Behind Idealism: the Discrepancy between Philosophy and Reality in The Cinema of Lars von Trier

Most scholarly attention has so far been put on von Trier’s work regarding form, genre and cinematography. In this paper I will focus on the thematic and philosophical qualities we find in von Trier’s work. The above quotation is an essential key to the understanding of the cinema of Lars von Trier, since this “discrepancy between philosophy and reality” has been a common main theme that Lars von Trier has been exploring consistently in his twenty-five-year film career. Through analysis of protagonist types and plot structures, I will show how this “discrepancy” plays a role as a central underlying structure, but also how it changes according to gender and as von Trier’s perspectives on this theme changes over time. I will also take a closer look at Lars von Trier’s ties to nineteenth-century Scandinavian drama and the philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, which are important connections that so far have not been explored thoroughly enough.