Lars Von Trier Quotes

Perhaps the only difference between me and other people is that I’ve always demanded more from the sunset. More spectacular colors when the sun hit the horizon. That’s perhaps my only sin.

Nature is Satan's church.

True values entail suffering. That’s the way we think. All in all, we tend to view melancholia as more true. We prefer music and art to contain a touch of melancholia. So melancholia in itself is a value. Unhappy and unrequited love is more romantic than happy love. For we don’t think that’s completely real, do we?…Longing is true. It may be that there’s no truth at all to long for, but the longing itself is true. Just like pain is true. We feel it inside. It’s part of our reality.

I believe...that to be very poor and very beautiful is most probably a moral failure more than an artistic success. Shakespeare would have done well in any generation because he would have refused to die in a corner; he would have taken the false gods and made them over; he would have taken the current formulae and forced them into something lesser men thought them incapable of. Alive today he would undoubtedly have written and directed motion pictures, plays, and God knows what. Instead of saying, "This medium is not good," he would have used it and made it good. If some people called some his work cheap (which some of it was), he wouldn't have cared a rap, because he would know that without some vulgarity there is no complete man. He would have hated refinement, as such, because it is always a withdrawal, and he was too tough to shrink from anything.

Meine Frau gehört zu den wenigen Dingen des Lebens, vor denen ich mich nicht fürchte.

You can't do much in this world without hurting someone else. Every time you take a breath it's to the disadvantage of someone or something. And then you have to decide how and in which way you will hurt others. And I find it quite agreeable trying not to hurt anyone, but I have made this decision about the fish. It's a pity about them, but also, if I pull up a fish, then it makes space for another fish who will be so happy to get more space. And he will become a very happy little fish. You can rationalize it in a number of different ways—maybe the fish I pull up is depressed and wants to end his life, but he hasn't really been able to do it. It's not easy if you're a fish. I wouldn't know what a big salmon who's really tired of it all would do.

Every word removed from the language is another brick removed from the wall of democracy.

And I understood that everything that used to be beautiful about Eden was perhaps hideous.

There is probably something good in every religion, the important thing is how you practice it. And this is when I found out that the most beautiful thing is to be able to live with a religion. Not just by displaying it and going to church and all, but by really being able to live some of these thoughts in your everyday life. This is a good thought. My problem right now is—and I just went to a Catholic service in connection with my daughter's something-or-another—and I got so damn annoyed by the fact that every text was about humility in relation to God. That's annoying, and I keep on being annoyed by it. Granted, the texts were written by people and not by God, but it's still so annoying. I don't see the meaning of you being humble just because you've been created by God and He has created all this. You can be humble toward life and toward other human beings and toward creativity and everything—and you are—but being humble toward the man who has created the whole circus? Of course, but you shouldn't have to prostrate yourself, and you do that in many religions—you crawl in the dust before these gods. Why? I can see why some king down here on earth might enjoy seeing people crawling before him, but if this guy is that great, then he shouldn't care whether I bow down before him or whether I play around with my dick at night—he shouldn't care a bit about anything like that. As long as I don't do anything that will harm his creation, as long as I don't kill, say, too many fish—well, he's OK with fish, they eat them in the Bible. But this thing about throwing yourself on the floor and exclaiming, "You're so great! You're so great!"—that's completely illogical. If you believe in him, then he's the greatest anyhow. You look at a tiny leaf and you'll get humble—everyone will—even some stupid redneck in an ugly car. You really have to be stupid not to be able to appreciate a thing like that—a little leaf is like looking into eternity. It's totally amazing! And you don't have to stand around in church every day proclaiming that you're a little sinner and worth nothing and he is everything. That's annoying. Sorry, I must have made my point by now.

Grace paused. And while she did, the clouds scattered and let the moonlight through, and Dogville underwent another of those little changes of light. lt was as if the light, previously so merciful and faint, finally refused to cover up for the town any longer. Suddenly you could no longer imagine a berry that would appear one day on a gooseberry bush, but only see the thorn that was there right now. The light now penetrated every unevenness and flaw in the buildings... and in... the people! And all of a sudden she knew the answer to her question all too well. lf she had acted like them she could not have defended a single one of her actions and could not have condemned them harshly enough. lt was as if her sorrow and pain had finally assumed their rightful place. No. What they had done was not good enough. And if one had the power to put it to rights, it was one's duty to do so. For the sake of the other towns. For the sake of humanity. And not least for the sake of the human being that was Grace herself.

- Naprawdę jestem wzruszony... - Potrząsa głową. - Samym faktem, że wszystko się udało. - Waha się chwilę, po czym jego głos wraca do typowej, kapryśnej tonacji: - Tylko ja jestem głupi i świrnięty.

Kiedy festiwal w Cannes przeżywa mniej udany rok, Trier staje się nagle bardzo pożądany, a kiedy ktoś chce opisać coś, co jest inne i oryginalne, ale odznacza się wyjątkową jakością - jak choćby ww wypadku szefa kuchni kopenhaskiej restauracji Noma - zwykle jako punkt odniesienia używa się właśnie Triera. Coś może być po prostu vontrierowskie. W tym znaczeniu zaakceptowaliśmy Triera, ale nie pokochaliśmy go. Może dlatego, że dla wielu Duńczyków Lars von Trier jest dzisiaj tym, kim Hans Christian Andersen był dla dziewiętnastowiecznego mieszczaństwa: łatwo było go podziwiać, lecz trudno polubić. Rodak, o którym z dumą mówi się na świecie, chociaż nie bardzo wiadomo, co tak naprawdę o nim myśleć.

Nie zrozumiesz, jak to jest być... - śmieje się - ...jak to jest być alkoholikiem.

W swoich późniejszych filmach reżyser zmienia taktykę i przechodzi z jednej prowokacji w drugą. Siłą napędową staje się przekonanie, że jeśli coś jest zakazane, trzeba ten zakaz naruszyć. - Takie samo zachowanie można zaobserwować u dzieci, które broją, żeby zasłużyć na naganę. Znacznie trudniej jest zrobić coś dobrego i próbować zwrócić na to uwagę otoczenia - mówi Peder Grøngaard. - Uważasz, że Lars von Trier się nie obnaża, ale ukrywa za ironią i prowokacją? - Tak. Kiedy dziecko zachowuje się niegrzecznie, wie doskonale, że rodzice będą się gniewać. Wtedy skarcenie tak bardzo nie boli. Lars von Trier powiedział nawet, że ma nadzieję, że ludzie zaczną go nienawidzić za jego filmy.

Kiedy spotykają się z moją rodziną, to na pytanie: "Jak smakuje?", słychać odpowiedź... - w tym momencie Lars von Trier chichocze i zmienia ton głosu na przedrzeźniający: - "Hm... nie znam tego dania, ale mogę sobie wyobrazić, że byłoby lepsze, gdyby..." W mojej rodzinie wszystko zaczyna się od "nie": najlepiej byłoby bowiem, gdyby rozmowa przerodziła się w jakąś dyskusję. Mówiąc "tak", powoduje się, że dalsza rozmowa nie ma już żadnego sensu.

My films are about ideals that clash with the world. Every time it’s a man in the lead, they have forgotten about the ideals. And every time it’s a woman in the lead, they take the ideals all the way.

Lars von Trier zaczął interesować się sztuką po tym, jak w wieku czternastu, piętnastu lat obejrzał w telewizji film o Edvardzie Munchu. - Fantastyczny film - mówi. - W dwóch częściach. To on otworzył przed nim świat malarstwa. Lars był oczarowawany nie tylko samymi obrazami, ale w równym stopniu też artystami. Zwłaszcza tymi najbardziej niemożliwymi. - Mam bardzo romantyczne wyobrażenie o artystach. Najlepiej jeśli są bliscy obłędu, wtedy jest najzabawniej. Całe to szaleństwo i depresja Mucha. Fantastyczne! - szepcze. - Depresje zawsze były dobrym materiałem. I melancholia, jak wtedy, kiedy Munch malował tę chorą dziewczynę z wampirem, która siedzi i go całuje. Madonna otoczona plemnikami. Tam to się dopiero działo.

Z wiekiem człowiek przestaje się aż tak bardzo obawiać się zniszczenia Ziemi, a wręcz zaczyna myśleć: dostać takim meteorem w głowę byłoby aktem miłosierdzia.

When I was little, I had a children’s book called ‘Guldhjerte’ [Goldheart], which I had very clear and happy memories of. It was a picture book about a little girl who goes into the forest with some slices of bread and other stuff in her pockets. But at the end of the book, when she’s gotten through the forest, she’s standing there naked and with nothing left. And the last line in the book was: ‘But at least I’m okay,’ said Goldheart. I read the book several times, in spite of the fact that my father thought it was absolute rubbish. The story of 'Breaking The Waves’ probably comes from that.

We elevate those who say right but mean wrong, and mock those who say wrong but mean right.

- Oglądałem kiedyś film o młodym van Goghu - mówi i spogląda na mnie poważnie. Okropność! - śmieje się. - A jednak zrobił kilka rzeczy, które do nie przemawiają. W domu mieliśmy reprodukcję tego jego cholernego krzesła. Ono było niesamowicie prawdziwe!