Lars von Trier

Lars von Trier, born as Lars Holbaek Trier on April 30, 1956, in Copenhagen, Denmark.

He is the author of the cult films:

"Breaking the Waves", "Dancing in the Dark", "Dogville".

He added the prefix "Von" to his name while studying at the Danish Film School, from which he graduated in 1983.

His graduation thesis was the short film "Pictures of Liberation" (Befrielsesbilleder ), which won the Main Award at the Munich Film Festival the following year. The next film he made, The Element of Crime (Forbrydelsens element, 1984), was a real breakthrough for the director. It was his first work in the "big" movie. "Element of Crime" - a postmodern movie with psychological overtones, which won the Grand Technical Prize at the Cannes Film Festival, as well as awards in Chicago and Mannheim. In the same film, Lars von Trier made his first appearance as an actor, screenwriter and cameraman.

His films are characterized by a distinctive visual style - a combination of the monochrome gloom of film noir with elements of German impressionism.

Trier's next movie - "Epidemic" ("Epedemic", 1987) was a failure. Despite this, in 1991 Von Trier made the film "Europa" ("Zentropa"), which rehabilitates the director in cinematic circles. "Europa" wins the Jury Prize, the Grand Technical Prize and the Acting Award at the Cannes Film Festival. The film's setting is post-war Germany - a great example of a post-apocalyptic film, with hypnotic architecture, a focus on human morality, responsibility and love stitched in.

Lars Von Trier's international fame comes from the television series "The Kingdom" ("Riget", 1994), which was so beloved by the audience that a 280-minute movie version was even released. In this TV series Lars Von Trier mixes his own cinematic style with the style of David Lynch. It turned out to be a kind of surrealistic story about ghosts, God and Satan. However, triumph awaited the director after the release of the drama "Breaking the Waves" (1996), highly appreciated at the Cannes Film Festival. This movie was the first of a trilogy dedicated to women. "Breaking the Waves" is probably the most sentimental and tear-jerking film in the world, after watching which the viewer realizes that love is a great power.

Lars Von Trier is one of the founders of the most provocative movement in modern cinema - "Dogma-95", within the framework of which he directed the movie "The Idiots" (1998), which caused a scandal with explicit porn scenes.

In 2000, von Trier released the musical drama "Dancing in the Dark" - a movie about a blind refugee from Eastern Europe, who sacrifices everything, including his own life in order to save money for surgery for his son, suffering from the same eye disease.

The film was one of the first to be shot entirely on digital equipment, starring Icelandic singer Björk, whose songs are included in the movie. "Dancing in the Dark" won the Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival.

In 2003, Lars Von Trier shot "Dogville" (the first part of the trilogy "USA -- Land of Opportunity"). An interesting and original approach in the movie is given to the scenery, which is simply not in the movie. The main role in the movie was played by Hollywood movie star Nicole Kidman. The movie is dedicated to the theme of Slavery.

In 2005, the logical continuation of the movie "Dogville" - "Manderlay" (the second part of the trilogy "USA - Land of Opportunity") was released. The place of the performer of the main role was taken by a new actress. Trier himself says about his project as follows: "I expect my film to unite the Ku Klux Klan and colored people, because both of them will want to kill me after it."

In 2006, the movie "The Biggest Boss" is released. The director continues his creative experiments by using non-professional actors in the lead role. The movie caused mixed reviews from critics and viewers.

In 2009 comes a new movie director - "Antichrist". According to Von Trier, at the center of the film is "the Gnostic idea that the universe was created not by a good god, and the evil demiurge - the devil. According to the director, the movie is the best of his career. According to others - an unsuccessful work. The movie is dedicated to Andrei Tarkovsky.