Product Details

• Actors: Allan De Waal, Ole Ernst, Michael Gelting, Colin Gilder, Svend Ali Hamann
• Format: Anamorphic, Black & White, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: Danish (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono)
• Subtitles: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: Unrated
• Studio: Homevision
• DVD Release Date: September 21, 2004
• Run Time: 106 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0002KPHTW
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #42,745 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "Epidemic" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Crossing the boundaries of fact and fiction, February 10, 2005

By 

LGwriter "SharpWitGuy" (Astoria, N.Y. United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Epidemic (DVD)

While not Lars von Trier's first feature film, Epidemic is the earliest of his films to be released to DVD and it's a powerful piece of work that blasts wide open the conventions of film--even modern (i.e., as of 1987, when this film was released) ones.

The title refers to a script that Lars and Niels Vorsel are in the process of writing during the film itself, after their first collaborative script, The Cop and the Whore, gets accidentally trashed in a PC crash.

Some interesting markers on the film:

1. shot in black and white
2. the title of the film is shown in red letters with a trademark symbol throughout the entire course of the film in the upper left corner

As these two develop their story, scenes alternate between the two of them--with their friends and acquaintances--and scenes they envision from the film Epidemic. In the film within a film, Lars plays Dr. Mesmer, whose name, of course, evokes that of the famed 19th century hypnotist, but the character is 20th century; in one scene, we see him suspended from a helicopter. Also in the film within a film is an American black priest. The language of the entire film alternates between English and Danish; the priest speaks English and in one wacky scene, Niels reads a letter from an American teenage girl penpal in English, based on his deciding to have some "fun" (if that's what it could be called) by spoofing pen pal correspondence, writing to 70 teenage American girls and pretending to be a Danish teenaged boy.

If this sounds disjointed, from one perspective, it is that, yes. But what it also does is to establish a jarring juxtaposition of mundane day to day life with the horrific story the two filmmakers are developing. The priest, for example, is consumed with fear about which he is mortally ashamed--fear of the plague epidemic that is spreading like wildfire across Europe--and voices that fear and shame in alternating whispered speech and anguished screaming, as he himself succumbs.

Why did von Trier pick Mesmer as the name of the latter-day doctor in the film within a film? This relates to the last scene in the film itself which is a real shocker and will not be revealed here. This last scene brings to a boil all the elements previously presented, including a short stay in the hospital for Neils who undergoes minor surgery to remove some undesirable growths.

What makes this film so powerful, among other things, is how easily von Trier plays with reality and fiction. We know that Lars and Neils are the real names of the people playing these characters, as is true of all the other characters who appear in the scenes with Lars and Neils. We know that Lars has a strong and morbid fascination with things medical, and this is reflected both in his interests expressed in the film itself, and his portrayal of Dr. Mesmer in the film within a film. And, subtly, we know that Lars and Neils' perspective embraces more than just Denmark, but other parts of Europe--France (love of wine), Germany (a side trip in one scene), and other countries--as well as the U.S. Any conjuring up of an epidemic has to imply a huge territory of possible infection; with the references to several other countries, von Trier is saying that this infection is really modern life itself which gives us the ability to appreciate sensory experience but not much else. And which spreads, plaguelike, to all, regardless of name, nationality, position, occupation, self-image.

Maybe this last statement is pompous; maybe not. In spite of the potentially annoying ever-present logo in the upper left corner of the screen, this is a film that uses the intellect to deliver a one-two punch to most of your cinematic expectations. And watch out for the ending; it will leave you breathless (no reference to Godard here, just an observation).

Highly recommended.

4.0 out of 5 stars When reality surpasses the fiction!, September 24, 2011

By 

Hiram Gomez Pardo (Valencia, Venezuela) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Epidemic (DVD)

A director and a writer creat a script about a mysterious plague that engulfs Europe, only to find this horrid scenario is an awful reality.

Leisured and slow paced film.You just only have to follow the rhythym and finally will be rewar

3.0 out of 5 stars Early Von Trier, July 19, 2010

By 

Mr. Steiner (New York) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Epidemic (DVD)

This little Lars von Trier film proceeds with a peculiar blend of Bergmanesque tragedy and relaxed sense of self-reflexivity. Two screenwriters lose their script and switch gears to a story about the release of the bubonic plague in Medieval Europe. In the process, the writers appear to unleash a real plague as the film switches from scenes of artistic creation to their own modern predicament. This is minor von Trier-with the exception of some darkly antagonistic scenes in dungeon-like rooms. The ending is obnoxiously sophomoric, though some will love it.