One of the (few) bad boys of arthouse cinema and the founder of the Dogme movement. He likes to shock and loves provocations, more importantly though he's a pretty talented director who has worked hard on an oeuvre well worth exploring.
Rare treats
Antichrist is atmospheric, moody, technically impressive and pretty mysterious.
The good stuff
I never liked von Trier's Dogme obsession, as it largely contradicts my own views on cinema. Luckily the man suffers from a rather short attention span.
The latest Lars von Trier is twisted, dark, sometimes shocking but also quite funny. It's a long journey into the mind of a crazy serial killer. Some of the imagery is pretty sick and if you're squeamish this probably isn't the film for you, but it's a unique film with some very impressive moments and some memorable scenes.
Solid pieces
Melancholia
The inoffensive
Chacun Son Cinéma
The Boss of It All
Dubious filler
The Five Obstructions
This was the big breakthrough film for Lars von Trier. A dark, relentless drama with strong religious overtones. While undoubtably impressive in some ways, the drama here is pretty hit or miss, and if you fail to care about the two leads then the 160-minute runtime is going to be quite the challenge.
Bess is a somewhat simple-minded religious girl, Jan a man of the world. The two find each other and get married, but when Jan needs to leave again to pick up his job at an oil rig, Bess struggles to let him go. She prays to God to return Jan to her, then Jan suffers a near-lethal accident that leaves him disabled in bed.
The once so unique "handheld"/dogme camera work has become a staple of the genre, performances are strong, but the characters lack depth and the ever-spiraling drama gets a little tedious. I never really cared enough about the characters and their tribulations to make the drama work, so in the end this was just a mediocre von Trier for me.
Plain forgettable
Dancer in the Dark
Irritation overload
The Idiots
