Lars von Trier: a bibliography
From the UC Berkeley Library
DOGMA 95 Manifesto
From P.O.V filmtidsskrift, a Danish journal of film studies.
Zentropa
Zentropa is a Danish production company founded by Lars von Trier and Peter Aalbæk Jensen, and is closely associated with Nordisk Film.
Dogme Uncut by
In 1995, Danish filmmaker Lars von Trier (Breaking the Waves, Dancer in the Dark, Dogville) and three fellow Danish directors swore allegiance to a "vow of chastity" aimed at jolting filmmakers around the world who had become stuck in the mire of slick, emotionally manipulative, high-concept, and bombastic movie productions. They named their philosophy "Dogme95," and its tenets demanded a return to the basic core of filmmaking: the use of natural lighting and a hand-held camera, and the refusal to use special effects, a soundtrack of any kind (only natural sounds found on location were acceptable), and movie sets (all shooting was to take place on location). Like the French New Wave and 1960s American Underground film movements, Dogme had a profound affect on filmmaking around the world, including the sacred cow known as "Hollywood." In part because of the proliferation of relatively inexpensive digital cameras and technology, the movement resonated with young and independent filmmakers, creating a surge in back-to-the-basics, guerilla filmmaking. It also had a profound influence on everything from Hollywood filmmakers to dance choreographers to computer game manufacturers. The list of films and filmmakers to come out of the Dogme movement reads like a who's who of art-house cinema from the late-1990s and early-2000s: the aforementioned Lars von Trier, Thomas Vinterberg (The Celebration), Harmony Korine (Julien Donkey-Boy), Lone Scherfig (Italian for Beginners), and Susanne Bier (Open Hearts), among many others. Dogme Uncut is written by film journalist and historian Jack Stevenson, who, while living in Demark for the past decade, has had a true insider's view of the Dogme movement from its conception to its early triumphs to its current incarnation. With a good deal of humor and fascinating insights, Stevenson brings a mixture of history, analysis, and reportage to bear on the eight-year-old film movement, examining the subject from multiple perspectives. Dogme's debt to previous film "waves" is explored, as is the impact Dogme itself has had on current trends in cinema and on today's young filmmakers. Penned in a lively, accessible, and jargon-free style,Dogme Uncut is a richly illustrated survey of the entire Dogme canon that is both entertaining and hugely informative.
The Cinema of Lars Von Trier by
Lars von Trier is the most controversial figure of contemporary European cinema. This volume is the first book to analyse in depth the changes he has brought to modern film. Since founding the back-to-basics Dogme philosophy of filmmaking in 1995, von Trier's name has become a by-word for taboo-breaking cinema. As a director, he has courted media controversy through films such as The Idiots (1998), with its unsimulated sex and non-conformist politics, and through his complex relationships with actresses such as Bjork and Nicole Kidman, from whom he coaxed career-best performances in Dancer in the Dark (2000) and Dogville (2003) respectively. Analysing these films as well as recent works such as The Five Obstructions (2004) from a psychoanalytic perspective, it forges a new understanding of the founder of Dogme 95 as a great democratiser of cinema in the digital age.
Lars Von Trier by
With the international success of Breaking the Waves (1996) and Dancer in the Dark (2000), Lars von Trier has established himself as a one of the most provocative and daring film directors working today. The founding father of Dogma 95, he made the movement's most controversial film, The Idiots (1998), and has played a leading role in the recent resurgence of Danish cinema. Yet despite his success, von Trier remains something of an polarising and enigmatic figure hailed as the new Godard by some and a charlatan by others. In this new study, Jack Stevenson explores the achievements as well as the paradoxes of Lars von Trier, assessing his life, work, and critical reception. The book follows von Trier from his early life as a troubled son of 'Cultural Radical' parents through to his student days at the Danish Film School, diligently spent making films that were as innovative and disturbing as his later features have proved to be. These films (consisting of the Europa and Gold-Hearted trilogies) are fully examined together with considerations of his creative detours into other media and his current work in progress, Dogville. Based in Denmark, the author brings a unique perspective to Lars von Trier creating a multi-dimensional portrait of the director. Utilising sources heretofore unavailable in English, Stevenson's lively yet fact-filled narrative is accessible to students and film enthusiasts alike. The book is indispensable to anyone interested in Lars von Trier and the broader issues that surround modern Danish film and its current renaissance.
Lars Von Trier by
With six entries at the Cannes Film Festival thus far, Lars von Trier has been a Cannes award winner four times. Without question, he is the most intriguing film director to emerge in Denmark since the days of his great mentor in spirit Carl Theodor Dreyer. A relentless visionary, von Trier (b. 1956) has succeeded not only in realizing his projects but also in managing to gather substantial audiences to his films. Breaking the Waves (1996) made him a well-known figure to American audiences, as did Dancer in the Dark (2000), winner of the Palme d'Or at Cannes. His work on the groundbreaking TV series The Kingdom (1994-97) made him a household name in Denmark. He has continued to stir controversy for his polarizing views on the characters and subject matter of his films, as well as for his film technique. Media attention reached its peak when von Trier created Dogme 95, a movement dedicated to the "Vow of Chastity," which strips cinema of its artifice, flash, and polish. Rather than being strident or shrill, however, these collected interviews reveal the Danish filmmaker to be impish, forthright, witty, sometimes infuriating, and deeply committed to the possibilities of cinema. The conversations in this collection trace his development from the structured, image-obsessed formalist of The Element of Crime (1984) and Europa (U.S. title Zentropa, 1991) to the control-shunning game master of the 1990s. Most of these interviews, two previously unpublished, are translated into English for the first time. They begin in 1968, when von Trier was the lead actor in a children's TV series, and end in 2001. Von Trier speaks of his visions, ideals, dislikes, and technical experimentations, of his conception of actors, his childhood, his phobias, and of his views on religion and his ill-fated female protagonists. His style in conversation is relaxed and honest, his mood affirmative and passionate.
Trier on Von Trier by
The mercurial Danish director of Dogville, Dancer in the Dark and Breaking the Waves offers his inimitable views on life and art in this fascinating, opinionated and witty addition to Faber's 'Directors on Directors' series. Lars Trier affected the lordly 'von' in his name while still a film student, in homage to such great movie-makers of the past as von Sternberg and von Stroheim. His own brilliant directing career has been marked by similarly grand ambitions, and he is unique in having premiered all of his features - from the highly styled The Element of Crime to the digital-video-originated The Idiots - at the Cannes Film Festival. Trier is a rare item in contemporary cinema, a restless innovator and polemicist, as his participation in the back-to-basics Dogme95 movement attests; and these conversations with Stig Bjorkman, author of Bergman on Bergman and Woody Allen on Woody Allen, trace the evolution of his career and thought in a manner that is both astonishingly detailed and engagingly humorous.
