Breaking the Waves 1996  R, 156 min.
Genre: Drama / Romance
Director: Lars von Trier
Cast: Emily Watson, Stellan Skarsgard, Katrin Cartlidge, Jean-Marc Barr, Udo Kier, Adrian Rawlins, Jonathan Hackett, Sandra Voe, Mikkel Gaup, Roef Ragas, Phil McCall, Robert Robertson, Delsmond Reilly, Sarah Gudgeon
Set in the 1970s, this is the story of Bess (Emily Watson) who marries outside her Scottish Calvinist community after falling in love with oil-rigger Jan (Stellan Skarsgard). When he is injured, Bess goes to any extreme to bring Jan back to health, and, in the process, Bess displays how love and religious fervor are basic to her very being.
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Dancer in the Dark 2000  R, 140 min.
Genre: Musical
Director: Lars von Trier
Cast: Bjork, Catherine Deneuve, David Morse, Peter Stormare, Udo Kier, Joel Grey, Vincent Paterson, Cara Seymour, Jean-Marc Barr, Zeljko Ivanek
Czech immigrant Selma (Bjork) arrives in the U.S. with her young son, finds a trailer to call home, and begins a dreary job at the Anderson Tool Company. Meanwhile, she suffers from a degenerative eye disease that her son has also inherited. She has no money to pay for the operations to save their sights. To escape the misery, Selma transposes herself through music. If you think the music serves to relieve the tragedy, think again!
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Dogville 2003 R, 144 min.
Genre: Drama
Director: Lars von Trier
Cast: Nicole Kidman, Paul Bettany, Harriet Andersson, Patricia Clarkson, Lauren Bacall, Chloe Sevigny, Jean-Marc Barr, James Caan, Blair Brown, Jeremy Davies, Ben Gazzara, Stellan Skarsgard
When a fugitive (Nicole Kidman) arrives in the village of Dogville in the Rocky Mountains, the mayor (Paul Bettany) convinces the citizens to hide her. It works for awhile–until police and gangsters arrive looking for her–and then the villagers turn on her. The symbolism of Americans accepting newcomers at first but exploiting them later prevails throughout this tale.
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Epidemic 1987  N/R, 106 min.
Genre: Horror / Thriller
Director: Lars von Trier
Cast: Lars von Trier, Niels Vorsel, Susanne Ottesen, Claes Kastholm Hansen, Udo Kier, Gitte Lind, Svend Ali Hamann, Michael Simpson, Allan De Waal, Ole Ernst
This film's director (Lars von Trier) and screenwriter (Niels Vorsel) play the roles of a director and screenwriter who write a screenplay of a mysterious, lethal illness that spreads across the world. At the same time, a similar illness is actually spreading across the world.
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Europa 1991 R, 112 min.
Genre: Drama
aka: Zentropa
Director: Lars von Trier
Cast: Jean-Marc Barr, Barbara Sukowa, Udo Kier, Ernst-Hugo Jaregard, Erik Mork, Jorgen Reenberg, Henning Jensen, Eddie Constantine, Max von Sydow, Benny Poulsen, Erno Muller, Dietrich Kuhlbrodt, Michael Phillip Simpson, Holger Perfort, Anne Werner Thomsen
American of German descent Leopold (Jean-Marc Barr) arrives in post-World War II Germany to help a torn-up country. He finds a job on the large Zentropa train line and meets Katharina Hartmann (Barbara Sukowa), the daughter of the train's executive–who may also be a Nazi sympathizer. Leopold becomes stuck between the American and Railroad executives' interests. Narration of the English-dubbed version is by Max von Sydow, which helps in the understanding of this somewhat confusing, surrealistic film.
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Idioterne 1998 R, 115 min.
Genre: Foreign / Comedy
aka: The Idiots
Dogme 2: The Idiots
Director: Lars von Trier
Cast: Bodil Jorgensen, Jens Albinus, Anne Louise Hassing, Troels Lyby, Nikolaj Lie Kaas, Henrik Prip, Luis Mesonero, Louise Mieritz, Knud Romer Jorgensen, Anne-Grethe Bjarup Riis
This satire on society takes place in a Copenhagen home where a group of very strange people live. Their idea of entertainment is to occupy themselves trying to shock and annoy others by pretending to be mentally retarded. Tasteless and tedious.
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Manderlay 2005  N/R, 139 min.
Genre: Drama
Director: Lars von Trier
Cast: Bryce Dallas Howard, Isaach De Bankole, Danny Glover, Willem Dafoe, Michael Abiteboul, Lauren Bacall, Jeremy Davies, Chloe Sevigny, Udo Kier, Jean-Marc Barr, Geoffrey Bateman, Rik Launspach
In 1933, while traveling through Alabama with her father (Willem Dafoe) and his gangster cohorts, Grace (Bryce Dallas Howard) discovers the remains of the Manderlay plantation and finds a group of Black people who appear to be living as slaves from the past with White masters ruling them. The White matriarch (Lauren Bacall) dies, and, after arguing with her father, Grace stays behind to help with the transition from slavery to freedom.
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Medea 1988 N/R, 76 min.
Genre: Foreign / Drama / Fantasy
Director: Lars von Trier
Cast: Udo Kier, Kirsten Olesen, Henning Jensen, Solbjorg Hojfeldt, Preben Leidorff Rye, Baard Owe, Ludmilla Glinska, Vera Gebuhr, Jonny Kilde, Richard Kilde, Dick Kayso, Mette Munk Plum
Based on the ancient Greek tragedy by Euripides, this made-for-Danish TV film is a follow-on to "Jason and the Argonauts." Jason returns home with the Golden Fleece and is offered the hand of King Kreon's (Henning Jensen) daughter, Glauce (Ludmilla Glinska). Jason accepts despite the fact that he has a wife, Medea (Kirsten Olesen), and two children. After being exiled, sorceress Medea plots a terrible revenge on all concerned.
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Riget 1994 TV, 280 min.
Genre: Foreign / Horror
aka: The Kingdom
Director: Morten Arnfred, Lars von Trier
Cast: Ernst-Hugo Jaregard, Kirsten Rolffes, Holger Juul Hansen, Soren Pilmark, Ghita Norby, Jens Okking, Otto Brandenburg, Peter Mygind, Baard Owe, Birgitte Raaberg
The "Kingdom" is a Denmark hospital that experiences very strange events: a ghostly girl haunts the premises, strange voices are heard in the elevator shaft, a phantom ambulance appears and then disappears, and an exorcism is performed. Never a dull moment in this four-hour film.
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Riget II 1997 TV, 286 min.
Genre: Foreign / Horror
aka: The Kingdom II
Director: Morten Arnfred, Lars von Trier
Cast: Ernst-Hugo Jaregard, Kirsten Rolffes, Peter Mygind, Holger Juul Hansen, Soren Pilmark, Ghita Norby, Jens Okking, Baard Owe, Birthe Neumann, Otto Brandenburg
Life in that Danish hospital–the Kingdom–continues to be filled with very strange events as the ghost story continues. Evil seems to lurk in every corner of this hospital, which was built on the site where ancient rituals were once practiced, and the forces of good struggle to come to the fore.
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| 1. Breaking the Waves (1996)
2. Dancer in the Dark (2000)
3. Dogville (2003)
4. Epidemic (1987)
5. Europa (1991)
aka: Zentropa
6. Idioterne (1998)
aka: The Idiots
aka: Dogme 2: The Idiots
7. Manderlay (2005)
8. Medea (1988)
9. Riget (1994)
aka: The Kingdom
10. Riget II (1997)
aka: The Kingdom II
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