Lars von Trier

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Birthday:

30 April 1956, Copenhagen, Denmark

Birth Name:

Lars Trier

Height:

170 cm

Probably the most ambitious and visually distinctive filmmaker to emerge from Denmark since Carl Theodor Dreyer over 60 years earlier, Lars von Trier studied film at the Danish Film School and attracted international attention with his very first feature, Forbrydelsens element (1984). A highly distinctive blend of film noir and German Expressionism with stylistic nods to Dreyer, Andrei Tarkovsky and Orson Welles, its combination of yellow-tinted monochrome cinematography (pierced by shafts of blue light) and doom-haunted atmosphere made it an unforgettable visual experience. His subsequent features Epidemic (1987) and Europa (1991) have been equally ambitious both thematically and visually, though his international fame is most likely to be based on Riget (1994), a TV soap opera blending hospital drama, ghost story and Twin Peaks (1990)-style surrealism that was so successful in Denmark that it was released internationally as a 280-minute theatrical feature. Show less «

A film should be like a rock in the shoe.

Basically, I'm afraid of everything in life, except filmmaking.

I don't think I tortured Nicole on Dogville (2003), but I know she said I was tough.

My films are about ideals that clash with the world. Every time it's a man in the lead, they have forgotten about the ideals. And everytime ...Show more »

My films are about ideals that clash with the world. Every time it's a man in the lead, they have forgotten about the ideals. And everytime it's a woman in the lead, they take the ideals all the way. Show less «

If his creation is so great, why does God want us on our knees?

Put my American trilogy together and you'll have one hell of a grim evening. And you will not be entertained at all!

There are a lot of Americans I sympathise with very much, but not the Government right now, no. We just do not agree on politics, but that's...Show more »

There are a lot of Americans I sympathise with very much, but not the Government right now, no. We just do not agree on politics, but that's not being Anti-American. I am critical about a country with a system that allows so many losers. I think that is wrong. Show less «

American studios give money to directors to educate them away from their creative fingerprint, even if that's the reason they wanted them in...Show more »

American studios give money to directors to educate them away from their creative fingerprint, even if that's the reason they wanted them in the first place. I've avoided that fate by making movies here. You have to fight the urge to do a big action movie. You avoid 'Batman.' The bigger it is, the worse it is. Show less «

Since I have said I am 60% American I can say there is one thing that kills any debate - an American disease called political correctness, w...Show more »

Since I have said I am 60% American I can say there is one thing that kills any debate - an American disease called political correctness, which is a fear of talking ... What makes me a little bit sad is that there's an American TV show in which the president of the US is black. People say, 'Oh look, that's OK, there's a black president on TV.' That's completely humiliating because that's not how it is. There's no black president. Political correctness kills discussion. Show less «

A big part of our lives has to do with America. In our country it is overwhelming. I feel there could just as well be an American military p...Show more »

A big part of our lives has to do with America. In our country it is overwhelming. I feel there could just as well be an American military presence in Denmark. We are a nation under a very bad influence, because I think Bush is an asshole and doing a lot of really stupid things. America is sitting on the world and therefore I am making films about it. I'd say 60% of the things I have experienced in my life are American, so in fact I am an American. But I can't go there and vote. That's why I am making films about America. Show less «

"Jeg er et sted ligenu hvor det roder mere end det plejer" ("I am at a place right now, where it's more messy than usual" - When asked about...Show more »

"Jeg er et sted ligenu hvor det roder mere end det plejer" ("I am at a place right now, where it's more messy than usual" - When asked about his mental state. Show less «

Jeg er vel ligesom alle andre mennesker. Jeg er glad for priser - Men de gør mig ikke lykkelig" (I am like all other people. I am pleased w...Show more »

Jeg er vel ligesom alle andre mennesker. Jeg er glad for priser - Men de gør mig ikke lykkelig" (I am like all other people. I am pleased with prizes, but they don't make me happy) [when asked what the prizes his movies won meant to him] Show less «

Forget all the excuses, 'the childish fascination' and 'the all embracing humility', for this is my confession, black on white: I, Lars von ...Show more »

Forget all the excuses, 'the childish fascination' and 'the all embracing humility', for this is my confession, black on white: I, Lars von Trier, am but a simple masturbator of the silver screen. Show less «

I think it's a very strange question that I have to excuse myself [for writing and directing Antichrist]. I don't feel that. You are all my ...Show more »

I think it's a very strange question that I have to excuse myself [for writing and directing Antichrist]. I don't feel that. You are all my guests, it's not the other way around. (At the Cannes Festival Press Conference when asked to explain and justify why he made Antichrist (2009)) Show less «

I would say that I am a poor Christian, I'm not a believer. It was this idea very early in my life that life on earth, nature or man could n...Show more »

I would say that I am a poor Christian, I'm not a believer. It was this idea very early in my life that life on earth, nature or man could not be a creation of a merciful God. Show less «

I am the best film director in the world. [following the screening of Antichrist (2009) at the 62nd Cannes Film Festival]

I want to be surrounded by porn people who love me for what I am, who say, 'Where do you want the erection, where do you want the penetratio...Show more »

I want to be surrounded by porn people who love me for what I am, who say, 'Where do you want the erection, where do you want the penetration?' Where it's not complicated. Show less «

[press conference at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival, following the screening of Melancholia (2011)] I really wanted to be a Jew and then I fo...Show more »

[press conference at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival, following the screening of Melancholia (2011)] I really wanted to be a Jew and then I found out I was really a Nazi, you know, because my family was German, which also gave me some pleasure. [Hitler] did some wrong things, absolutely, but I can see him sitting in his bunker at the end. He's not what you call a good guy, but I understand much about him and I sympathize with him. Show less «

Everything is going to Hell, but we should smile all the way.

When you shoot a film, it's hard work, and you tend to drink more. ... I've taken other drugs that helped me a lot - that was kind of the wa...Show more »

When you shoot a film, it's hard work, and you tend to drink more. ... I've taken other drugs that helped me a lot - that was kind of the way I worked. But drinking is more to overcome some anxiety. Show less «

[on the problems of being sober] Who the hell cares about The Rolling Stones when you don't have a sense that they've just emptied a bottle ...Show more »

[on the problems of being sober] Who the hell cares about The Rolling Stones when you don't have a sense that they've just emptied a bottle of Jack Daniels? That's nonsense. Or Jimi Hendrix without heroin or whatever he was on. That's rubbish; we can't be bothered with that. We don't want that, because we want their special approach through something mysterious, which is still somehow connected to various intoxicants, right? But when I work, I'll miss the intoxication, or rather, I may come to miss it. That's the point. I think it's really dreary to try to be sober. But I am. [2014] Show less «