Lars von Trier (Contemporary Film Directors)

Scandinavia's foremost living auteur and the catalyst of the Dogme95 movement, Lars von Trier is arguably world cinema's most confrontational and polarizing figure. Willfully devastating audiences, he takes risks few filmmakers would conceive, mounting projects that somehow transcend the grand follies they narrowly miss becoming. Challenging conventional limitations and imposing his own rules, he restlessly reinvents the film language. The Danish director has therefore cultivated an insistently transnational cinema, taking inspiration from sources that range from the European avant-garde to American genre films. This volume provides a stimulating overview of Trier's career while focusing on the more recent work, including his controversial Gold Heart Trilogy ( Breaking the Waves, The Idiots, and Dancer in the Dark ), the as-yet unfinished USA Trilogy ( Dogville and Manderlay ), and individual projects such as the comedy The Boss of It All and the incendiary horror psychodrama Antichrist. Closely analyzing the films and their contexts, Linda Badley draws on a range of cultural references and critical approaches, including genre, gender, and cultural studies, performance theory, and trauma culture. Two revealing interviews that Trier granted during crucial stages of Antichrist 's development are also included. | Cover Title page Table of Contents Acknowledgments Making the Waves: Cinema as Performance Prescient Affects: The Student Films Hypnotic Virtuosity: The Europe Trilogy Subverting the Kingdom: Television Performing the Feminine: Breaking the Waves and Dancer in the Dark (Up)staging the American Dream: The USA Trilogy (Minus One) Comedy, Automavision, and The Boss of It All Theatre of Cruelty: Antichrist (An Epilogue) Interview, September 2006 Interview, October 2007 Filmography Bibliography Index | "A thoughtful, thorough, and crisply written study of Lars von Trier's feature film production. Linda Badley deftly combines criticism on von Trier's films with close reading, historical analysis, genre theory, gender studies, psychoanalysis, and cultural studies."—Andrew Nestingen, author of Crime and Fantasy in Scandinavia: Fiction, Film, and Social Change "Written with great energy, passion, generosity, and insight, Lars von Trier offers a compelling account of the films and practices of one of Denmark's most acclaimed directors. With its references to a larger 9/11 context, the discussion of the director's controversial 'American' films is particularly thought provoking."—Mette Hjort, chair and professor of visual studies, Lingnan University, Hong Kong | Linda Badley is a professor of English at Middle Tennessee State University. She is the author of Film, Horror, and the Body Fantastic and Writing Horror and the Body: The Fiction of Stephen King, Anne Rice, and Clive Barker and the coeditor of Traditions in World Cinema. Scandinavia's foremost living auteur and the catalyst of the Dogme 95 movement, Lars von Trier is arguably world cinema's most confrontational and polarizing figure. Willfully devastating audiences, he takes risks few filmmakers would conceive, mounting projects that somehow transcend the grand follies they narrowly miss becoming. Challenging conventional limitations and imposing his own rules, he restlessly reinvents the film language. He has cultivated an insistently transnational cinema, taking inspiration from sources that range from the European avant-garde to American genre films. This book provides a stimulating overview of Trier's career while focusing on his more recent work, including the controversial Gold Heart Trilogy (__Breaking the Waves__, __The Idiots__, and __Dancer in the Dark__), the as-yet unfinished USA Trilogy (__Dogville__ and __Manderlay__), and individual projects such as the comedy __The Boss of It All__ and the incendiary horror psychodrama __Antichrist__.Closely analyzing the films and their contexts, the book draws on a range of cultural references and critical approaches, including genre, gender, and cultural studies, performance theory, and trauma culture. Two revealing interviews that Trier granted during crucial stages of __Antichrist__'s development are also included. "Provides concise, well written introductions to directors from around the world and from every level of the film industry. Its chief aims are to broaden our awareness of important artists, to give serious critical attention to their work, and to illustrate the variety and vitality of contemporary cinema. Each volume contains an incisive critical commentary, an informative interview with the director, and a detailed filmography." -- Series description Making the waves : cinema as performance Prescient affects : student films Hypnotic virtuosity : the Europe trilogy Subverting the kingdom : television Performative politics : Dogme95 and the idiots Performing the feminine : Breaking the waves and Dancer in the dark (Up)staging the American dream : the USA trilogy (minus one) Comedy, automavision, and the boss of it all Theatre of cruelty : Antichrist (an epilogue) Interviews with Lars von Trier. This volume provides an overview of von Trier's career while focusing on his more recent work, including the Gold Heart Trilogy, the USA Trilogy, and individual projects such as the comedy The Boss of It All and the horror psychodrama Antichrist. The author draws on a range of cultural references and critical approaches, including genre, gender, and cultural studies, performance theory, and trauma culture and includes two interviews with Trier