Coordinates	34°03′″N118°15′″N
name	The Idiots
writer	Lars von Trier
starring	Bodil JørgensenJens Albinus
director	Lars von Trier
producer	Vibeke Windeløv
released	(Cannes Film Festival)
runtime	117 minutes
country
language	Danish
preceded by	''Breaking the Waves''
followed by	''Dancer in the Dark''

''The Idiots'' () is a 1998 Danish film directed by Lars von Trier. It is his first film made in compliance with the Dogme '95 Manifesto, and is also known as Dogme #2. It is the second film in von Trier's ''Golden Heart Trilogy'', which includes ''Breaking the Waves'' (1996) and ''Dancer in the Dark'' (2000).

Plot

A seemingly "anti-bourgeois" group of adults spend their time seeking their "inner idiot" to release their inhibitions. They do so by behaving in public as if they were developmentally disabled.

At a restaurant, patrons are disturbed by the group's mischief, but single diner Karen (Bodil Jorgensen) develops an appreciation of their antics. The members of the group refer to this behaviour as "spassing", a neologism derived from "spasser", the Danish equivalent of "spaz", which has the same connotations in Denmark as in English-speaking countries. (''The Idiots'' is not concerned with actual disability, or with distinguishing between mental retardation and physical impairment.) Karen takes a ride in a taxi cab with the people from the restaurant, and she finds herself at a big house. The apparent leader of the group, Stoffer (Jens Albinus), is supposed to be selling the house, which belongs to his uncle, but instead it becomes the focal point for group activities.

The "spassing" is a self-defeating attempt by the group to challenge the establishment through provocation. The self-styled idiots feel that the society-at-large treats their intelligence uncreatively and unchallengingly; thus, they seek the uninhibited self-expression that they imagine a romantic ideal of disability will allow.

Stoffer, at his birthday party, wishes for a "gangbang," and both clothes and inhibitions are soon discarded. But when Stoffer calls for the group members to let idiocy invade their personal daily lives, only Karen takes up the challenge. She takes Susanne (Anne Louise Hassing) back to her house, where they are greeted by surprise by Karen's mother. Karen had been missing for two weeks, following the death of her young baby; she offers no explanation of where she has been. Karen attempts to spass in front of her family by dribbling the food she is eating, but this results in a violent slap from her husband, Anders. Karen and Suzanne leave the house.

Cast

Bodil Jørgensen as Karen

Jens Albinus as Stoffer

Anne Louise Hassing as Susanne

Troels Lyby as Henrik

Nikolaj Lie Kaas as Jeppe

Louise Mieritz as Josephine

Henrik Prip as Ped

Luis Mesonero as Miguel

Knud Romer Jørgensen as Axel

Trine Michelsen as Nana

Anne-Grethe Bjarup Riis as Katrine

Paprika Steen as High Class Lady

Erik Wedersøe as Stoffer's Uncle

Michael Moritzen as Man From Municipality

Anders Hove as Josephine's Father

Production

Breaches of Dogme 95 rules

The confession of a Dogme 95 film is an idea adapted by Thomas Vinterberg in the first Dogme 95 film: Make a confession if there were things happening on the shoot which are not in accordance with the strict interpretation of the Dogme 95 rules. It is written from the director's point of view. Accordingly, Lars von Trier made the following confession:

In relation to the production of Dogme 2 "The Idiots", I confess:

To have used a stand-in in one case only (the sexual intercourse scene).

To have organised payment of cash to the actors for shopping of accessories (food).

To have intervened with the location (by moving sources of light – candlelight – to achieve exposure).

To have been aware of the fact that the production had entered into an agreement of leasing a car (without the knowledge of the involved actor).

All in all, and apart from the above, I feel to have lived up to the intentions and rules of the manifesto: Dogme95.

In addition to these confessed breaches, the film also uses non-diegetic music mixed in during several pivotal scene transitions. Producing sound apart from the images violates Dogme 95 rule 2.

Reception

The film provoked a storm of publicity and debates, one of which was about the fictional representation of disability. Film critic Mark Kermode's reaction was to shout "Il est merde! Il est merde!" (He was probably trying to say "It is shit!" in French, although the correct interjection would be "C'est de la merde!") from the back of the auditorium during the official screening of the film at Cannes, a spontaneous review for which he was ejected from the venue.

Another controversy arose over the sexual content, which was unusually explicit for a narrative film. ''The Idiots'' contains a shower scene in which a member of the group (in character as an "idiot") has an erection and, later, a group sex scene that includes one couple (faces not seen) having unsimulated penetrative (vaginal) sexual intercourse. Both instances of explicit content are in view only for a few seconds. The film was cleared for theatrical release by the British Board of Film Classification, receiving an 18 certificate. When it was shown on Film4 (then ''FilmFour'') in 2000, the erection and the intercourse were obscured by pixelization, following an order from the Independent Television Commission.

Channel 4 aired the film unedited in 2005 as part of the channel's "Banned" season exploring censorship and cinematic works. Viewer complaints prompted an Ofcom investigation, which came out in favour of Channel 4. In its ruling, Ofcom found the film "not in breach" of the relevant Code under the specific circumstances of the broadcast, that is "the serious contextualisation of the film within a season examining the censorship of film and television, its artistic purpose, the channel which transmitted it, the strong warnings before the film and prior to the scene in question and the scheduling after midnight." Ofcom added the caveat that, "While we do not consider the film was in breach of the Code on this occasion, we must consider carefully the acceptability of any similar content on an individual basis."

''The Idiots'' is an adult-only movie in Argentina, Australia (though it has been shown uncut on TV with an MA rating), Chile, New Zealand, Norway, South Korea, Spain, Taiwan, the United States, and the UK. In Switzerland and Germany the movie ran uncut with a 16-years rating in theaters, followed by a DVD release with the same rating and several uncut television airings.

''The Idiots'' was ranked #76 in ''Empire'' magazine's "The 100 Best Films Of World Cinema" in 2010.

Accolades

The film was shown in competition at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival.

Bodil Awards (1999)

* Won: Best Actress, Bodil Jørgensen

* Won: Best Supporting Actor, Nikolaj Lie Kaas

* Won: Best Supporting Actress, Anne Louise Hassing

* Nominated: Best Film

Cannes Film Festival (1998)

Nominated: ''Palme d'Or''

European Film Awards (1998)

* Nominated: European Film Award, Best Screenwriter

London Film Festival (1998)

Won: FIPRESCI Prize, Lars von Trier

Robert Festival (1999)

* Won: Best Actress, Bodil Jørgensen

Valladolid International Film Festival (1998)

* Nominated: Golden Spike, Lars von Trier

See also

List of mainstream films with unsimulated sex

References

External links

Short review at the website of Film4

Category:Avant-garde and experimental films Category:1998 films Category:Danish films Category:Camcorder films Category:Films directed by Lars von Trier Category:Dogme 95 films Category:Danish-language films

da:Idioterne de:Idioten es:Los idiotas fr:Les Idiots it:Idioti (film) hu:Idióták (film) nl:Idioterne no:Idiotene pl:Idioci pt:Idioterne ru:Идиоты (фильм, 1998) sv:Idioterna uk:Ідіоти (фільм)

Coordinates	34°03′″N118°15′″N
name	Paprika Steen
birth date	November 03, 1964
birth place	Frederiksberg, Denmark
occupation	Actress, Director
yearsactive	1988-present
spouse	Mikael Rieks
awards	}}

Paprika Steen (born 3 November 1964) is a Danish actress and film director best known for her performances in the films ''Festen'', ''The Idiots'' and ''Open Hearts''. Steen was the first Danish actress since Karin Nellemose in 1949 to win both Best Actress (for ''Okay'') and Best Supporting Actress (''Open Hearts'') in the same year at the Robert Festival, the Danish equivalent of the Oscars.

Biography

Paprika Steen was born on 3 November 1964 in Frederiksberg, Denmark, the daughter of musician and conductor Niels Jørgen Steen and the actress Avi Sagild. She is the sister of musician and actor Nikolaj Steen. Steen applied to the Acting School of Odense Theatre 13 times before being accepted and attending from 1988 to 1992. Steen performed on stage in Dr. Dante productions and been associated with the Royal Danish Theatre since 1997. In 1997 she wrote and performed in the satirical television series ''Lex og Klatten''. In 1998, Steen became an active participant in the Dogme 95 film movement as the only performer to appear in the first three movies: Lars Von Trier's ''The Idiots'', ''The Celebration'' by Thomas Vinterberg, and Søren Kragh-Jacobsen's ''Mifune's Last Song''.

Steen won her first Bodil Award as the Best Supporting Actress in 2000 for ''Den eneste ene'' (''The One and Only''). In 2002, Steen won the Bodil Award, Robert Award and American Film Institute's Grand Jury Prize for her leading role as the controlling loudmouth Nete in ''Okay''. The same year she also won both the Bodil and Robert awards as Best Supporting Actress in ''Elsker dig for evigt'' (''Open Hearts'').

Steen made her directorial debut in with the 2004 tragedy-drama ''Lad de små børn...'' (''Aftermath'') about the emotional trauma of a young couple after the death of their daughter. The film received awards at several film festivals including the Lübeck Nordic Film Days and the Film by the Sea International Festival. In 2007, Steen directed her second feature, the comedy film ''With Your Permission'' (''Til døden os skiller'').

Paprika Steen is married to producer Mikael Rieks.

Filmography

Actress

''Rami og Julie'' (1988)

''Sort høst'' (1993)

''Tre små historier'' (1993)

''Frække Frida og de frygtløse spioner'' (1994)

''Frihedens skygge'' (1994)

''Kun en pige'' (1995)

''De største helte'' (1996)

''Hannibal & Jerry'' (1997)

''Festen'' (1998)

''Kirikou and the Sorceress'' (1998)

''Idioterne'' (1998)

''Den lille ridder'' (1999)

''Den eneste ene'' (1999)

''Solen er så rød'' (1999)

''Mifunes sidste sang'' (1999)

''Max'' (2000)

''Help! I'm a Fish'' (2000)

''Prop & Berta'' (2001)

''Okay'' (2002)

''Elsker dig for evigt'' (2002)

''Drengen der ville gøre det umulige'' (2002)

''Stealing Rembrandt'' (2003)

''De drabbade'' (2003)

''Adams æbler'' (2005)

''Snart kommer tiden'' (2006)

''Vikaren'' (2007)

''Applaus'' (2009)

''Everything will be Fine'' (2010)

''Skeletons'' (2010)

Director

''Lad de små børn...'' (DK, 2004)

''Til døden os skiller'' (DK, 2007)

External links

Paprika Steen at the Danish Film Database (in Danish)

Paprika Steen at Det Danske Filminstitut (in Danish)

Paprika Steen reviewed in the New York Times For Her Performance in Applause (2010)

Category:Danish actors Category:Danish film directors Category:Female film directors Category:1965 births Category:Living people Category:People from Copenhagen

ca:Paprika Steen da:Paprika Steen de:Paprika Steen es:Paprika Steen fr:Paprika Steen nl:Paprika Steen no:Paprika Steen sv:Paprika Steen vi:Paprika Steen

Coordinates	34°03′″N118°15′″N
name	Lars von Trier
birth name	Lars Trier
birth date	April 30, 1956
birth place	Kongens Lyngby, Denmark
occupation	Film director and screenwriter
spouse	Cæcilia Holbek (m. 1987-1995)Bente Frøge (m. 1997-present) }}

Lars von Trier (; born Lars Trier; 30 April 1956) is a Danish film director and screenwriter. He is closely associated with the Dogme 95 collective, although his own films have taken a variety of different approaches.

Von Trier began making his own films at the age of 11, and his first publicly released film was an experimental short called ''The Orchid Gardener'', in 1977. His first feature film came seven years later, ''The Element of Crime'', in 1984. As of 2010, he has directed a further 10 feature films, five short films and four television productions.

He is married to Bente Frøge, his second wife. Von Trier suffers periodically from depression, as well as various fears and phobias, including an intense fear of flying. As he himself once put it, "Basically, I'm afraid of everything in life, except filmmaking".

Early life and career

Lars Trier was born in Kongens Lyngby, north of Copenhagen, the son of Inger Trier (née Høst, 1915—1989). He had believed that his biological father was Ulf Trier (1907—1978), until his mother revealed to him on her deathbed that he had been conceived as a result of an affair she had with her employer, Fritz Michael Hartmann. His mother considered herself a communist, while his father was social democrat, and both were committed nudists, and the young Lars went on several childhood holidays to nudist camps. They regarded the disciplining of children as reactionary. Trier has noted that he was brought up in an atheist family, and that although Ulf Trier was Jewish, he was not religious. He did not discover the identity of his biological father until 1989. 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 results for von Trier's personality and development. The young Lars found in cinema an outlet to the outside world through which he could learn about subjects otherwise forbidden from his study by his parents. He began making his own films at the age of 11 after receiving a Super-8 camera as a gift and continued to be involved in independent moviemaking throughout his high school years.

In 1979, he was enrolled in the National Film School of Denmark. His peers at the film school nicknamed him "von Trier". The name is sort of an inside-joke with the von (German "of" or "from" used as a nobiliary particle), suggesting nobility, while Lars is a very common and Trier not an unusual name in Denmark. He reportedly kept the "von" name in homage to Erich von Stroheim and Josef von Sternberg, both of whom also added it later in life. During his time as a student at the school he made the films ''Nocturne'' (1980) and ''The Last Detail'' (''Den sidste detalje'', 1981), both of which won Best Film awards at the Munich International Festival of Film Schools, and he graduated with ''Images of a Relief'' (''Befrielsesbilleder'', 1982) in 1983.

Europe trilogy

After graduation he began work on the very stylized crime drama, ''The Element of Crime'' (''Forbrydelsens element'' 1984), which won a technical award at the Cannes Film Festival.

His next film was ''Epidemic'' (1987), which was also shown at Cannes in the Un Certain Regard section. The film is partly a dark science fiction-tale of a future plague epidemic, and partly chronicles two filmmakers (played by Lars von Trier and screenwriter Niels Vørsel) preparing that film, with the two storylines ultimately colliding.

For television von Trier directed ''Medea'' (1988), which won the Jean d'Arcy prize in France. It was based on a screenplay by Carl Th. Dreyer and starred Udo Kier.

He completed the Europe-trilogy in 1991 with ''Europa'' (released as ''Zentropa'' in the U.S.), which won the Prix du Jury at the 1991 Cannes Film Festival and picked up awards at other major festivals.

In 1990 he also directed the music video for the worldwide hit "Bakerman" by Laid Back. This video was reused in 2006 by the English DJ and artist Shaun Baker who did a remake of Bakerman.

Zentropa and ''The Kingdom''

In 1992 he and producer Peter Aalbæk Jensen founded the movie production company Zentropa Entertainment, named after a train company in ''Europa'', their most recent film at the time. The reason for doing this was to achieve financial independence and to have total creative control. The production company has produced many movies other than von Trier's own as well as television series. It is also the world's only mainstream film studio to have produced hardcore sex films: ''Constance'' (1998), ''Pink Prison'' (1999), ''HotMen CoolBoyz'' (2000) and ''All About Anna'' (2005).

In order to make money for his newly founded company, he made ''The Kingdom'' (''Riget'', 1994) and ''The Kingdom II'' (''Riget II'', 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. The Kingdom's Hospital) in Danish. A projected third installment in the series has been derailed due to the death of Ernst-Hugo Järegård, who played Helmer, one of the major characters.

Dogme 95

In 1995, Lars von Trier and Thomas Vinterberg presented their manifesto for a new cinematic movement which they called Dogme 95. It would however take a while before the first of these films appeared, and at this point many thought of the concept mainly as a radical idea with no future.

Von Trier's next film, ''Breaking the Waves'' (1996) which won the Grand Prix at Cannes, features Emily Watson, who was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress. Its grainy images and hand-held photography pointed towards Dogme95. ''Breaking the Waves'' is the first film in von Trier's 'Golden Heart Trilogy' which also includes ''The Idiots'' (1998) and ''Dancer in the Dark'' (2000).

Also in 1996, von Trier conducted an unusual theatrical experiment in Copenhagen involving 53 actors, which he titled ''Psychomobile 1: The World Clock''. A documentary chronicling the project was directed by Jesper Jargil, and was released in 2000 with the title ''De Udstillede'' (''The Exhibited'').

Lars von Trier made his own contribution to the Dogme 95 movement with ''The Idiots'' (''Idioterne'', 1998), and even overcame his dislike of traveling to present it in person at the Cannes Film Festival, where it was nominated for a Palme d'Or.

As originator of the Dogme 95 concept, which has led to international interest in Danish film as a whole, he has inspired filmmakers all over the world. Trier and Thomas Vinterberg, who created the Dogme 95 Manifesto and the "Vow of Chastity" together with their fellow Dogme directors Kristian Levring and Søren Kragh-Jacobsen shared in 2008 the European Film Award European Achievement in World Cinema.

Explicit images

Von Trier's use of sexually explicit images in ''The Idiots'' (1998) started a wave of arthouse mainstream films with unsimulated sex, such as Catherine Breillat's ''Romance'' (1999), ''Baise-Moi'' (2000), ''Intimacy'' (2001), Vincent Gallo's ''The Brown Bunny'' (2003) and Michael Winterbottom's ''9 Songs'' (2004).

In 1998, Lars von Trier also made history by having his company Zentropa be the world's first mainstream film company to produce hardcore pornographic films. Three of these films, ''Constance'' (1998), ''Pink Prison'' (1999) and the adult/mainstream crossover-feature ''All About Anna'' (2005), were made primarily for a female audience, and were extremely successful in Europe, with the first two being directly responsible for the March 2006 legalizing of pornography in Norway.

Lars von Trier's initiative spearheaded a European wave of female-friendly porn films from directors such as Anna Span, Erika Lust and Petra Joy, while von Trier's company Zentropa was forced to abandon the experiment due to pressure from English business partners. In July 2009, women's magazine ''Cosmopolitan'' ranked ''Pink Prison'' as #1 in its Top Five of the best women’s porn, calling it the "role model for the new porn-generation". Lars von Trier would return to explicit images in his self-directed ''Antichrist'' (2009), exploring darker themes.

2000s

In 2000, von Trier premiered a musical featuring Icelandic musician Björk, ''Dancer in the Dark''. The film won the Palme d'Or at Cannes. The song "I've Seen It All" (which Trier co-wrote) received an Academy Award nomination for Best Song.

''The Five Obstructions'' (2003), made by Lars von Trier and Jørgen Leth, is a documentary, but also incorporates lengthy sections of experimental films. The premise is that Lars von Trier challenges director Jørgen Leth, his friend and mentor, to remake his old experimental film ''The Perfect Human'' (1967) five times, each time with a different 'obstruction' (or obstacle) specified by von Trier.

He then directed two films in his announced 'U.S. trilogy': ''Dogville'' (2003), starring Nicole Kidman and ''Manderlay'' (2005), starring Bryce Dallas Howard in the same role - as Grace. Both films are extremely stylized, with the actors playing their parts on a nearly empty soundstage with little but chalk marks on the floor to indicate the sets. Both films had huge casts of major international actors (Harriet Andersson, Lauren Bacall, James Caan, Danny Glover, Willem Dafoe, etc.), and questioned various issues relating to American society, such as intolerance in ''Dogville'' and slavery in ''Manderlay''.

Controversy erupted on the 2004 set for ''Manderlay'' when actor John C. Reilly walked off the Trollhättan, Sweden, set in late March. Reilly walked off the film when he learned that an upcoming scene involved the slaughter of a donkey for food. The film's producer says the animal—who was old and not expected to live much longer—was killed off-camera by a certified veterinarian, in accordance with Swedish law. Reilly was replaced by Zeljko Ivanek.

The U.S. was also the scene for ''Dear Wendy'' (2005), a feature film directed by von Trier's "Dogme-brother" Thomas Vinterberg from a script by von Trier. It starred Jamie Bell and Bill Pullman and dealt with gun worship. Both ''Manderlay'' and ''Dear Wendy'' failed to attract much of an audience, and were along with other simultaneous flops from important local directors perceived as confirmation of a creative crisis in Danish cinema.

In 2006, von Trier released a Danish-language comedy film, ''The Boss of it All''. It was shot using a process that von Trier has called Automavision, which involves the director choosing the best possible fixed camera position and then allowing a computer to randomly choose when to tilt, pan or zoom.

It was followed by an autobiographical film, ''De unge år: Erik Nietzsche sagaen del 1'' (2007), scripted by von Trier but directed by Jacob Thuesen, which tells the story of von Trier's years as a student at the National Film School of Denmark. It stars Jonatan Spang as von Trier's alter ego, called "Erik Nietzsche", and is narrated by von Trier himself. All main characters in the film are based on real people from the Danish film industry, with the thinly veiled portrayals including Jens Albinus as director Nils Malmros, Dejan Čukić as screenwriter Mogens Rukov and Søren Pilmark in an especially unflattering portrayal as sex-obsessed school principal Henning Camre.

Lars von Trier's next feature film was a horror movie, ''Antichrist'', about "a grieving couple who retreat to their cabin in the woods, hoping a return to Eden will repair their broken hearts and troubled marriage; but nature takes its course and things go from bad to worse". The film, which includes sexually explicit content, stars Willem Dafoe and Charlotte Gainsbourg. 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. The Cannes Film Festival Ecumenical Jury, which gives prizes for movies that promote spiritual, humanist and universal values, also "honoured" the film with a special "anti-award"; a spokesman for the jury described it as "the most misogynist movie from the self-proclaimed biggest director in the world." In 2010 the Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter reported on their website that the film production company Zentropa is reportedly making more revenue from suing movie pirates in Germany that have downloaded ''Antichrist'' illegally than from box office and DVD sales, demanding a payment of around 1,300 euros per download to avoid legal action.

2010s

Von Trier's latest work is ''Melancholia'', a psychological disaster drama; shot between 22 July and 8 September 2010 at Film i Väst's studios in Trollhättan, Sweden, and with exteriors in the area surrounding the Tjolöholm Castle, the €5 million ($7 million) budget movie is set to be released in Denmark on 26 May 2011 through Nordisk Film. Magnolia Pictures has acquired the distribution rights for North America. The film is in competition at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival.

Von Trier announced that after finishing ''Melancholia'' he hopes to begin production of ''The Nymphomaniac'', a film about the sexual awakening of a woman. The director explained how he got the idea for the upcoming project: "my DP on [''Melancholia''], Manuel Claro, at one point voiced a surprising prejudice. He urged me not to fall into the trap that so many aging directors fall into – that the women get younger and younger and nuder and nuder. That's all I needed to hear. I most definitely intend for the women in my films to get younger and younger and nuder and nuder."

Phobias

Von Trier suffers from multiple phobias, including an intense fear of flying. His fear of air travel frequently places severely limiting constraints on him and his crew, necessitating that virtually all of his films be shot in either Denmark or Sweden, even those set in the United States or other foreign countries. Von Trier has had a number of his films featured at the Cannes Film Festival over the course of his career, and each time has insisted on driving from Denmark to France for the festival and back.

On numerous occasions von Trier has also stated that he suffers from occasional depression which renders him incapable of performing his work and unable to fulfill social obligations.

Filming techniques

Lars von Trier has said that "a film should be like a stone in your shoe". In order to create original art he feels that filmmakers must distinguish themselves stylistically from other films, often by placing restrictions on the filmmaking process. The most famous restriction is the cinematic "vow of chastity" of the Dogme95 movement with which he is associated, though only one of his films, ''The Idiots'', is an actual Dogme 95 film. In ''Dancer in the Dark'', jump shots and dramatically-different color palettes and camera techniques were used for the "real world" and musical portions of the film, and in ''Dogville'' everything was filmed on a sound stage with no set where the walls of the buildings in the fictional town were marked as a line on the floor.

Von Trier often shoots digitally and operates the camera himself, preferring to continuously shoot the actors in-character without stopping between takes. In ''Dogville'' he let actors stay in character for hours, in the style of method acting. These techniques often put great strain on actors, most famously with Björk during the filming of ''Dancer in the Dark''. Often he uses the same regular group of actors in many of his films: some of his frequently used actors are Jean-Marc Barr, Udo Kier and Stellan Skarsgård.

He is heavily influenced by the work of Carl Theodor Dreyer and the film ''The Night Porter''. He was so inspired by the short film ''The Perfect Human'' directed by Jørgen Leth that he challenged Leth to redo the short five times in feature film ''The Five Obstructions''.

Trilogies

Von Trier has on occasion referred to his films as falling into thematic and stylistic trilogies. This pattern began with his first feature film, marking the beginning of The ''Europa Trilogy'', though he claims a trilogy was not initially planned, instead being applied to the films in retrospect. The Europe trilogy illuminated the traumas of Europe in the past and future. This trilogy includes ''The Element of Crime'' (1984), ''Epidemic'' (1987) and ''Europa'' (1991).

The ''Golden Heart'' trilogy was about naive heroines who maintain their 'golden hearts' despite the tragedies they experience. This trilogy consists of ''Breaking the Waves'' (1996), ''The Idiots'' (1998) and ''Dancer in the Dark'' (2000). While all three films are sometimes associated with the Dogme 95 movement, only ''The Idiots'' is a certified Dogme 95 film.

The ''USA: Land of Opportunities'' trilogy follows the character of Grace, and is set in a stylized American past. Von Trier has stated he was inspired to make a trilogy about the United States as a reaction to Americans at the Cannes film festival who said he had no right to make the ''Dancer in the Dark'', which was often viewed as being critical of a country he has never been to (and has no intention of ever visiting, due to his phobia of travel); however, von Trier himself has stated in interviews he did not intend it to be a criticism of America, saying the film takes place in a "fictional America". Lars von Trier proposed the films as ‘a series of sermons on America’s sins and hypocrisy’, inspired by the fact that American movie makers have made many movies about places across the world to which they have not travelled. All three movies will be shot in the same distinctive style, on a bare sound stage with no set and buildings marked by lines on the floor. This style is inspired by 1970s televised theatre. The trilogy will consist of ''Dogville'' (2003), ''Manderlay'' (2005) and the so far unproduced ''Wasington''.

''The Kingdom'' (''Riget'') was planned as a trilogy of three seasons with 13 episodes in total, but the third season was not filmed due to death of star Ernst-Hugo Järegård shortly after completion of the second season.

Biological father

In 1989, von Trier's mother revealed on her deathbed that the man who he thought was his father was not, and that she had had a tryst with her former employer, Fritz Michael Hartmann (1909–2000), who descended from a long line of Roman Catholic classical musicians (His grandfather was Emil Hartmann, his great grandfather J.P.E. Hartmann, his uncles included Niels Gade and Johan Ernst Hartmann and thus Niels Viggo Bentzon was his cousin). She stated that she did this in order to give her son "artistic genes".

Until that point I thought I had a Jewish background. But I'm really more of a Nazi. I believe that my biological father's German family went back two further generations. Before she died, my mother told me to be happy that I was the son of this other man. She said my foster father had had no goals and no strength. But he was a loving man. And I was very sad about this revelation. And you then feel manipulated when you really do turn out to be creative. If I'd known that my mother had this plan, I would have become something else. I would have shown her. The slut!

During the German occupation of Denmark, Fritz Michael Hartmann worked as a civil servant and joined a resistance group (Frit Danmark), actively counteracting any pro-German and pro-Nazi colleagues in his department. Another member of this infiltrative resistance group was Hartmann's colleague Viggo Kampmann, who would later become prime minister of Denmark.

After four awkward meetings with his biological father, the man refused further contact. The revelations led von Trier to attempt to "erase" the connections with his stepfather by converting to Catholicism, and to rework his filmmaking into a style emphasizing "honesty".

I don't know if I'm all that Catholic really. I'm probably not. Denmark is a very Protestant country. Perhaps I only turned Catholic to piss off a few of my countrymen.

Controversy at 2011 Cannes Film Festival

On 19 May 2011, Cannes Film Festival's board of directors declared von Trier persona non grata for comments he made during a press conference for his film ''Melancholia'' the day before, an unprecedented move for the film festival. Responding to a question by the London Times film critic Kate Muir about his German roots and his comments in a Danish film magazine about the Nazi aesthetic, von Trier claimed to have some sympathy for and understanding of Adolf Hitler, and then jokingly claimed to be a Nazi himself: }}

Hours later, Von Trier released a brief statement of apology about his comments at the press conference: "If I have hurt someone this morning by the words I said at the press conference, I sincerely apologise. I am not anti-semitic or racially prejudiced in any way, nor am I a Nazi." The next day, the festival directors held an extraordinary meeting, deciding his remarks were "unacceptable, intolerable and contrary to the ideals of humanity and generosity that preside over the very existence of the festival. [...] The board of directors condemns these comments and declares Lars von Trier persona non grata at the Festival de Cannes, with effect immediately."

Afterwards, Von Trier held a news conference of his own in Danish. His first remark to the Danish journalists was: "If any of you journalists will beat me, so just do it. I will enjoy it." He went on to say that "The Holocaust is the worst crime that ever happened. I have nothing against Jews. I have a Jewish name, and all my children have Jewish names." He admitted that his remarks about the Nazis had been misguided, saying "It was really stupidly done and it was in the wrong forum. At the press conference with Danish journalists, there were no problems, but I do not think the international journalists understand my Danish humor." But he also said he was proud to have been kicked out of the Cannes festival: "I am proud to have been declared 'persona non grata'. It is perhaps the first time in cinematic history, it has happened. ... I think one reason is that French people treated the Jews badly during World War II. Therefore, it is a sensitive topic for them. I respect the Cannes festival very highly, but I also understand that they are very angry at me right now."

Speaking to other news outlets he said that his comments were "very sarcastic and very rude, but that's very Danish." He also added, "I don't sympathize with Hitler for one second."

Honours

Lars von Trier was made a Knight of the Order of the Dannebrog on 14 January, 1997. 10 years later Trier decided to bring back the prize, saying that the Danish royal family are just "simple people of bad quality".

Filmography

Lars von Trier's first film is ''The Orchid Gardener'', a 16mm short released in 1977. His first feature film is ''The Element of Crime'' (1984), which was also the first in what became known as the Europa trilogy. His most recent film is ''Melancholia'', which premiered in May 2011 at the 64th Cannes Film Festival.

References

Notes

Further reading

Tiefenbach, Georg: ''Drama und Regie (Writing and Directing): Lars von Trier's Breaking the Waves, Dancer in the Dark, Dogville.'' 2010 Königshausen & Neumann. ISBN 9783826040962

External links

Lars from 1–10

Production Company

The Director Interviews: Lars von Trier, ''The Boss of It All'' at ''Filmmaker Magazine''

Senses of Cinema: Great Directors Critical Database

Geoffrey Macnab, "I'm a control freak - but I was not in control" (Geoffrey Macnab talks to Lars Von Trier), The Guardian (22 September 2006).

Slave to cinema

The Age Interview

Timeout Interview

Category:1956 births Category:European Film Awards winners (people) Category:Danish people of German descent Category:Converts to Roman Catholicism from atheism or agnosticism Category:Danish film directors Category:Danish Roman Catholics Category:Danish screenwriters Category:Experimental filmmakers Category:Living people Category:People from Copenhagen Category:Knights of the Order of the Dannebrog Category:People from Kongens Lyngby

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Kim Jensen' (born October 24, 1961 in Brønderslev, Denmark) is assistant national coach for the Danish national team for women. He was an active handballer in Brønderslev IF. He scored 91 goals and played 84 national games for the Danish national team. He hgas been an assistant for the head coaches Ulrik Wilbek, Brian Lyngholm and Jan Pytlick (two periods). His contract expires after the olympic tournament in 2012.

References

DHF forlænger med Kim Jensen Player stats at Danish Handball Federation

Category:Danish handball players Category:1961 births Category:Living people Category:Danish handball coaches Category:Olympic coaches

da:Kim Jensen (træner) no:Kim Jensen