SCFZ

Polling the films of director Lars von Trier

The rules:

- your list can include no more than half of the von Trier films you've seen, up to a maximum of 5. So if you've seen seven of his films, for example, you can list only a top 3. It's only if you've seen ten or more of his films than you can list the maximum of five.

- i'll assume ballots are ranked unless you tell me otherwise. unranked ballots are fine.

- deadline for ballots: next Tuesday, in seven days, whatever day that is

- if anyone is watching films for these polls, then i'll extend the deadline up to three days, if someone requests an extension

- next poll: whoever posts the first ballot in this thread is free to nominate the director we poll next, unless you've nominated in this round already (everyone should get a chance). Already nominated this round: greg x, umbugbene

umbugbene created an index on letterboxd of all of our previous polls here: letterboxd.com/umbugbene/list/index-of-all-scfz-director-polls/

one rule for nominees: at least 3 scfzers need to have seen 10+ of a nominee's films, or at least 4 scfzers need to have seen at least 8 of the nom's films, so if it isn't clear if that will be the case, we'll confirm that's true before moving forward

if 24 hours pass after a poll opens, and no one eligible to nominate has posted a ballot, then i'll nominate someone, and then we'll start over, and everyone will be able to nominate again

dogville
the element of crime

*seen five (not a fan, but have heard good things about europa, the five obstructions, and the kingdom, so might get around to those someday)

Seen 16

1. Melancholia
2. Dancer in the Dark
3. The Element of Crime
4. The Kingdom
5. Epidemic

DANCER IN THE DARK
THE KINGDOM Season One

Seen enough to rate more.

Dancer in the Dark
Epidemic
The Kingdom part I
The Five Obstructions
Europa

seen 14

it's interesting, when i first met many of you back in the mubi days, i just assumed that people in specialist film circles held directors like von trier and haneke in high regard - i guess i thought cannes awards reflected prevailing opinion among people who watched a lot of film, and i thought people saw them as the equivalents of godard and bergman in our time. so it was a bit of a shock to see how many mubi/scfz people detested both of them. so that was really interesting to me, and then i wanted to know what people were into if they hated von trier and haneke, and then i discovered a whole lot of directors i'd never heard of, shimizu, beizai, daneliya, fernandez, etc, etc. and still discovering great film because of this community which is one reason i'm here. one thing i take away from that is when you know a bit about something, you often think you know a lot, but then when you learn more, you realize you don't know much at all.

that said, i still think von trier and haneke have made some good films.

medea
europa

seen 12

Seen 2:

Dancer in the Dark

Seen 2

Melancholia

Love 2 and enjoy 2:

01. The Idiots (1998)
02. Dogville (2003)
03. The Trip to Squash Land (1967)
04. Nat. skat (1968)

von Trier seen: 8

I don't count TV series, but The Kingdom was fantastic. Too bad the third season was never made.

I disliked the other four von Trier films I've seen: Dancer in the Dark, Manderlay, Element of Crime and Breaking the Waves.

seen 4, no desire to see any more

medea

VERY curious to see how this poll pans out given scfz feelings toward lars. seen 29, he used to be a favorite. now i don't care all that much for him, but i still think he's very very good at what he does.

1. Melancholia
2. Europa
3. Dancer in the Dark
4. The House That Jack Built
5. Antichrist

1. Antichrist
2. The House That Jack Built
3. The Idiots
4. Manderlay
5. Breaking the Waves

Seen 14:

1. Dogville
2. Dancer in the Dark
3. The Five Obstructions
4. Europa
5. The Element of Crime

Dogville
The House That Jack Built
Melancholia

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBcJZ3-cJKc

Dogville
Dancer in the Dark
The Kingdom
The House That Jack Built
Nymphomaniac

Seen 10. Wouldn't say I'm a fan though.

Melancholia

not a fan

seen 9

Melancholia
Dogville

Seen 16

1. Dogville
2. Europa
3. Breaking the Waves
4. The Five Obstructions
5. Melancholia

seen 2... not a fan

I don't really have the strong feelings about von Trier. I saw a few and liked a couple, but got a feeling of diminishing returns, there was less there than met the eye. I remember liking DOGVILLE well enough, the use of Wilder's OUR TOWN strategies re: sets was very interesting and very well handled indeed, but at some point I realized it was a three-hour long film version of a three minute song and I guess it's a measure of my American awfulness that I didn't have a problem with And ANTI-CHRIST left me with a shrug. Whatever.

I'll always have, per the clip above, Ernst-Hugo screaming into the sky about Danish SCUM!! Among the disappointments of Season Two of THE KINGDOM was the fact that he's reduced to doing it in a bathroom with the camera set in a toilet looking up at him.

Seen 14:
1. Breaking the Waves (1996)
2. Melancholia (2011)
3. Dogville (2003)
4. The Idiots (1998)
5. Europa (1991)

thoxans wrote: ↑Tue Mar 03, 2020 2:31 pm *

Roscoe wrote: ↑Tue Mar 03, 2020 2:45 pm .

it's technically thoxans turn to nominate, but he passed on nominating a week ago, so if that's true again, it's roscoe's turn - thoxans if you've changed your mind, i'll take a nomination from you if you're first to reply

OK -- let me get back to you...

How about W.S. Van Dyke? Or Victor Fleming?

W. S. Van Dyke: seen 4
Victor Fleming: seen 4

I've got more than I expected of both:

9 Van Dyke
7 Fleming

van dyke should work, i've seen 9, and i'm sure some of our classic film watchers will have seen more than me. i'll start that poll now!

I've seen 9 or 10 depending on whether we count Nymphomaniac as a single film or not.

1. Dogville
2. Europa
3. The Five Obstructions
4. Melancholia

lota luvs dat nympho. dunno why he no votes