Lars von Trier (born Lars Trier; 30 April 1956) is a Danish film director and screenwriter with a prolific and controversial career spanning for more than five decades.
Dogville and Manderlay were both shot with the same distinctive, extremely stylized approach, placing the actors on a bare sound stage with no set decoration and the buildings' walls marked by chalk lines on the floor, a style inspired by 1970s televised theatre.
He received his surname from Høst's husband, Ulf Trier, whom he believed to be his biological father until 1989. He studied film theory at the University of Copenhagen and film direction at the National Film School of Denmark.
== Personal life == === Family === In 1989, von Trier's mother told him on her deathbed that the man vonTrier thought was his biological father was not, and that he was the result of a liaison she had with her former employer, Fritz Michael Hartmann (1909–2000), who was descended from a long line of Danish classical musicians.
In 1990 he also directed the music video for the song "Bakerman" by Laid Back.
Trier completed the Europa trilogy in 1991 with Europa (released as Zentropa in the US), which won the Prix duJury at the 1991 Cannes Film Festival, and picked up awards at other major festivals.
This video was re-used in 2006 by the English DJ and artist Shaun Baker in his remake of the song. Seeking financial independence and creative control over their projects, in 1992 vonTrier and producer Peter Aalbæk Jensen founded the film production company Zentropa Entertainment.
To make money for his newly founded company, vonTrier made The Kingdom (Danish title Riget, 1994) and The KingdomII (RigetII, 1997), a pair of miniseries recorded in the Danish national hospital, the name "Riget" being a colloquial name for the hospital known as Rigshospitalet (lit.
Drusse, in 2000, two of the major characters. === 1995–2000: the Dogme 95 manifesto, and the Golden Heart trilogy === In 1995, von Trier and Thomas Vinterberg presented their manifesto for a new cinematic movement, which they called Dogme 95.
In 2008, together with their fellow Dogme directors Kristian Levring and Søren Kragh-Jacobsen, vonTrier and Thomas Vinterberg received the European film award for European Achievement in World Cinema. In 1996 von Trier conducted an unusual theatrical experiment in Copenhagen involving 53 actors, which he titled Psychomobile1: The World Clock.
To make money for his newly founded company, vonTrier made The Kingdom (Danish title Riget, 1994) and The KingdomII (RigetII, 1997), a pair of miniseries recorded in the Danish national hospital, the name "Riget" being a colloquial name for the hospital known as Rigshospitalet (lit.
A projected third season of the series was derailed by the death in 1998 of Ernst-Hugo Järegård, who played Dr.
Drusse, in 2000, two of the major characters. === 1995–2000: the Dogme 95 manifesto, and the Golden Heart trilogy === In 1995, von Trier and Thomas Vinterberg presented their manifesto for a new cinematic movement, which they called Dogme 95.
A documentary chronicling the project was directed by Jesper Jargil, and was released in 2000 with the title De Udstillede (The Exhibited). Von Trier achieved his greatest international success with his Golden Heart trilogy.
In 2000, von Trier premiered a musical featuring Icelandic musician Björk, Dancer in the Dark.
The song "I've Seen It All" (co-written by vonTrier) received an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Song. === 2003–2008: The Land of Opportunities and other works === The Five Obstructions (2003), made by vonTrier and Jørgen Leth, is a documentary that incorporates lengthy sections of experimental films.
His parents did not allow much room in their household for "feelings, religion, or enjoyment", and also refused to make any rules for their children, with complex effects upon vonTrier's personality and development. In a 2005 interview with Die Zeit, vonTrier said, "I don't know if I'm all that Catholic really.
This video was re-used in 2006 by the English DJ and artist Shaun Baker in his remake of the song. Seeking financial independence and creative control over their projects, in 1992 vonTrier and producer Peter Aalbæk Jensen founded the film production company Zentropa Entertainment.
Both films have casts of major international actors, including Harriet Andersson, Lauren Bacall, James Caan, Danny Glover, and Willem Dafoe, and question various issues relating to American society, such as intolerance (in Dogville) and slavery (in Manderlay). In 2006, von Trier released a Danish-language comedy film, The Boss of It All.
Following The Boss of It All, von Trier scripted an autobiographical film, in 2007, which went on to be directed by Jacob Thuesen.
In 2008, together with their fellow Dogme directors Kristian Levring and Søren Kragh-Jacobsen, vonTrier and Thomas Vinterberg received the European film award for European Achievement in World Cinema. In 1996 von Trier conducted an unusual theatrical experiment in Copenhagen involving 53 actors, which he titled Psychomobile1: The World Clock.
All the main characters in the film are based on real people from the Danish film industry, with thinly veiled portrayals including Jens Albinus as director Nils Malmros, Dejan Čukić as screenwriter Mogens Rukov, and Søren Pilmark. === 2009–2014: The Depression trilogy === The Depression trilogy consists of Antichrist, Melancholia, and Nymphomaniac.
It premiered in competition at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival, where the festival's jury honoured the movie by giving the Best Actress award to Gainsbourg. In 2011, vonTrier released Melancholia, a psychological drama.
Perhaps I only turned Catholic to piss off a few of my countrymen." In 2009, he said, "I'm a very bad Catholic.
It premiered in competition at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival, where the festival's jury honoured the movie by giving the Best Actress award to Gainsbourg. In 2011, vonTrier released Melancholia, a psychological drama.
The film was in competition at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival.
They become as natural as seeing someone eating a bowl of cereal." VonTrier refused to attend the private screening due to the negative response to Nazi-related remarks he had made at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival, which had led to his expulsion from it.
In early December 2013, a four-hour version of the five-and-a-half-hour film was shown to the press in a private preview session.
In the director's defense, Skarsgård stated at the screening, "Everyone knows he's not a Nazi, and it was disgraceful the way the press had these headlines saying he was." For its public release in the United Kingdom, the four-hour version of Nymphomaniac was divided into two "volumes"VolumeI and VolumeIIand the film's British premiere was on 22February 2014.
The film was also released in two "volumes" for the Australian release on 20 March 2014, with an interval separating the back-to-back sections.
In February 2014, an uncensored version of Volume I was shown at the Berlin Film Festival, with no announcement of when or if the complete five-and-a-half-hour Nymphomaniac would be made available to the public.
The complete version premiered at the 2014 Venice Film Festival and was shortly afterward released in a limited theatrical run worldwide that fall. === 2015–present: The House That Jack Built and the return to Cannes === In 2015, von Trier started to work on a new feature film, The House That Jack Built (2018), which was originally planned as an eight-part television series.
The complete version premiered at the 2014 Venice Film Festival and was shortly afterward released in a limited theatrical run worldwide that fall. === 2015–present: The House That Jack Built and the return to Cannes === In 2015, von Trier started to work on a new feature film, The House That Jack Built (2018), which was originally planned as an eight-part television series.
Shooting started in March 2017 in Sweden, with shooting moving to Copenhagen in May. In February 2017, von Trier explained in his own words that The House That Jack Built "celebrates the idea that life is evil and soulless, which is sadly proven by the recent rise of the Homo trumpus – the rat king".
He uses the same regular group of actors in many of his films including Jean-Marc Barr, Udo Kier and Stellan Skarsgård who was cast in several von Trier films: Breaking the Waves, Dancer in the Dark, Dogville, and Nymphomaniac. Note: This list shows only the actors who have collaborated with von Trier in three or more productions. ==Controversy== In October 2017, Björk posted on her Facebook page that she had been sexually harassed by a "Danish film director she worked with".
Jensen stepped down from CEO position of Zentropa as further harassment allegations came to light in 2017.
The film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in May 2018.
In 2019, von Trier stated that he made this remark at the "only press conference I ever had when I was sober." Following Melancholia, von Trier began the production of Nymphomaniac, a film about the sexual awakening of a woman played by Charlotte Gainsbourg.
Despite more than 100 walkouts by audience members when initially screened at the Cannes Film Festival, the film still received a 10-minute standing ovation. In December 2020, it was announced that von Trier would produce a final season for his acclaimed series The Kingdom, titled The Kingdom Exodus.
It is expected to be shot in 2021 and will consist of five episodes that will be released in 2022. == Aesthetics, themes, and style of working == === Influences === Von Trier is heavily influenced by the work of Carl Theodor Dreyer and the film The Night Porter.
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