that it was supposed to be filmed only for 2 minutes a year. Despite the rather global idea, by the end of the nineties the director had left this venture and released 24 minutes for public viewing, refusing to continue the project.

This triumph

Perhaps, one of the most significant works in the career of this director was a series called "Kingdom", released in 1994. It was then that Lars von Trier, whose reviews were not so contradictory at the time, found not only their own style, but also their spectator.

At this time, the entire audience was fascinated by the series "Twin Peaks", exciting imagination and capturing from the first minutes of the series. The popularity of this work, which David Lynch himself put his hand, was so high that it was hard to imagine any kind of competition. It was such a rival for the "Twin Peaks" series "Kingdom".

"Golden heart"

After the stellar work that brought the director worldwide fame and endless comparisons with David Lynch, Lars von Trier decided to take on a more serious project. They had conceived a trilogy called "The Golden Heart".

It is easy to guess that in future works the topic of moral, ethical values, questions of religion and self-awareness was actively raised. The director's intention was so great and original that at first few people believed that he could be made into reality at all.

First part of the trilogy

Lars von Trier, whose best films, undoubtedly included in the "Golden Heart", did not disappoint anyone. The first work of this format was the picture "Breaking Waves", which appeared on big screens in 1996.

The story of the main character, full of tragedy and deep meaning, is revealed by the director with the utmost precision and maximum conformity to the norms of human behavior in a critical situation. Some actions of the characters may seem somewhat hyperbolized, but only in this way it was possible to reach the viewer, gradually becoming stale under the yoke of mass cinema and the pressure of eternally mixing and ready for everything for the sake of the society's money.

The main character of the first part of the trilogy does not find any reward for all her efforts. At least, this does not happen in her life. Nevertheless, all critics unanimously assert that there could not have been any other possible outcome.

Manifesto about the departure from the traditional cinema

As mentioned earlier, Lars von Trier always had a rather peculiar view of the world. Is it any wonder that in relation to his profession he behaved accordingly?

In 1995 in Paris he read the manifesto "Dogma-95", in which the director vehemently urged to move away from the template cinema and create his own vision.

To this manifesto was attached a list of 10 rules, according to which all future director's films were to be created.

Second film of the trilogy

This part was called "Idiots" and was presented to the public within the framework of the Cannes Film Festival in 1998. The idea did not fit well with the rest of Lars von Trier's films. Comments on the picture as ever struck by its diversity. In particular, critics were deeply outraged by the presence of unnecessarily frank scenes, the sexual act in which was not simulated, but quite natural. Without attention, this could not remain. For the first time, Lars von Trier left the festival without receiving awards.

The very same story with this film became one of the most scandalous at that time.

Final work

After the seemingly deafening failure of the second picture, Lars von Trier did not give up trying to make films about people with a heart of gold. And what? Simply deafening success and a general shock brought together the work of the director with singer Bjork, called "Dancing in the Dark".

On one site during the shooting, quite a few leading actors were collected, the original soundtrack was written for the film, which was acted upon by both the performer of the leading role and the frontman of Radiohead Tom York.

This story did not leave anyone indifferent, because it raised the most global issues of humanity, considered by the example of one unfortunate family.

Two thousandth

Lars von Trier, whose best films, it would seem, are already behind, did not abandon his desire to create original masterpieces. "Dogville", "Manderley", the comedy "The Most Important Boss" - all this was just the beginning of the path, more and more amazed both the viewer and the audience.

In 2009, the world saw the tape "Antichrist", in which the number of frank scenes could safely be called a record, not to mention the theme of sadism, so boldly and with such amazing beauty raised in this film.

Lars von Trier, whose photo already adorned the main pages of newsreels and spread with lightning speed on the Internet, became more and more scandalous every year. During the premiere of the film "Melancholy", a humorous remark about sympathy for Hitler led to the initiation of a lawsuit against the director and a long, long scandal. Fortunately, this did not stop Kirsten Dunst from getting the award for the best female role.

The last work of Lars von Trier was a dialogue called "Nymphomaniac", the main role in which again went to Charlotte Gainsbourg. The abundance of non-simulated sexual acts, the use of professional porn actors and the subject of the film as a whole were the occasion for a new scandal.

The only true ally, according to the director himself, was always Lars von Trier's wife, who always supported any of his undertakings.

Now the story with the "Nymphomaniac" has subsided, and we can only wait for what this strange, but at the same time ingenious director will cook ...