Epidemic (1987)

Director:

Lars von Trier

Writers:

Lars von Trier (screenplay) &
Niels Vørsel (screenplay)

Release Date:

11 September 1987 (Denmark)

Genre:

Drama | Horror

Plot:

A film director and a script writer (performed by Lars von Trier and Niels Vørsel themselves) write a screenplay...

Plot Keywords:

Meta | One Word Title | Film Within A Film | Director On Camera | Sequel

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Allan De Waal
Ole Ernst
Michael Gelting
Colin Gilder
Svend Ali Hamann	...	Himself
Claes Kastholm Hansen	...	Himself
Ib Hansen
Anja Hemmingsen
Kirsten Hemmingsen
Cæcilia Holbek Trier		(as Cæcilia Holbek)
Gert Holbek
Udo Kier	...	Himself
Joergen Christian Krueff		(as Jørgen Christian Krüff)
Jan Kornum Larsen
Gitte Lind	...	Herself

Also Known As:

Epidemia (Finland) [fi]
Epidemic (Greece) [el]
Epidemic (Sweden) (video title) [sv]
Epidimi@ (Greece) (DVD title) [el]

Runtime:

UK:106 min

Country:

Denmark

Language:

Danish | English

Color:

Color | Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Hungary:18 | Australia:M | UK:15 | Germany:12

Company:

Elementfilm A/S

Trivia:

The script von Trier and Vørsel have just finished writing at the beginning of the film is titled "The Policeman and the Whore" - an apparent reference to their previous collaboration, Forbrydelsens element (1984), whose lead characters are a detective and a prostitute.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Lars von Trier Anecdotes (2005) (V)

Soundtrack:

Tannhäuser (The Overture)

Who cares about Lars and his buddy's writing process?

Lars von Trier is a genius when he actually makes a film, as he did with Element of Crime and Europa, two visually stunning films that I absolutely love. But here, von Trier does not so much tell a story as tell a story about people writing a story and then give us all-too-brief segments of that story. If von Trier had just filmed the story about the doctor who tries to cure a plague but instead ends up spreading it, we would have had another masterpiece. Indeed, the segments that tell this story are wonderful. But to get to these gems, which make up perhaps 5 percent of the movie, we have to wade through intolerable stretches of 16mm excrement. Lars and his friend think up this idea, visit this place, talk to Udo Kier, frustrate and infuriate the viewer with impossibly boring stretches of cinema verité. The experience was painful. In fact, I'll deduct some credit for pain and suffering.