I had lunch with my friend Chloe today at Samovar Tea Lounge at 18th and Sanchez. Very cute place. We were talking about Judi Dench's outstanding performance in Notes on a Scandal, and she mentioned an article that she read in today's Guardian by Michael Billington about Laurence Olivier's brilliance in acting. So while searching for Billington's article, I found a blog posting about Danish film director Lars Von Trier. Apparently he is depressed, and he has announced that his filmmaking efforts are on hold while he seeks treatment. The author asks whether or not his depression is a hoax to garner publicity. This posting ushered in a wave of comments, mostly in support of Von Trier.
My opinion? I agree with many of the commentators to this blog posting. I think Lars Von Trier is a complete freak and anyone who is masochistic enough to put himself and other filmmakers through the grueling production process he insists on (see The Five Obstructions) must be a looney-bin. I do, however, LOVE his films, and hope he gets better soon.
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Here is an article from ScreenDaily where Zentropa's co-founder dismisses the report about LvT stopping making films :
Story
Zentropa expands beyond Danish homeland
Geoffrey Macnab in Cannes
19 May 2007 04:26
Denmark’s flagship film company Zentropa is cutting many ties to its homeland with founder Lars Von Trier in talks to shift his next film abroad.
In Cannes, company boss Peter Aalbeck Jensen told Screen that the company he and Von Trier founded it will be opening further facilities in Sweden where it has long been supported by regional fund Film I Vast.
Zentropa is also in advanced negotiations with a regional fund to set up Von Trier’s planned English-language horror film Antichrist in Germany.
“The financing systems in Sweden and Germany are much better. There is no reason for us to be with so much activity in Denmark,” Aalbeck Jensen commented.
The Zentropa boss acknowledged that the Danish Government provides strong support of the Danish film industry. “But it is not geared to a company like us. It is geared to a smaller two or three person company.”
Trust Film Sales will remain at Zentropa’s base at Filmbyen in Copenhagen.
Danish Film Institute chief executive Henning Camre was striking a phlegmatic note about Zentropa’s plans to leave Denmark. “They are pretty European in their thinking,’ he said. “I don’t see it as a problem. It is a more healthy way to attract co-productions.”
Meanwhile, Jensen dismissed recent reports in the Danish press that Von Trier has been left unable to work by depression.
“He (Von Trier) has been depressed since he was seven years old. He is always depressed between two films. I was having a dinner with him Saturday where I promise you he was alive and kicking.”
The Zentropa boss suggested that Von Trier was unlikely to complete the trilogy begun with Dogville and Manderlay. However, he predicted that Antichrist will be as provocative as any of Von Trier’s films and that “it will probably make a riot down here in the Croisette, like always.”
"Dans la vie, il faut regarder par la fenêtre"
Eugène Ionesco
Merci pour votre commentaire, Joachim! Et aussi, merci pour avoir fait le contact! J'ai habité en Belgique en 1987, près de Verviers, et donc, c'est chouette pour moi de faire la connaissance d'un bloggeur belge. Je vais retourner pour la première fois dans 6 ans dans quelques semaines!
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