Epidemic (1987)

A director and screenwriter pen a script and, in the process, blur the line between fiction and reality.

Director:

Lars von Trier

Writers:

Lars von Trier (screenplay) (as Lars Von Trier), Niels Vørsel (screenplay)

Stars:

Allan De Waal, Ole Ernst, Michael Gelting

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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

Storyline

A film director and a script writer (performed by Lars von Trier and Niels Vørsel themselves) write a screenplay, in which an epidemic spreads about the whole world. Like the protagonist they do not notice, that a real epidemic is developing around them.

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Plot Keywords:

post punk | plague | male frontal nudity | male nudity | scriptwriting | 

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Genres:

Drama | Horror

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

Denmark

Language:

Danish English

Release Date:

11 September 1987 (Denmark)

Also Known As:

Epidemia

Filming Locations:

Copenhagen, Denmark

Box Office

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$938

Company Credits

Production Co:

Elementfilm A/S, Det Danske Filminstitut

Technical Specs

Runtime:

106 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

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, The Element of Crime (1984), whose lead characters are a detective and a prostitute.

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Quotes

Cabbie: What the hell. All a nigger needs are loose shoes, tight pussies, and a warm place to shit.

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Crazy Credits

The film's title appears in red letters in the upper left corner of the screen for the entire length of the film.

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Connections

Featured in From Dreyer to von Trier: An Interview with Cinematographer Henning Bendtsen (2005)

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Soundtracks

Epidemic We All Fall Down
Music by Peter Bach (as Bach)/Richard Wagner (as Wagner)
Lyrics by Lars von Trier (as Lars Von Trier) & Niels Vørsel
Vocalist: Pia Cohn
Orchestra: Aske Jacoby, Frank Stangerup, Klaus Menzer, Jens Haack

User Reviews

Deceptive, Messy, Boring, Annoying and Pretentious Movie with Disconnected Ideas

The screenwriters Lars and Niels are writing the screenplay of an outbreak like many other plagues in Europe. In the story, the renowned epidemiologist Dr. Mesmer decides to leave the Faculty of Medicine to go to the outskirt of the city to give assistance to the inhabitants. Soon, a mysterious disease is spread in the real world. Then the writers travel to Germany for a meeting and then they visit their producer, where they meet a hypnotized woman that is sick.

"Epidemic" is a deceptive, messy, boring, annoying and pretentious collection of disconnected ideas and senseless subplots by Lars von Trier with an awful grainy cinematography in black and white. I was tempted to stop the DVD, but unfortunately the box of the Trilogy of Lars von Trier was very expensive and I decided to watch until the irritating conclusion with a woman crying and screaming for a long period before committing suicide, increasing to my loss of money a complete loss of time. My vote is two.

Title (Brazil): "Epidemic"