Lars von Trier's depression could finish his filmmaking
Last Updated: Saturday, May 12, 2007 | 4:15 PM ET
CBC Arts
Danish director Lars von Trier has revealed he takes no pleasure in filmmaking, and isn't sure whether he can continue to create movies after a period of depression.
"You can't make a film and be depressed at the same time," he said in an interview published Saturday in the Politiken newspaper.
Director Lars von Trier, seen here accepting Palme d'Or for the film Dancer in the Dark at the Cannes Film Festval in 2000, says he's lost his motivation for filmmaking.
(Michel Euler/Associated Press)
"They say that it can take a couple of years to recover after a depression. But let us see."
Von Trier, who directed Breaking the Waves, Dancer in the Dark starring the singer Bjork and 2003's Dogville starring Nicole Kidman, says the depression has left him "like a blank sheet of paper," losing focus and initiative.
"It's very strange for me, because I've always had at least three projects in my head at one time," said the 51-year-old filmmaker, who was admitted to a Danish hospital at the beginning of this year for treatment.
Von Trier said he's due to begin work in a few months on a horror movie, called Antichrist, but isn't sure whether he can get it started. Antichrist depicts Satan, not God, as the world's creator.
"I assume that Antichrist will be my next film. But right now I don't know."
Von Trier may best be known for creating the Dogme 95 set of filmmaking principles, which forbid artificial props, lighting and even makeup. Dogme rules also require handheld cameras and no sound editing.
Some famous Dogme movies include von Trier's The Idiots, Thomas Vinterberg's Festen (The Celebration) and Mifune.
Von Trier's last film was a 2006 comedy The Boss of It All.
