Exhibition Review: Lars von Trier
Melancholia, Transparency, 2011 - 2021 © Lars von Trier and Zentropa Entertainments - ART von Trier, Freeze Frame Gallery. Courtesy Perrotin
By James Hastur
The line between photography and film is very thin. ARTvonTRIER, taking place at Perrotin, explores this concept through the work of acclaimed Danish filmmaker Lars von Trier. Von Trier’s work has always questioned what film could be, pushing the boundaries of cinema both visually and narratively. Here, von Trier’s acute artistic eye is shown in full force through scenes from many of his most renowned films, including Nymphomaniac (2013), Melancholia (2011), Dogville (2003), and his latest release The House that Jack Built (2018). Throughout his career, von Trier has made countless visual allusions to renowned works of art within his films, using his distinctive visual style to create a sort of postmodern painting through the medium of cinema.
Dogville, Escape, 2003 – 2021 © Lars von Trier and Zentropa Entertainments - ART von Trier, Freeze Frame Gallery. Courtesy Perrotin
Von Trier is known to linger on still scenes throughout his films; he allows the audience to enjoy a quasi-photograph, breaking up the moments of action and movement. This is necessary for cinema, and separates it from the medium of photography. One notable example of this is a scene from The House that Jack Built (2018). During a montage towards the end of the film, the audience discovers that Jack was recounting the story of his life during his trip through Hell, accompanied by Virgil as his guide. We are then shown a montage of Jack and Virgil travelling through all of the Nine Circles of Hell before Virgil is to leave Jack in the depths of his eternal damnation. Jack’s travels are intended to closely parallel Dante’s trip with Virgil through Hell in Dante’s Inferno. During this montage, one scene particularly sticks out and is printed in this exhibition as The Barque of Jack. This image depicts Jack and Virgil crossing the River Styx atop a ship as the souls of the damned reach onto the boat attempting to either pull them down or climb atop the barque. Virgil remains steady in the image, exhibiting his experience navigating through Hell, as Jack attempts to keep his balance. This image is very deeply modelled after Eduard Delacroix’s painting The Bark of Dante (1822), wherein Jack replaces Dante, wearing a red robe which parallels Dante’s red hood in the original painting. The painting had also been recreated by Manet between 1854 and 1858, solidifying this scene in art history as reproducible. The use of this moment in the film, and printed here in the exhibition, shows von Trier’s understanding of art and art history; he alludes to these images in entirely unique ways through his consistent style. They serve to work as easter eggs for the eagle-eyed art enthusiast, fodder for analysis for the film academic, and even just moments of beauty for the casual viewer, unaware of the history and thought that is put into these carefully constructed images.
Melancholia, Transparency, 2011 - 2021 © Lars von Trier and Zentropa Entertainments - ART von Trier, Freeze Frame Gallery. Courtesy Perrotin
So many more of the images in this exhibition display von Trier’s deep understanding, appreciation, and appropriation of historical art and art practices for use in the much younger medium of cinema. His moody scenes are often reminiscent of European Romanticism, expressing the sublime through these scene-turned-images. This is shown in many images throughout the exhibition, such as the scene from the ending of Melancholia (2011), where the planet Melancholia looms above the three figures sitting inside an ill constricted tepee of sticks. The overwhelming power of nature over mankind is apparent through the scene, presenting people as nothing in the face of the beautiful, cold, and destructive power of nature. The three figures accept their fate and allow themselves to give in to the sublime, becoming to nature as insects are to human beings.
The exhibition does a beautiful job of showing von Trier’s deep seeded understanding of colour and composition as well as his knowledge of art, which together inform many scenes within his films. Experiencing these scenes as photographs truly calls into question what differences verily exist between cinema and photography, and how the line between these two mediums can be blurred. This is a question definitely worth asking when looking at a director such as Lars von Trier.
