Michael Gelting

  • Lars von Trier – Epidemic (1987)

    1981-1990ArthouseDenmarkLars Von Trier

    Quote:
    A jet-black comedy of contagion, a subversive medical-horror freak-out, and a sly metacinematic prank, Lars von Trier’s sophomore feature—born from a bet that he couldn’t make a film for less than $150,000—finds the director channeling his singular thematic obsessions into an evocatively lo-fi, perversely self-reflexive provocation. The filmmaker himself stars as a harried screenwriter whose efforts to complete a script about the outbreak of a deadly disease coincide with a grisly real-life plague. A twisted reflection on Europe’s haunted past—from the Black Death to World War II—and its scarred present, Epidemic is von Trier at his most idiosyncratic and audaciously experimental.Read More »

  • Lars von Trier – Epidemic (1987)

    1981-1990DenmarkExperimentalHorrorLars Von Trier

    Epidemic (1987)

    Epidemic arose from a challenge between Lars von Trier and Claes Kastholm of the Danish Film Institute, Trier betting – in order to get funding for another film – that he could make a film for less than one million Danish Kroner (about £100,000). The result is an intriguing film, but not a very good one, showing at least what Trier could do under self-imposed limitations, paving the way for The Kingdom and showing roots that would lead to the Dogme Manifesto.Read More »

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