Lars Von Triers Europe Trilogy: Element Of Crime / Epidemic / Europa - DVD Review

Purchasing Information

Review

With more extras than you could possible expect, this DVD of Lars Von Trier’s ‘E-Trilogy’ is epic DVD viewing at its best. We have a previously unreleased film in the UK - EPIDEMIC, one of the world’s most remarkable visual achievements – ELEMENTS OF CRIME, and an acknowledged classic of style and story – EUROPA. Also included is an extras disc that has so many documentaries and interviews it will provide months of viewing. On top of that, all the films have commentaries, some two of them, as well as extra features of their own. And to round everything off, the transfers of both picture and sound and are about as good as it gets. To use an old pun, in DVD terms, this is about as much fun as you can have without getting arrested. So onto the discs…

DISC 1 – ELEMENT OF CRIME (1984)

Although I don’t admit to understanding much about this film at all, it is probably one of the most visually and stylistically impressive films to have been made in recent times. Billed as a detective thriller and having a plot that moves in the same direction as ANGEL HEART, although narrated in a totally different way, this was Von Trier’s first film. Borrowing from Andrei Tarkovsky’s aesthetics, and according to the critic’s commentary on this disc, taking ideas from many Orson Welles films, this is one film that entrances you to keep watching.

Starting in out in a room where detective Fisher (played by Michael Elphick) is being hypnotised, we enter his hypnosis, the point from where the rest of the film takes place. Fisher is sent to locate the Jigsaw killer and soon starts looking for the chief suspect Harry Grey. One thing leads to another, in a very loose manner of identification, and Elphick soon starts chasing his own tail.

The film is shot with an orange tinge, that looks so fantastic that you as a viewer soon find yourself hypnotised by what you are watching, in much the same way as Elphick is when he is recounting the story we are watching. The film also has some quite fantastic editing, with dissolves that on occasion leaves the mouth hanging wide open. However for all the technical genius on display and that is truly a lot, the film was incomprehensible, which in this reviewers eyes opens it up to all kinds of criticism, such as whether this film is worth watching at all. However, the fact that this is where Von Trier’s career really began, the answer to that question is that it probably is worth checking out for those inclined.

One thing that is worth watching though is the fantastic extras on this disc, which although they don’t exactly clear up the story of the film, as it is incomprehensible to most of the people, Von Trier included, we do get a great document about the film’s background and making, as well as truly insightful glimpses at the enigma of Lars Von Trier.

COMMENTARY 1 – LARS VON TRIER, TOM ELLING (cinematographer) and TOMAS GISLASON (editor)

This is a formidable commentary that not only details the making of the film but also serves as a, for want of a better word, a ‘good laugh’. Starting off with Von Trier’s anecdote about the monkey on the fat mans shoulder at the start of the film and how every time he said action it started masturbating, to numerous attempts at getting Tomas Gislason in deep shit, there is more than enough to keep anybody interested watching on. Future director Tom Elling, explains how he lit and captured the orange tinge of the film by using Sodium lighting, which according to Von Trier, is Elling’s greatest moment - “no one will ever top that, you have peaked”. They discuss how every shot was storyboarded so that it would edit together perfectly, how they scoured the streets of Scotland to find the right look, and how at film school if someone gave up on a difficult shot that they wanted then their lecturer would shout at them for giving in and taking the easy way out. They discuss the germination of ideas, highlight the Scorsese sequence, how no one had ever seen a film like this when it was released and certain technical details that anyone wanting to reproduce this look would need to know to be able to pull it off. This is a great commentary and in this reviewers opinion better than the film and worth the price of sale alone. However, there is another commentary, as well as 3 other discs that you will also get for your money…not bad.

COMMENTARY 2 – STIG BJORKMAN and PETER SCHEPELERN

This one could be described as a sort of critic’s commentary. However the speakers are Bjorkman who made the documentary shown on Channel 4 a few years back called TRACEFORMER and the author of VON TRIER ON VON TRIER, and Schepelern who was one of Von Trier’s lecturers at film school who specialised in film history, as well as a Von Trier biographer. This accumulates to being a very interesting commentary, as they both know him personally, as well as having a huge knowledge of film and how Von Trier fits into the larger scheme of things. They sum up Von Trier’s career and offer personal stories and accounts of his characteristics that few will know. For example look out for the story how he got into film school. They also discuss many things that the other commentary didn’t touch on, such as for all of his films he has had a written manifesto of what he must or must not do for each film he makes (sounds like Dogma but without the publicity) and that for this one he wanted to do it in under 150 shots, as well as not use the traditional shot reverse shot technique during conversations. For anyone who has seen the Von Trier and Jorgon Leth documentary THE FIVE OBSTRUCTIONS, you will be familiar with these practices. They discuss his stylistic evolution up to DOGVILLE, provide intelligent thematic similarities between his films and basically provide a full overview of Von Trier and Danish film to some degree as well. They are also full of anecdotes, with a funny one concerning Von Trier’s shyness in real life and how afraid he is of everything. They quote something Thomas Vintenberg (director of FESTEN) who said that, “Lars is afraid of almost everything in life, apart from directing films. For the rest of us it is the other way round”. Once again, this commentary is never boring and remains a healthy dose of thought provoking natter and humour. This commentary is just as great as the first one, if not better, and again was better than the film they are talking over. It is a must for film fans and film makers alike.

DOCUMENTARY – INNENSTADT EUROPA (30 mins, 1984)

A great little documentary taken from Danish Television at the time of the films original release. Von Trier discusses what he was thinking at the time, as it was recorded after he had just finished making the film, so it is interesting to see him so young. He discusses his own history at film school; the institution he had left only 1 year before this film was released. We are also shown clips of his graduation film IMAGES OF A RELIEF, which was a forerunner to ELEMENT OF CRIME, stylistically. He talks about how small the film crew was and how the film is “a film of fascination”. Underneath his philosophising, we are shown a considerable amount of on-set footage. Again, a great accompaniment to this DVD and providing head food that Von Trier’s commentary did not, so you feel like you are watching something new again, and not just the same 4 stories told over and over again like some pathetic DVD’s out there.

ANECDOTES FROM THE ELEMENT OF CRIME (19 mins)

Specially made for this DVD release, this is a collection of many people who helped make the film 20 years ago getting together and sharing their ‘anecdotes’. Although, I would have loved to have heard what they had to say, unfortunately this extra did not come with any English subtitles and was a big disappointment. As mine was a pre-release copy, hopefully this will have been sorted out by now. Anyway, with or without it this DVD is fantastic, something I have never said when the film that the extras come with is incomprehensible.

DISC 2 – EPIDEMIC (1988)

Although experimental, this previously unreleased 1988 film EPIDEMIC has a lot going for it. Less confusing than ELEMENT OF CRIME, it has a 5 day structure, and concerns the writing of a screenplay called EPIDEMIC, the writing of which is bought on by a computer malfunction that has destroyed the screenplay “The Cop and the Whore”. The two central characters are this films real writer and director, Lars Von Trier and Niels Vorsel, who both play themselves, as does everyone else who appears, including the film’s commissioner from the Danish Film Institute Claes Kastholm Hansen, and cult German actor Udo Kier. The idea for the film was apparently based on the spread of HIV during the middle 1980’s.

The film focuses in on the two writers and their attempts to develop a screenplay in only 4 days, after their original 200 page manuscript has been munched by the computer. We follow them on their journey to write and develop the idea, and within the 5 day structure of the film, at the end of each day we get a segment from the film they are writing, which in true Von Trier form during this stage of his career had himself playing Dr. Mesmer, a continuation of his hypnosis obsession that also contributes to the end of this film and the next one in this DVD boxset - EUROPA.

In the extras material, this film is described as being a film where the artist got another chance “to try things he probably should have tried in film school”. With this in mind it definitely won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, but it does have many merits, especially in the constant smiling and horseplay conversations taking place between the two main leads. Highlights include the sketching of the films narrative timeline being painted on a wall, Udo Kier’s heartbreaking story which ends up with the actor in tears, the laughing taxi driver, the dissection of a tube of toothpaste to see how they get the stripe into the toothpaste, Von Trier’s trip down to an autopsy and the clear repulsion he has to it, as well as right at the end one of the film one of the most profound and disturbing ends to a film I can remember since Peter Jackson’s HEAVENLY CREATURES (to draw a tenuous link).

The film is mainly shot on 16MM in black and white (and according to the accompanying commentary) by Von Trier and Vorsel, who it appears created virtually everything themselves, and has the gimmick of ‘Epidemic’ being written on the top left corner of the film throughout. Within the film, 35MM segments are also included, which show some segments from the film they are creating. Whereas, most of the film is grainy and natural, these moments are all stylised and shot by the master Cinematographer Henning Bendtsen (CARL TH. DREYER’S D.O.P). The mix is good and the overall effect is definitely detachment and involvement, or according to Von Trier “all good films should be like a pebble on your shoe”.

The picture quality and transfer is excellent, as is the sound, which comes in 2.0 and 5.1 Dolby Digital. Even though it is experimental and self indulgent, for anyone interested in Von Trier’s work this is a must own for a number of different reasons. Firstly, you get to see 2 people almost creating a film in front of our eyes. Secondly, it has many interesting ideas about things including society breaking down. Thirdly, it is bloody funny. Fourthly, it bridges the gap between documentary and fiction in a way that can be discussed for many years to come. And fifthly, the truly bizarre ending of which I will say nothing here.

COMMENTARY – LARS VON TRIER and NIELS VORSEL

This is another class extra. Not only do they make interesting and funny chat between themselves but they also form a good double act for this type of commentary. Von Trier fills us in on the full story how the film got made and the bet he made with the Danish Film Institute to get it into production, how the epidemic sign in the corner of the screen cost more than anything else in the budget, the films “strange mixture of documentary and fiction”, funny stories about the films premiere at Cannes, as well as a funny story about his 35MM Cinematographer. He also illuminates how the nature of the low budget production almost got him arrested when the went to Germany to do some filming, culminating in him being surrounded by cops with machine guns, who thought they were planning a bank robbery. Vorsel, chips in and keeps the whole thing flowing, discussing some ideas in the script, well the 1 and a half page document they used for filming, and plenty of anecdotes about the making of the film. This is a great commentary and would be interesting for film geeks, film makers and especially film students who might just get a few tips that will divert them from taking the path of producing their 10 minute masterpieces that all look like badly executed segments of TV.

ANECDOTES FROM EPIDEMIC (17 Mins)

This segment consists of Niels Vorsel, Kristoffer Nyholm (16mm camera man – for some sections), Udo Kier, Claes Kartholm Hansen and Michael Simpson (actors) and Peter Schepelern (Von Trier biographer among other things) all chipping in with their thoughts and anecdotes about stuff surrounding EPIDEMIC. We find out about what it was like to act in the film (watch out for Simpson’s funny story about the taxi scene), a different perspective about how the film came to be made, as well as Schepelern’s thoughts about why this is not a very good film. This is another class extra and again of interest from a gossip or from an all round filmmaking point of view. Once again it becomes very clear that everyone seems to endure the hardships of making a Von Trier film and have a significant amount of fun whilst they are doing it.

DISC 3 – EUROPA (1991)

I have to admit that I must have been on crack the first time I saw this film as I remember it being completely different. What a film!

It concerns Leopold Kessler, an idealist from the USA who goes to Germany after the immediate end of the Second World War who wants to do his bit to get Germany back on his feet by becoming a sleeping car attendant. Whilst there, his idealism meets the reality of the situation, which ultimately puts him in a position where everyone is manipulating his good will. He encounters the partisans who are still at war with their American occupiers and anyone collaborating with them. He begins to understand that in this new Germany, everybody has to lie to survive. The workers all need to complete questionnaires and get them stamped by a member of the resistance (during the war), to confirm that they did not have any links to the Nazi party. He finds that 80 percent were connected in some way and that it is such a complicated place that he does not know who to trust. Anyway, he falls in love with Katherina Hartmann, daughter of the founder of the sleeping car company he works for, who challenges and makes him confront his own idealism, then manipulates him to try and get him to blow the train up that he works on.

The film is mainly shot in black and white but also uses a lot of rear and front projection techniques, split screen camera work, model work, as well as fantastic superimpositions to layer the image we see. Occasionally colour sequences or images will appear as well, to stylise certain parts of the film. This works particularly well, especially when we go into the main characters head space. The start of the film is also one you will not forget. It starts out with Max Von Sydow’s voice slowly trying to send everyone into a state of hypnosis. He counts to ten and we all enter EUROPA. His voice punctuates certain parts of the film as well, especially when we make a time jump.

The script, again written by Niels Vorsel and Von Trier is also very interesting. The way it combines its narrative and style is very effective. It is never allowed to ebb and the narrative seems to make the style unnoticeable in many places, even though it always remains effective. The imagery is also remarkable and worth seeing just for this. As an aside Andrej Wajda’s long time cinematographer Edward Closinsky lit and shot most of the sequences in Poland.

The sound comes in Dolby Digital 5.1 and 2.0, as well as in German 2.0 as well. It is clear throughout and remains at a nice level to carry through the hypnosis gimmick. The picture is also excellent and I doubt will be available anywhere better than this, until the next format comes along in 10 years or so.

Ultimately, EUROPA is probably the most accessible of the 3 films and as a film shows a truly remarkable filmmaker taking shape.

EXTRAS

COMMENTARY 1 – LARS VON TRIER and PETER AALBAEK JENSEN

An amusing commentary due to the friendship and jiving of the two participants, this discusses the financing of EUROPA, as well as the creation of Zentropa, the production company created after this film by them both. It also adds many funny anecdotes about the shooting of the film and we get a sense of what the atmosphere must have been like on set. The discussion of the techniques used to capture the images is also explored in more detail here, with Von Trier pointing out what was what and how it was achieved.

There is a funny story about how the film came to be made, which revolves around an error in the contract handed out by the financing company. Von Trier also illuminates on Henning Berdsten’s lighting test for lead actress Barabara Sukowa, which is also pretty funny. He also further elaborates on the ‘falling in crap story’ so expertly expressed by Gislason in the anecdotes section. At the end Von Trier, after giggling his way through the film with Jensen, says “It’s a funny film but most people would deny it”, which is a comment that summarises this commentary very well.

COMMENTARY 2 – scene specific commentary with LARS VON TRIER, JEAN-MARC BARR and UDO KIER (1HR 20 MINS)

Although a scene specific commentary and although it keeps going back to the menu after each scene has finished this is another amusing little addition to this DVD. Udo Kier comes across like a friendly version of Dean Stockwell from BLUE VELVET and Jean-Marc Barr keeps piping up “I love Leo…fucking fascist” when commenting on his own character in the film. Von Trier tells us about how the Hartmann family got their name, which was because he had just found out that it was his father’s real name. He also tells us how Max Von Sydow recorded his narration by lying on his back in a small room to get his voice as slow and deep as possible. This again was interesting and fun, with all doing their bit to keep the interest. One small point of note is that some of the dialogue has been looped, and although I only spotted one example, someone deserves a slap on the wrist. Overall though, well worth listening too.

THE MAKING OF EUROPA (39 MINS)

Although making a couple of false assertions at the beginning of this English narrated documentary, it then moves onto focus on the film EUROPA. It does this in a couple of interesting ways. Firstly, it does an on screen analysis of a couple of sequences to demonstrate the technique of front and rear projection used in this film. It then segments, to show the filming of a few key scenes in Poland, whilst outlining how most of the shooting was completed here without any of the key actors being present because all the exterior shots were just background plates that would be added to the film at a later stage. This documentary highlights this point very clearly and is the best part of the DVD for this purpose. We then see the shooting of a few key sequences in Copenhagen with the actors. Jean-Marc Barr and Von Trier are play fighting on set and we get a flavour of the overall atmosphere.

The major benefit this extra has is its allowance to let things unfold, which is a trait that most Making Of’s today don’t have, especially those ones that are pathetic glimpses of gossip mainly narrated through interviews with the films main actors. In this extra, it is possible not only to get a flavour of what it was like to be working on this film but we also get a chance to think about EUROPA’s style and the way it was filmed to achieve its overall look.

ANECDOTES FROM EUROPA (21 MINS)

All the major people appear again to offer stories around the shooting of this film. Gislason discusses the shitty hotel again that they ended up staying in, whilst co-writer Niels Vorsel giggles away as he says how all of the details about Jean-Marc Barr’s routine in the sleeping car was copied directly from a sleeping car handbook he got hold of. Peter Grant, the set designer and Peter Aalbaek Jensen discuss how they ended up taming the famous and notoriously bad tempered Ernst Hugo on set. This is a really funny story. Jensen (the films Producer) also goes onto to discuss how they needed to get all the films guns and certain extras into Poland. He says he couldn’t be bothered to go through the hassle of filling in all the proper import documents, so he had to smuggle them all through Germany to get them there. Obviously, things go wrong and he and Von Trier end up in a particularly tight and funny situation again. Finally Peter Schepelern offers a particularly illuminating conclusion for this trilogy that is about as quotable as anything on these 4 DVD’s.

DISC 4 – HYPNOTIC FEATURES

DOCUMENTARY 1 – TRIER’S ELEMENTS (44 MINS)

This is an interview with Von Trier that takes place after he has finished promoting EUROPA. It is a simple question and answer structure split up by clips from these 3 films and on set footage. The interviewer asks a series of interesting questions that are related to the films in this trilogy. Von Trier remarks that these films have 3 things in common: 1) In the conception, 2) The stories are similar because they all have “an idealist who arrives in a hostile environment and who does not fare well”, and 3) They all use hypnosis on some level as part of the overall construct.

He also engages in a discussion about the fact that he only believes that film can affect people on an emotional level, with anything intellectual arriving after the film has ended. He suggests that his films aim to confront and release the viewers’ horrors or joys. He further discusses how they got the woman in EPIDEMIC to give the affecting performance she does under hypnosis, as well as highlighting the trickery associated with filmmaking and projection, forming a theory for the use of his extensively complex rear projection that he used in EUROPA.

He also mentions how his ability to make his films on budget and get as much as he can from the budget up on screen helps him as being part of his calling card for potential future financers.
Most interesting in this documentary though is his discussion and the on set footage from another Von Trier film called DIMENSION, a project intended to take 30 years to film. According to Von Trier, this film will be based on the characters getting older and play around with the nature of time. He muses that its audience is still not born yet. We see him filming the opening sequence as well as a scene starring Udo Kier

This is another quality extra and of interest to anybody with a passing interest on Von Trier. Via clips from the Cannes press conference for EUROPA, we also get an interesting insight into his feelings towards the press, both personal and outwards. Well worth a watch!


DOCUMENTARY 2 – A PORTRAIT OF LARS VON TRIER (32 MINS)

This is the documentary series ‘Cultural Focus’ a Danish TV programme. It is standard documentary fair but interesting all the same. Von Trier is being interviewed by Tom Jorgensen, and illuminates his thoughts about filmmaking and his career to date, up until the point the documentary is made. We get the first glimpse of some of Von Trier’s early adverts, including a humorous little number for a newspaper set in a sauna and involving a guy with a hard on. He also discusses what he means by getting into ‘an ecstatic process’, which although sounding like it echoes Werner Herzog’s search for the ‘ecstatic truth’ differs considerably. He further discusses his creative process and how he always starts with an emotion that allows him access into the film he will be making, as well as pondering over the fact that all of his films are about something that he is personally afraid of. But as usual, the seriousness with which he takes filmmaking is split up by his trade mark sarcasm and humour, this time coming in the guise of a story about the Cannes film festival and Dirk Bogarde during his visit with ELEMENT OF CRIME and a story about the Polish extras in the church during the filming of EUROPA. He is also quizzed about his opinions of actors, to which he also provides an amusing answer.

Although rather short, this documentary shows us a glimpse into Von Trier’s state of mind at the time, which as we find out from the other extras in this set and most of the people interviewed is continually evolving. Although appearing a little media shy, he is clear enough in his mind and the documentary is competent enough to be engaging at all times.

DOCUMENTARY 3 – ONE DAY WITH PETER AALBAEK JENSEN

This is a documentary that follows Peter Jensen around ZENTROPA Studios, the company that he and Von Trier co-own, with a 50-50 stake. Whilst Von Trier takes care of the creative side of the company, Jensen is its day to day manager and what a character he is. As he guides us around Zentropa, his behaviour appears to border on sexual harassment at times, whilst simultaneously exposing us to his love of Stanley Kubrick films. In one of the other extras, he explains how he finished film school the year after Von Trier and after launching a failed business attempt after leaving, met Von Trier and began working together. After building a friendship they later went onto establish Zentropa, a place that produces all of Von Trier’s films and many other Danish classics. They make adverts to pay the bills, as well as Von Trier paying in some of his wages, and with the money they train new directors and talent and produce feature films. If only we had something in the UK like this, other than the kiss ass film schools that seem to proliferate the landscape. Anyway, Jensen also shows us his Friday sauna ritual. On site they have a swimming pool with an accompanying little sauna for all their employees when they want to use it. His chosen time is Friday and we follow him around from stripping off, getting into the sauna and then going back into his office, female staff present, to listen to him tell us what this ritual means to him at the same time he is washing his balls and getting dressed. I have to admit to finding this quite hilarious. What a character. Boss of the future maybe…

DOCUMENTARY 4 – IN Dr. VON TRIER’S LABORATORY (1H 5 MINS)

Directed by Achim Forst, this documentary briefly covers Von Trier’s career up until and including the production of THE IDIOTS. We have significant input from Henning Camre, the director of the Danish Film Institute, who highlights the funding policy that allowed Von Trier to get started. We are also illuminated by one of Von Trier’s film school lecturers who tells us how Von Trier loved the work of Danish genius filmmaker Carl Theodore Dreyer and how Von Trier was the only person at film school to be totally familiar with all of his films. The documentary also visits Von Trier’s house and interviews him there, as well as showing us around his office in his garden. In this documentary Von Trier appears a lot more confident and definitive about what he is saying, and the shackles from the older documentaries of trying to be mysterious, appear to have fallen away. “My films are getting closer to reality” he says, making more than a casual reference to the ambiguity of his early films. Cut in with Von Trier is interviews with those who know him best and actors who have worked with him, including writer Niels Vorsel, who explains how when they write a script together it involves a lot of laughing about.

We also have a segment explaining and discussing his adverts, which is accompanied by 3 of his adverts, including the aforementioned sauna one and 2 others with very different styles, including one for French TV. The director of the Danish Broadcasting Corporation also appears as well and explains to us the birth of THE KINGDOM, as does a couple of crew members who inform us why and how it was so successful, particularly because of the style it employed. Thomas Vinterberg, Emily Watson and Jean Marc-Barr also pop up as reference points for some of the issue tackled, including the making of BREAKING THE WAVES and EUROPA, the creation of the Dogma manifesto, the formation of Zentropa, and finally a lengthy stay on the subject of the film THE IDOITS, which are all very interesting.

This documentary has its own pace and is all the better for it. It has many clips that you may not have seen before including clips from a lot of Von Trier’s lesser known films. It has enough commentary to illuminate and also has a fine balance between humour and information. It is also the first time on this DVD that we can see a lot of the people from the other discs in the flesh, and what a bunch of characters they are.

DOCUMENTARY 5 – LARS VON TRIER ANECDOTES (17 MINS)

This is a short segment dedicated to telling funny Lars Von Trier stories by his fellow cast and crew. Again, there are many funny stories here but we also get a clear sense that what the media portrays Von Trier as being is very limited and often wrong. The overriding sense of loyalty pervades, as does the notion that he is a very sensitive guy. Even when discussing his legendary temper, one of the actors says that even when he gets pissed of he shouts in such an exaggerated tone that that he keeps everything light. Also, look out for the injection story and the one where Jean Marc Barr is explaining the similarities between Von Trier and John Boorman of all people, as well as the amusing anecdote on not compromising by his old film school lecturer.

INTERVIEWS

INTERVIEW 1 – A CONVERSATION WITH LARS VON TRIER (44 MINS)

Apart from the commentaries for all the films on this DVD, this interview is the most up to date document, with Von Trier being asked a series of probing questions by Danish journalist Bo Green Jensen. It focuses on the E trilogy and probes questions deeper than other segments on this DVD. They further discuss why it is a trilogy, Tarkovsky’s timeless nature, the lack of emotion in ELEMENT OF CRIME, how EPIDEMIC is more like a family movie for Von Trier, and how much he hated his own film MEDEA. He briefly ruminates on David Lynch, explaining how he loved MULHOLLAND DRIVE and TWIN PEAKS but that he believes the rest of his films are a bit glossy. He also comments on the nature of hypnosis in the film noir genre and further expresses his love for Orson Welles, as well as THE NIOGHT OF THE HUNTER, to which he keeps saying ”fantastic film”. This is as good a place as any to begin on this DVD and when compared to some of Von Trier’s earlier interviews in the 1980’s, it is clear to see how his own animosity towards interviews has relaxed, as well as being able to still get his trademark humour into just about everything that he says.

INTERVIEW 2 – THE FAECAL LOCATION (10 MINS)

This is more of a jokey insert with Peter Aalbaek Jensen and Tom Gislason punctuating some film shot during the making of EUROPA and shown for the first time on this DVD. The first part concerns one of the hotels where the crew were staying and the problems that they had when trying to flush their turds away. The production designer on the film and Von Trier himself all get involved to both highlight and test the situation. It is pretty gross but a smile for those with a strong constitution. The second part concerns Gislason narrating a story about how he and Von Trier ended up with the shits during the shooting of EUROPA. This is quite funny as well, especially when it reaches its climax and we here how and why Von Trier ended up rolling around in his own shit.

INTERVIEW 3 – STORYBOARDING ELEMENT OF CRIME – with cinematographer Tom Elling (11 MINS)

Here the cinematographer (and now director) discusses his working relationship and history with Von Trier. By using a split screen of the original storyboard and the actual shot as it appeared in the film, Elling highlights how he, Von Trier and the Editor all collaborated together in pre-production to storyboard the whole film, including its edits, which allowed Elling to know exactly where a shot would begin and end. He also ruses how having a storyboard assists the cinematographer and filmmaker to be able to refine a shot when they are filming it, instead of creating the shot from a basic outline on the set and negating the details. This allows them to really get across the necessary details with much of the pressure of shooting being taken away from them. At the end there is a 2 minute montage of the storyboard and film clips to further illuminate on what he has been discussing. Although Tom Elling looks like he is being interrogated in a prison cell, this segment is another worthy addition to this DVD.

INTERVIEW 4 – THE EMOTIONAL SCRIPT FOR EUROPA – with composer Joachim Holbek (12 MINS)
For those who have seen EUROPA, apart from its revelatory visuals will all remember the music. Here, Holbek explains how he was on the dole after working with Von Trier on MEDEA, when he got the call for EUROPA and decided that it would be a perfect opportunity for him. During the editing, they had noted down all the music cues and Von Trier had left him specific notes about the kind of music he wanted. Holbek notes that because the actors were all understating their roles, this allowed him to make the music very emotional, which creates a strong effect in the audience. He then goes on to offer words of advice to future composers, suggesting that you should always compose for the finished film and not for the script, as cues and emotions are always different when they have been edited together, as well as the fact that for film music to be successful you need to lower the tempo so that you “make room for the picture too”. This is a good enough segment and provides a small window onto one of the most complex parts of filmmaking.

INTERVIEW 5 – FROM DRIER TO VON TRIER – with cinematographer Henning Bendtsen (14 MINS)

A fascinating and rare mini-talk with Carl Dreyer’s cinematographer on GERTRUD and ORDET, as well as with Von Trier on parts of EPIDEMIC and all of EUROPA (possible one of the greatest visual achievements in cinema). Anyway, he illuminated on his past and ruminates on his relationship with Dreyer, adding that Dreyer allowed him to design all most all of the shots and the entire visual look for ORDET, contrary to popular opinion that he did only what Dreyer asked. He says how Dreyer was the greatest director he ever worked with and adds a little story about a suit that Dreyer gave him, which he himself passed onto Von Trier after finishing EUROPA together. He then goes on to compare these 2 directors. Although not as illuminating as he was in the Criterion Dreyer boxset on the documentary MY MIETER, this is another great extra full of the joys of all things film.

SUMMARY

This is truly the most complete box set I have ever seen. The materials included are about as ‘fan worthy’ as anything THE LORD OF THE RINGS 4 disc’ers had too offer. We have documentaries coming out of our ears, commentaries from all angles, and films that highlight the evolution of one of the world’s filmmaking mavericks and seers. Although little details do end up getting repeated, they are always presented from different viewpoints, so you get the sense that the DVD collection has been intimately produced. The documentaries span all of Von Trier’s career, so we can see how he has also evolved over time. The films are the glue though, and although ELEMENT OF CRIME is virtually incomprehensible, the cinematography is a work of pure art and imagination. EPIDEMIC was previously unreleased in the UK and provides the chance to see a personal Von Trier film starring himself and his closest working companion Niels Vorsel, his co-writer on all the films in this box set. EUROPA, is a film that gets richer (and more funny after seeing the commentaries) with each viewing and has a presentation that is again exemplary.

As mentioned, this is comparable with the best DVD’s on the market, including LOTR and the CRITERION COLLECTION’S best attempts. I cannot recommend this enough for anyone who likes his films or is interested in the cinema’s true geniuses. At last we have a DVD that we all dreamed of…it is so good it deserves to be framed.

This page has been read: 2855 times

<< Back to Movies Home

Readers Comments

About Johnny Logan