“It’s hard to think of an established modern-day film-maker having the same effect that Michael Powell did with Peeping Tom. Maybe Lars von Trier, in that it seems to be a crucial part of whatever he does; that desire to shock and amaze and appal. I say this with great trepidation, but I can kind of imagine Quentin Tarantino doing it too. It would have to be a very peculiar set of circumstances, but it’s not beyond the realms of possibility.”
Watch a Short Film Lars von Trier Made When He Was 15
from the moment that little Lars (then going by simply “von Trier”) slaps his name in big capital letters across the start of this short film, which he made at the age of 15 in 1971, you can see the first provocative hints of the auteur we would all come to know and love and / or hate and / or endure. if anything, by the time the Hallelujah Chorus kicks in, it almost feels as if En Blomst announced precisely what von Trier would hope to explore and agitate with his professional career, like a promise he made to himself and from which he has never deviated (some would argue he still has yet to mature). this precocious little movie is a delightful artifact, and — like all of von Trier’s work — not for the faint of heart.
Gesamt – an open invitation to people around the globe
What happens when a master challenges the people? Danish cinema’s most famous film director is asking people around the globe to reinterpret six great works of art through the lens of their camera or recording of sound. It is the master himself, Lars von Trier, who has set the rules of this groundbreaking, user-generated film project Gesamt. But it’s you, me and everyone else who are asked to create the material, while the director Jenle Hallund puts it all together in the end. What is the result when people reinterpret the great and controversial art pieces of our time? Is it for everyone to make art? What is art? And do we stand out the most when we stand together?
http://www.altfg.com/blog/movie/lars-von-trier-gesamt/
Lars von Trier, Melancholia press kit
As if to parody Hitchcock’s Masterpiece Theater, von Trier makes an appearance at the end of each episode of Riget to conduct a cheesy recap of events coupled with a provocative teaser for the next episode, before seeming to vanish into thin air.
