Lars von Trier: Interviews (Conversations With Filmmakers Series) (Paperback)

~ (Editor) "HE'LL BE ON TELEVISION for the next six Saturdays, but he would rather watch a crime story than himself..." (more)
Key Phrases: dubbed voice, handheld camera, film school, Lars von Trier, Breaking the Waves, The Idiots (more...)

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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Most of these interviews, two previously unpublished, are translated into English for the first time.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.

Jan Lumholdt is a freelance journalist in Stockholm. He is a former editor of Cinema, and his work has been published in Film International and Film Comment, as well as in Danish, German, and Swedish periodicals.

From the Inside Flap

A collection of interviews with the most intriguing film director to emerge in Denmark since the days of his great mentor in spirit Carl Theodor Dreyer

Product Details

• Paperback: 268 pages
• Publisher: University Press of Mississippi (June 16, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1578065321
• ISBN-13: 978-1578065325
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #901,251 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Required Reading, December 15, 2003

By	Bernard M. Fruchter "eddiefruchter" (saint peters, mo United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The latest title in the ongoing University of Mississippi Conversations With Filmmakers series complies interviews with noted director and enfant terrible Lars Von Trier. This book is a fine addition to any film library, and shows us a great deal about Von Trier. It stops with "Dancer In The Dark" and does not cover "Dogville." As of yet, the U of M press does not issue revised or updated editions of their books, so do not expect to see a second edition. Otherwise, this book does well in digging up obscure interviews (several never published before and others translated from the original language for the first time)and establishing a solid chronology to work with. The book even contains an interview with Von Trier when he was a young child actor (the lead role, of course) on a popular television show.

It makes one happy to see the University of Mississippi press publishing this volume on a truly unique filmmaker, as opposed to pretentious bourgeois "mainstream" directors like Quentin Tarantino and Stephen Soderbergh (both who hold titles in the collection-- how regretful). One learns through reading Von Trier's philosophy on filmmaking that he is indeed a great thinker.