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 Probably the most ambitious and visually distinctive filmmaker to emerge from Denmark since Carl Theodor Dreyer over 60 years earlier, Lars von Trier studied film at the Danish Film School and attracted international attention with his very first feature, The Element of Crime (1984). A highly distinctive blend of film noir and German Expressionism with stylistic nods to Dreyer, Andrei Tarkovsky and Orson Welles, its combination of yellow-tinted monochrome cinematography (pierced by shafts of blue light) and doom-haunted atmosphere made it an unforgettable visual experience. His subsequent features Epidemic (1987) and Europa (1991) have been equally ambitious both thematically and visually, though his international fame is most likely to be based on The Kingdom (1994), a TV soap opera blending hospital drama, ghost story and Twin Peaks (1990)-style surrealism that was so successful in Denmark that it was released internationally as a 280-minute theatrical feature.Lars von Trier (the "von" was adopted during his stay at the Danish Film School) was born in Copenhagen, Denmark in April 1956. He graduated from the Danish Film School in 1983 with his short film Befrielsesbilleder (1982) ("Images of Relief"), which won the Best Film award at the Munich Film Festival the following year. He had his real breakthrough with the "Forbrydelsens element" (The Element of Crime (1984)), an expressionistic, yellow-tinted and post-modern film with a psychological theme, for which he won the Technical Grand Prize at the Cannes Film Festival. "The Element of Crime" was follow by the fiasco Epidemic (1987) in 1987, but Lars von Trier made a comeback with his 1991 film _Europa_ (US title: "Zentropa"), which won him the Jury Prize as well as the Technical Grand Prize and Best Artistic Contribution at the Cannes Film Festival. Taking place in post-war Germany, Europa is a great example of the post-apocalyptic film, with a wired hypnotic architecture and a centralization on the human morale, responsibility, and love. However, Lars von Trier will probably be remembered for his later films. His Breaking the Waves (1996), for which he won the Jury Prize at Cannes, was the director's first film (in a trilogy) that centered on the female sex. "Breaking the Waves" is perhaps one of the worlds most emotional motion pictures, leaving not an eye dry when it ends, and the viewer realizes that love, indeed, is the greatest power. With Dancer in the Dark (2000), Lars von Trier made a melodrama about an east European woman who sacrifices everything, literally, to save her son from getting the same eye-illness she herself suffers from and thereby going blind. The film was one of the first motion pictures in the world to be filmed with entirely digital equipment. Icelandic singer-superstar Bj?rk, who also made all the music, starred as Selma, the principal character. Dancer in the Dark won the 2000 Palm D'Or at the Cannes Film Festival. If not for his movies, Lars von Trier is going to be remembered for his TV mini-series "Riget" (The Kingdom (1994)) from 1994; in which Lars von Trier blends his own cinematic style with a David Lynch-like surrealistic story about ghosts, god and satan. It was "The Kingdom" which made Lars von Trier a household name in Denmark. Together with producer Peter ?lb?k Jensen, Lars von Trier owns Zentropa Enterprizes, which produces Lars von Triers films, as well as many others.
Bio:
Probably the most ambitious and visually distinctive filmmaker to emerge from Denmark since Carl Theodor Dreyer over 60 years earlier, Lars von Trier studied film at the Danish Film School and attracted international attention with his very first feature, The Element of Crime (1984). A highly distinctive blend of film noir and German Expressionism with stylistic nods to Dreyer, Andrei Tarkovsky and Orson Welles, its combination of yellow-tinted monochrome cinematography (pierced by shafts of blue light) and doom-haunted atmosphere made it an unforgettable visual experience. His subsequent features Epidemic (1987) and Europa (1991) have been equally ambitious both thematically and visually, though his international fame is most likely to be based on The Kingdom (1994), a TV soap opera blending hospital drama, ghost story and Twin Peaks (1990)-style surrealism that was so successful in Denmark that it was released internationally as a 280-minute theatrical feature.
Lars von Trier (the "von" was adopted during his stay at the Danish Film School) was born in Copenhagen, Denmark in April 1956. He graduated from the Danish Film School in 1983 with his short film Befrielsesbilleder (1982) ("Images of Relief"), which won the Best Film award at the Munich Film Festival the following year. He had his real breakthrough with the "Forbrydelsens element" (The Element of Crime (1984)), an expressionistic, yellow-tinted and post-modern film with a psychological theme, for which he won the Technical Grand Prize at the Cannes Film Festival. "The Element of Crime" was follow by the fiasco Epidemic (1987) in 1987, but Lars von Trier made a comeback with his 1991 film _Europa_ (US title: "Zentropa"), which won him the Jury Prize as well as the Technical Grand Prize and Best Artistic Contribution at the Cannes Film Festival. Taking place in post-war Germany, Europa is a great example of the post-apocalyptic film, with a wired hypnotic architecture and a centralization on the human morale, responsibility, and love. However, Lars von Trier will probably be remembered for his later films. His Breaking the Waves (1996), for which he won the Jury Prize at Cannes, was the director's first film (in a trilogy) that centered on the female sex. "Breaking the Waves" is perhaps one of the worlds most emotional motion pictures, leaving not an eye dry when it ends, and the viewer realizes that love, indeed, is the greatest power. With Dancer in the Dark (2000), Lars von Trier made a melodrama about an east European woman who sacrifices everything, literally, to save her son from getting the same eye-illness she herself suffers from and thereby going blind. The film was one of the first motion pictures in the world to be filmed with entirely digital equipment. Icelandic singer-superstar Bj?rk, who also made all the music, starred as Selma, the principal character. Dancer in the Dark won the 2000 Palm D'Or at the Cannes Film Festival. If not for his movies, Lars von Trier is going to be remembered for his TV mini-series "Riget" (The Kingdom (1994)) from 1994; in which Lars von Trier blends his own cinematic style with a David Lynch-like surrealistic story about ghosts, god and satan. It was "The Kingdom" which made Lars von Trier a household name in Denmark. Together with producer Peter ?lb?k Jensen, Lars von Trier owns Zentropa Enterprizes, which produces Lars von Triers films, as well as many others.
Tivia:
Many famous directors and actors have shown their appreciation of von Trier's work. Quentin Tarantino mentions Von Trier's Dogville (2003) as his idea of the best manuscript ever written, Paul Thomas Anderson said he would "carry Lars von Trier's luggage anywhere", Martin Scorsese has Breaking the Waves (1996) listed on his top 10 films of the 90s and Johnny Depp recently said this in a Danish film magazine: "Tell von Trier I'm waiting for an offer, when he is ready, so am I".Has never visited the US.In 1995, his dying mother told her son on her deathbed that the man he believed to be his father, in fact wasn't his biological father. Following her death, he tracked down his biological father, who after four combative meetings told him that, if he wanted to speak to him again, he could do it through his lawyer.Steven Spielberg offered him the chance to direct a film in America after he saw Europa (1991) but von Trier turned the script down.He has directed three actresses to the Best Actress Prize at the Cannes Film Festival, Bj?rk for Dancer in the Dark (2000), Charlotte Gainsbourg for Antichrist (2009) and Kirsten Dunst for Melancholia (2011).The year von Trier won the Palme D'Or at the Cannes Film Festival, he almost did not attend the ceremony. He has so many phobias, he could only make the trip in a specially outfitted trailer.Added 'von' to his name because his peers at the Danish Film School called him so.Helped form a collective known as Dogme 95 with a group of other filmmakers. The collective agreed to make films following certain rules, such as using only hand held cameras and shooting only on location.Broke up with his pregnant wife and moved in with their (much younger) babysitter. (1996)Von Trier's mother, a civil service worker named Inger H?st, confessed shortly before her death that his real father was not Ulf Trier (another ministry worker) but rather her employer, Fritz Michael Hartmann; she explained she wanted a man with "artistic genes," and Hartmann, a member of an illustrious family of Danish composers including Johan Peter Emilius Hartmann and Niels Viggo Bentzon, seemed to fit the bill.Directed one Oscar nominated performance: Emily Watson in Breaking the Waves (1996).He was declared 'persona non grata' at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival after controversial comments during the Melancholia (2011) press conference, which were ironic and intended as biographical jokes, but largely misunderstood by the press and public. In October 2011, five months after the festival, he declared that he would refrain from all future public statements and interviews as a result of the controversy.Has said that one of his favourite films is The Philadelphia Story (1940).He was scheduled to direct the four operas of Wagner's Ring at the 2006 edition of the Bayreuth Festival in Germany, but withdrew from the project in 2004 and stated through the festival that he felt that it would exceed his powers and that he did not feel able to fulfil his own ambitions.Udo Kier is the godfather of his daughter Agnes.Thirteen moving boxes' worth of material from Lars von Trier's life has been stored in a special collection at the Danish Film Institute library in 2017. Most of the material came from Trier's own basement. Some of it has also been used for an exhibition at Brandts in Odense, Denmark.He was awarded UNICEF's 'Cinema for Peace Award' at the 2004 Berlinale (Berlin International Film Festival). He got the award because almost all of his films deal with subjects like mercy and ethics.Added the "von" to his birth name (Lars Trier) as an homage to director Josef von Sternberg.Has the letters F, U, C, K tattooed on his right hand knuckles.Considers Dogville (2003) to be his best film because "it's so damn well written". By contrast, he considers the film's sequel Manderlay (2005) to be his worst.He was due in 2007 to begin work on a horror movie, Antichrist, which postulates the Earth was created by Satan rather than God. However, it was reported in May 2007 that he was suffering from depression and might cease film-making altogether. (May 2007)His intended American trilogy was never completed. After beginning with Dogville (2003) and its follow-up Manderlay (2005) the third film entitled "Washington" (as of 2022) never got made.Shares birthday with Jane Campion and Jacques Audiard. The three directors/writers are all winners of the Palme D'Or at the Cannes Film Festival.After speaking on a public appearance from Lars Von Trier at the University of Copenhagen, film and media studies, 22/11-06, he expressed interest in making a horror film. It is apparently under development. (November 2006)Nephew of filmmaker B?rge H?st.His controversial comments at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival were related to his "understanding" of Adolf Hitler's actions, told in a joking manner (which wasn't, obviously, perceived as that and then he was a declared a Persona Non Grata by the festival committee). Von Trier was born on April 30, same date of Hitler's suicide. |
| Name: |
Lars von Trier |
Type: |
Writer,Director,Producer (IMDB) |
| Area: |
All World |
Platform: |
IMDB |
| Category: |
|
Business scope: |
Writer,Director,Producer |
| Products for sale: |
Writer,Director,Producer |
| Model rank: |
309 |
| Last update: |
2024-07-01 03:47:54 |
| Height: |
5' 7' (1.70 m) |
| Biography: |
Probably the most ambitious and visually distinctive filmmaker to emerge from Denmark since Carl Theodor Dreyer over 60 years earlier, Lars von Trier studied film at the Danish Film School and attracted international attention with his very first fea |
| Trivia: |
Many famous directors and actors have shown their appreciation of von Trier's work. Quentin Tarantino mentions Von Trier's Dogville (2003) as his idea of the best manuscript ever written, Paul Thomas Anderson said he would "carry Lars von Trier's luggage anywhere", Martin Scorsese has Breaking the Waves (1996) listed on his top 10 films of the 90s and Johnny Depp recently said this in a Danish film magazine: "Tell von Trier I'm waiting for an offer, when he is ready, so am I".Has never visited the US.In 1995, his dying mother told her son on her deathbed that the man he believed to be his father, in fact wasn't his biological father. Following her death, he tracked down his biological father, who after four combative meetings told him that, if he wanted to speak to him again, he could do it through his lawyer.Steven Spielberg offered him the chance to direct a film in America after he saw Europa (1991) but von Trier turned the script down.He has directed three actresses to the Best Actress Prize at the Cannes Film Festival, Bj?rk for Dancer in the Dark (2000), Charlotte Gainsbourg for Antichrist (2009) and Kirsten Dunst for Melancholia (2011).The year von Trier won the Palme D'Or at the Cannes Film Festival, he almost did not attend the ceremony. He has so many phobias, he could only make the trip in a specially outfitted trailer.Added 'von' to his name because his peers at the Danish Film School called him so.Helped form a collective known as Dogme 95 with a group of other filmmakers. The collective agreed to make films following certain rules, such as using only hand held cameras and shooting only on location.Broke up with his pregnant wife and moved in with their (much younger) babysitter. (1996)Von Trier's mother, a civil service worker named Inger H?st, confessed shortly before her death that his real father was not Ulf Trier (another ministry worker) but rather her employer, Fritz Michael Hartmann; she explained she wanted a man with "artistic genes," and Hartmann, a member of an illustrious family of Danish composers including Johan Peter Emilius Hartmann and Niels Viggo Bentzon, seemed to fit the bill.Directed one Oscar nominated performance: Emily Watson in Breaking the Waves (1996).He was declared 'persona non grata' at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival after controversial comments during the Melancholia (2011) press conference, which were ironic and intended as biographical jokes, but largely misunderstood by the press and public. In October 2011, five months after the festival, he declared that he would refrain from all future public statements and interviews as a result of the controversy.Has said that one of his favourite films is The Philadelphia Story (1940).He was scheduled to direct the four operas of Wagner's Ring at the 2006 edition of the Bayreuth Festival in Germany, but withdrew from the project in 2004 and stated through the festival that he felt that it would exceed his powers and that he did not feel able to fulfil his own ambitions.Udo Kier is the godfather of his daughter Agnes.Thirteen moving boxes' worth of material from Lars von Trier's life has been stored in a special collection at the Danish Film Institute library in 2017. Most of the material came from Trier's own basement. Some of it has also been used for an exhibition at Brandts in Odense, Denmark.He was awarded UNICEF's 'Cinema for Peace Award' at the 2004 Berlinale (Berlin International Film Festival). He got the award because almost all of his films deal with subjects like mercy and ethics.Added the "von" to his birth name (Lars Trier) as an homage to director Josef von Sternberg.Has the letters F, U, C, K tattooed on his right hand knuckles.Considers Dogville (2003) to be his best film because "it's so damn well written". By contrast, he considers the film's sequel Manderlay (2005) to be his worst.He was due in 2007 to begin work on a horror movie, Antichrist, which postulates the Earth was created by Satan rather than God. However, it was reported in May 2007 that he was suffering from depression and might cease film-making altogether. (May 2007)His intended American trilogy was never completed. After beginning with Dogville (2003) and its follow-up Manderlay (2005) the third film entitled "Washington" (as of 2022) never got made.Shares birthday with Jane Campion and Jacques Audiard. The three directors/writers are all winners of the Palme D'Or at the Cannes Film Festival.After speaking on a public appearance from Lars Von Trier at the University of Copenhagen, film and media studies, 22/11-06, he expressed interest in making a horror film. It is apparently under development. (November 2006)Nephew of filmmaker B?rge H?st.His controversial comments at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival were related to his "understanding" of Adolf Hitler's actions, told in a joking manner (which wasn't, obviously, perceived as that and then he was a declared a Persona Non Grata by the festival committee). Von Trier was born on April 30, same date of Hitler's suicide. |
| Trademarks: |
Hypnosis figures significantly in many of his films
Frequently casts Udo Kier
Fequently casts Jean-Marc Barr
Often casts Stellan Skarsg?rd.
Often casts Charlotte Gainsbourg. |
| Quotes: |
A film should be like a rock in the shoe.
<br />
<hr>
Basically, I'm afraid of everything in life, except filmmaking.
<br />
<hr>
I don't think I tortured Nicole on Dogville (2003), but I know she said I was tough.
<br />
<hr>
My films are about ideals that clash with the world. Every time it's a man in the lead, they have forgotten about the ideals. And everytime it's a woman in the lead, they take the ideals all the way.
<br />
<hr>
If his creation is so great, why does God want us on our knees? |
| Job title: |
Writer,Director,Producer |
| Others works: |
(2000) Directed TV commercial urging Danes to vote for entry into the European single currency.
(1993) Directed French TV commercial for Duran.
(1986) Directed TV commercial "Sauna" for Ekstra Bladet (Danish tabloid paper).
(1996) Directed a |
| Spouse: |
Bente Fr?ge (1997 - present) (2 children)C?cilia Holbek Trier (? - 1996) (divorced, 2 children) |
| Children: |
Selma Sunniva |
| Parents: |
Ulf Trier
Inger Trier |
|
