Epidemic (film)

Last updated

Epidemic
Epidemic FilmPoster.jpeg
Danish theatrical release poster
Directed by Lars von Trier
Written byLars von Trier
Niels Vørsel
Produced byJacob Eriksen
StarringLars von Trier
Niels Vørsel
CinematographyHenning Bendtsen
Edited byThomas Kragh
Music byPeter Bach
Production
companies
Det Danske Filminstitut
Elementfilm A/S
Distributed byAngel Films
Release date
  • 11 September 1987 (1987-09-11)
Running time
106 minutes [1]
CountryDenmark
LanguagesDanish
English

Epidemic is a 1987 Danish experimental medical dark comedy-horror film [2] co-written and directed by Lars von Trier; it is the second installment of Trier's Europa trilogy, following The Element of Crime (1984) and succeeded by Europa (1991).

Contents

Co-written by Trier and Niels Vørsel, the film focuses on the screenwriting process. Vørsel and Trier play themselves, coming up with a last-minute script for a producer. The story is inter-cut with scenes from the film they write, in which Trier plays a renegade doctor trying to cure a modern-day epidemic. The film marks the first in a series of collaborations between Trier and Udo Kier.

Plot

In a metafiction version of the film, divided into five days. On the first day of the protagonists, screenwriters Lars and Niels lose the only copy of a film script (Kommisæren Og Luderen, "The Policeman and the Whore", a reference to The Element of Crime ). They begin to write a new script about an epidemic: the outbreak of a plague-like disease. Another protagonist is a doctor, Mesmer, who, against the will of the Faculty of Medicine of an unknown city, goes to the countryside to help people. During the next days, the facts of the script join the real-life events in which a similar disease starts to spread. Lars and Niels go to Germany, where they meet a man who describes the Allied bombing of Cologne during the Second World War.

After the trip, Niels goes to a hospital where he undergoes a minor surgical procedure and while there tells Lars to go to see Palle, a pathologist who is performing an autopsy on a man who has recently died of an unknown disease. The last day, Lars and Niels have a dinner with their producer, to whom they reveal the end of the film, that Mesmer and his medical kit have spread the disease. The producer does not like the short twelve-page script, which has no violence, few deaths, and no subplots (which are common in Danish cinema). After that a hypnotist and a woman arrive in the house, to "help" writing the script, but the woman is overpowered by the visions of the script which are becoming real. She commits suicide with a fork, then another woman who shares the house with Lars and Niels dies too, and Niels begins showing the signs of the disease.

Cast

Excluding his portrayal of von Trier as Dr. Mesmer, most of the film's cast portray fictionalized versions of themselves:

Reception

The film was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1987 Cannes Film Festival. [3] It was nominated for Best Film at the Fantasporto International Fantasy Film Festival in 1988. [4]

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a rating of 25%, based on 8 reviews, with an average rating of 5.4/10. [5] On Metacritic, the film holds a score of 66 out of 100, based on 4 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews". [6]

Robert K. Elder of the Chicago Tribune gave the film 3 out of 4, and wrote: "Will never be confused with von Trier's great films. But it is an intriguing introduction to his later cinematic obsessions". [7] The Village Voice called the film "among [Lars von Trier's] better and most revealing movies". [8] Chicago Reader gave the film 3 out of 5, and wrote: "Aside from the Pirandellian games and some interplay of different film stocks there isn't much going on here, though von Trier rewards the patient with a strange and horrifying climax". [9]

Home media

In 2023, The Criterion Collection released a 3K restoration of Epidemic as part of the Blu-ray box set, Lars von Trier's Europe Trilogy. [10]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lars von Trier</span> Danish director and screenwriter (born April 30, 1956)

Lars von Trier is a Danish film director and screenwriter.

<i>Dancer in the Dark</i> 2000 film by Lars von Trier

Dancer In The Dark is a 2000 musical psychological tragedy film written and directed by Lars von Trier. It stars Icelandic musician Björk as a factory worker who suffers from a degenerative eye condition and is saving for an operation to prevent her young son from suffering the same fate. Catherine Deneuve, David Morse, Cara Seymour, Peter Stormare, Siobhan Fallon Hogan and Joel Grey also star. The soundtrack for the film, Selmasongs, was written mainly by Björk, but a number of songs featured contributions from Mark Bell and some of the lyrics were written by von Trier and Sjón.

<i>The Element of Crime</i> 1984 Danish film

The Element of Crime is a 1984 experimental neo-noir crime film co-written and directed by Lars von Trier. It is the first feature film directed by von Trier and the first installment of the director's Europa trilogy – succeeded by Epidemic (1987) and Europa (1991).

<i>Dogville</i> 2003 film

Dogville is a 2003 arthouse Experimental film written and directed by Lars von Trier, and starring an ensemble cast led by Nicole Kidman, Lauren Bacall, Paul Bettany, Chloë Sevigny, Stellan Skarsgård, Udo Kier, Ben Gazzara, Patricia Clarkson, Harriet Andersson, and James Caan with John Hurt narrating. It is a parable that uses an extremely minimal, stage-like set to tell the story of Grace Mulligan (Kidman), a woman hiding from mobsters, who arrives in the small mountain town of Dogville, Colorado, and is provided refuge in return for physical labor.

<i>The Kingdom</i> (miniseries) Danish television series

Riget is a Danish absurdist supernatural horror miniseries trilogy created by Lars von Trier and Tómas Gislason. Set in the neurosurgical ward of Copenhagen's Rigshospitalet, each episode of the show follows the hospital's eccentric staff and patients as they encounter bizarre and sometimes supernatural phenomena. The series is notable for its wry humor, its muted sepia colour scheme, and the appearance of a chorus of dishwashers with Down syndrome, who discuss in intimate detail the strange occurrences in the hospital. The main theme's song was written by von Trier himself.

<i>Breaking the Waves</i> 1996 film by Lars von Trier

Breaking The Waves is a 1996 psychological romantic melodrama film directed and co-written by Lars von Trier and starring Emily Watson in her feature film acting debut, and with Stellan Skarsgård, a frequent collaborator with von Trier.

<i>Manderlay</i> 2005 film

Manderlay is a 2005 avant-garde drama film written and directed by Lars von Trier, the second and final part of von Trier's projected USA – Land of Opportunities trilogy. It stars Bryce Dallas Howard, who replaces Nicole Kidman in the role of Grace Mulligan. The film co-stars Willem Dafoe, replacing James Caan. Lauren Bacall, Željko Ivanek, Jeremy Davies, and Chloë Sevigny return portraying different characters from those in Dogville. Only John Hurt, Udo Kier, and Jean-Marc Barr reprise their roles. The film was internationally co-produced with seven different European countries.

<i>The Idiots</i> 1998 film by Lars von Trier

The Idiots is a 1998 Danish black comedy-drama film written and directed by Lars von Trier. It is his first film made in compliance with the Dogme 95 Manifesto, and is also known as Dogme #2. It is the second film in von Trier's Golden Heart Trilogy, preceded by Breaking the Waves (1996) and succeeded by Dancer in the Dark (2000). It is among the first films to be shot entirely with digital cameras.

<i>Europa</i> (1991 film) 1991 "`UNIQ--templatestyles-0000000B-QINU`" film

Europa is a 1991 experimental psychological drama period film directed and co-written by Lars von Trier. The film is an international co-production between Denmark and five other European countries, it is von Trier's third theatrical feature film, and the third and final installment in his Europa trilogy, following The Element of Crime (1984) and Epidemic (1987).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Udo Kier</span> German actor (born 1944)

Udo Kierspe, known professionally as Udo Kier, is a German actor. Known primarily as a character actor, he has appeared in more than 220 films in both leading and supporting roles throughout Europe and the Americas. He has collaborated with acclaimed filmmakers such as Lars von Trier, Gus Van Sant, Werner Herzog, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Walerian Borowczyk, Kleber Mendonça Filho, Dario Argento, Tom Shadyac, Charles Matton, Guy Maddin, Alexander Payne, and Paul Morrissey.

The Europa trilogy is an experimental film trilogy created by Danish writers Lars von Trier and Niels Vørsel, comprising his three feature films The Element of Crime (1984), Epidemic (1987) and Europa (1991).

<i>Mother of Tears</i> 2007 film by Dario Argento

Mother of Tears is a 2007 supernatural horror film written and directed by Dario Argento, and starring Asia Argento, Daria Nicolodi, Moran Atias, Udo Kier and Coralina Cataldi-Tassoni. The film has also been billed in English-speaking media as Mater Lachrymarum, The Third Mother and Mother of Tears: The Third Mother.

<i>The Boss of It All</i> 2006 Danish comedy film directed by Lars von Trier

The Boss of It All is a 2006 experimental comedy film written and directed by Lars von Trier. The film uses a cinematic technique invented by von Trier himself called Automavision, which automatically determines framing by randomly tilting, panning or zooming the camera without being actively operated by the cinematographer.

<i>Antichrist</i> (film) 2009 film by Lars von Trier

Antichrist is a 2009 horror art film written and directed by Lars von Trier. It stars Willem Dafoe and Charlotte Gainsbourg as a married couple who experience the accidental death of their infant son, after which they retreat to a cabin in the woods to grieve, where the man experiences strange visions and the woman manifests increasingly violent sexual behavior and sadomasochism. The narrative is divided into a prologue, four chapters, and an epilogue.

Dogme 95 is a 1995 avant-garde filmmaking movement founded by the Danish directors Lars von Trier and Thomas Vinterberg, who created the "Dogme 95 Manifesto" and the "Vows of Chastity". These were rules to create films based on the traditional values of story, acting, and theme, and excluding the use of elaborate special effects or technology. It was supposedly created as an attempt to "take back power for the directors as artists", as opposed to the studio. They were later joined by fellow Danish directors Kristian Levring and Søren Kragh-Jacobsen, forming the Dogme 95 Collective or the Dogme Brethren. Dogme is the Danish word for dogma.

<i>Melancholia</i> (2011 film) 2011 film by Lars von Trier

Melancholia is a 2011 science fiction drama film written and directed by Lars von Trier and starring Kirsten Dunst, Charlotte Gainsbourg, and Kiefer Sutherland, with Alexander Skarsgård, Brady Corbet, Cameron Spurr, Charlotte Rampling, Jesper Christensen, John Hurt, Stellan Skarsgård, and Udo Kier in supporting roles. The film's story revolves around two sisters, one of whom marries just before a rogue planet is about to collide with the Earth. Melancholia is the second film in von Trier's unofficially titled Depression Trilogy. It was preceded in 2009 by Antichrist and followed by Nymphomaniac in 2013.

<i>Medea</i> (1988 film) 1988 Danish film

Medea is a 1988 Danish tragedy television film directed by Lars von Trier. It is based on Carl Theodor Dreyer's adaptation of Euripides' play Medea. The setting is changed from the Mediterranean to a danish, vaguely iron age setting.

<i>Nymphomaniac</i> (film) 2013 two-part film by Lars von Trier

Nymphomaniac MANIAC onscreen and in advertising) is a 2013 erotic art film written and directed by Lars von Trier. The film stars Charlotte Gainsbourg, Stellan Skarsgård, Stacy Martin, Shia LaBeouf, Christian Slater, Jamie Bell, Uma Thurman, Jean-Marc Barr, Willem Dafoe, Connie Nielsen, and Mia Goth in her debut. Separated as two-part films, the plot follows Joe, a self-diagnosed "nymphomaniac," who recounts her erotic experiences to a bachelor who helps her recover from an assault. The narrative chronicles Joe's promiscuous life from adolescence to adulthood and is split into eight chapters told across two volumes. The film was originally supposed to be only one complete entry, but, because of its length, von Trier made the decision to split the project into two separate films. Nymphomaniac was an international co-production of Denmark, Belgium, France, and Germany.

The 12th Robert Awards ceremony was held in 1995 in Copenhagen, Denmark. Organized by the Danish Film Academy, the awards honoured the best in Danish and foreign film of 1994.

<i>The House That Jack Built</i> (2018 film) 2018 film by Lars von Trier

The House That Jack Built is a 2018 psychological horror art film written and directed by Lars von Trier. It stars Matt Dillon, Bruno Ganz, Uma Thurman, Siobhan Fallon Hogan, Sofie Gråbøl, Riley Keough, and Jeremy Davies. Its plot follows Jack (Dillon), a serial killer who, over a 12-year period from the late 1970s into 1980s, commits numerous murders in the U.S. state of Washington. Utilizing Dante's Inferno as a metatext, the film is structured as a series of flashback vignettes relayed by Jack to the Roman poet Virgil, during which Jack attempts to make an argument for his crimes.

References

  1. Lasagna, Roberto; Lena, Sandra (12 May 2003). Lars von Trier. Gremese Editore. p. 124. ISBN   978-88-7301-543-7 . Retrieved 15 October 2010.
  2. "Lars von Trier's Europe Trilogy". The Criterion Collection. Retrieved 22 October 2022.
  3. "Festival de Cannes: Epidemic". festival-cannes.com. Archived from the original on 23 January 2013. Retrieved 2009-07-21.
  4. "1988 Fantasporto: Porto International Film Festival". indiepixfilms.com. Archived from the original on 26 July 2011. Retrieved 22 May 2011.
  5. "Epidemic - Rotten Tomatoes". Rotten Tomatoes . Retrieved 14 August 2012.
  6. "Epidemic". Metacritic . CBS Interactive . Retrieved 10 October 2014.
  7. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 21 August 2004. Retrieved 29 January 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  8. Hoberman, J. (11 November 2003). "Film". villagevoice.com . Retrieved 17 May 2023.
  9. "Epidemic". 13 February 2004.
  10. "Epidemic". The Criterion Collection. Retrieved 14 August 2023.