Is Lars Von Trier Really an Edge Lord?

  Blender Dumbass
January 03, 2025

👁 16

https://discuss.tchncs.de/ : 👁 1
https://blenderdumbass.org/ : 👁 1

#LarsVonTrier #filmmaking #film #movies #cinema #cinemastodon #horror #philosophy

License:
Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike

If you are going to skim, better listen to it instead.

There is a certain sense among cinephiles that the danish filmmaker Lars Von Trier is nothing but an edge lord, making his films simply as a sort of pornography designed to outrage people. It does not help his case that his films are some of the hardest films to watch. And it doesn't help that his movies tend to touch upon uncomfortable things in very uncomfortable ways. Yet I don't believe Lars Von Trier does any of that for laughs.

There was a micro outrage when it comes to Lars Von Trier in the August of 2023 when he suggested that:


To which he has been met with incredible criticism. He was talking about the war between Russia and Ukraine, and with the entire world hating Russia for that invasion he probably took upon himself to remind people that there are Russian civilians that are also struggling with this war, similarly to how Ukrainians struggle. He was pointing out that both sides have innocent people. But apparently his reputation of some sort of "Edge Lord" made him misunderstood, as if he denounced the wrong-doing of Putin or something.

Incidents like this, or the infamous incident at Cannes when he said that he understood Hitler, make Lars Von Trier seem like this kind of strange troll that tells people bad things to just mess with them. That he brings attention upon himself because he just wants attention. And on the surface level it is hard to deny those kinds of claims. It is hard to see Lars Von Trier as anything but an edge lord. Though the scary truth might be that he is not messing around, but actually being genuine. Genuine in some sort of profound way, by looking at things that people are afraid to look at and by truly thinking them through.

In some way Lars Von Trier might be a great thinker, that just understands the uncomfortable realities of the world and who doesn't shy away from discussing them. Similarly to how Richard Stallman is.

Rough childhood

Lars Von Trier is known to struggle with mental illnesses. He was born to a Jewish mother and then learned, when she was dying, that his biological father was, as he says "really more of a Nazi.". This incredible dual-identity should have imprinted on him such a strong cognitive dissonance that living with it, let alone making something creative, should be a nightmare.

More than that, he was brought up in a family of nudists, where apparently children did not have any rules. Such freedom from one side, being met with extreme taboos on that same subject from the rest of the society, probably only increased his cognitive dissonances.

Films like Nymphomaniac, where the entire thing is a hard core pornography, probably stems from his grappling with this cognitive dissonances related to sex, which he experienced pretty much from the beginning. It is his protest against norms. Protest against silly restrictions that he fails to understand, because apparently being a nudist child with no rules was just fine for him. And so it must be very insane from his point of view to restrict people so much when it comes to their expressions of sexuality.

Add to that the fact that Lars Von Trier was a child actor ( probably dealing also with the stress of work ) and you have yourself an explosive potion. Strong enough to make a person just go crazy and end up in a psychiatric hospital. But he found a way to cope with it. And he does it by exploring all those uncomfortable ideas his mind is constantly being bombarded with on a grand scale. Making a lot of people see into his mind. And think those thoughts through. If he can at least make people understand how horrible it must feel to live with such contradictions, he already would feel a bit better. But then what if he can fix something? What if he can structure his films in just the perfect way to change people, to end some of those contradictions... That would be even better.

Lars the Philosopher vs Lars the Manipulator

I tend to believe that earlier work by Lars Von Trier was more philosophical than his recent work. Films like Breaking The Waves and Dancer In The Dark tackle very strong ideas in a very conversationally style. They explore things to make people ask themselves questions which would hopefully give them some profound meaning.

Lately though, it seems like he added a new layer on top of that. Films like The House That Jack Built are not only talking about things, but also attempting to fuck up the audience so hard that it would literally change the person. Showing us extreme apathy, but pointing us to sit in the same perspective as the serial killer, makes us see it not in some high-brow philosophical way, but it makes us disgusted with ourselves. And it makes us truly grapple with the reality. If one can handle it.

Lars Von Trier isn't preaching for acceptance of serial killers here. He wants you to see yourself as a monster. He wants you to experience yourself as this absolutely repulsive son a bitch. So that you will have no choice but hate Lars and hate the damn movie in return, so much... that in the end of the day you end up hating anything inside of you that reminds you of that killer. Making you change your habits to get as far away from this person as possible. Making you a better person in result.

In Breaking The Waves he shows an example of what he thinks a good person is. An uncomfortable and profound example. But isn't making you do anything. Lately though, he demands reactions. He demands people to change. Nymphomaniac is a porn film, because he want you to have a hard-on watching it. And then show you something gross about sex, to make you question your own sanity.

But instead people see him as an Edge Lord

I told the story a million times already and I see it happening again and again. When I watched The House That Jack Built for the only time in that cinema in Jerusalem. I remember people not taking the movie seriously at all. They were laughing at an image of a child's mutilated corpse. And I know why.

It is a defense mechanism!

People perceived the film as some kind of absurdist comedy, or just some kind of porn, because to take it seriously is to grasp the uncomfortable realities Lars is trying to make people grasp. But those realities are just way too damn uncomfortable. And therefor people had to invent something else. People had to view it in a less uncomfortable light.

What is more comfortable?

A person making an uncomfortable film, because he wants to show the truth?
Or a person making an uncomfortable film, because he is an edge lord, and he likes to mess with people?

Happy Hacking!!!

Subscribe RSS

Author
Website

Share on Mastodon

Share

Post