Why Try to Escape from Which You Know You Can't Escape from? Because You Are a Coward

A young man is haunted by the spirit of an accident victim, who takes the form of a masked figure. Almost wordless, the film unfolds through three intertitles and brief sermon-like passages of speech, drawing on biblical quotations and other sources. One of Lars von Trier’s earliest cinematic experiments.

Duration: 7’
Production year: 1970
Country: DK
Language: DA Subtitles: EN

Upcoming sessions

11:00

São Jorge Cinema

Room 3

Lars von Trier

Born in 1956, Lars von Trier has established himself as the most ambitious and visually distinctive Danish filmmaker on the contemporary scene. He made his feature film debut with The Element of Crime (1984), which earned him international recognition, and solidified his reputation with Europa (1991), Breaking the Waves (1996) and The Idiots (1998). In 1995, he co-founded the Dogme 95 movement, which advocated a more austere and naturalistic approach to filmmaking. His work is characterised by formal experimentation, the subversion of cinematic conventions, and an exploration of the limits of representation. Dancer in the Dark (2000), winner of the Palme d’Or at Cannes, marked one of the most acclaimed moments of his career. Subsequent films such as Dogville (2003), Manderlay (2005), Melancholia (2011), Nymphomaniac: Vol. I and Vol. II (2013), and The House That Jack Built (2018) further confirmed the diversity and radical nature of his trajectory within European and international cinema.