Terminally ill Lars von Trier has begun work on a new film for the first time since 2018.
Photo: GLOBAL LOOK PRESS.
One of the world’s greatest directors, brilliant, but misunderstood by most, Lars von Trier (“Dogville,” “Antichrist,” “Melancholia,” “Nymphomaniac”) in 2022 shocked everyone with sad news: he was diagnosed with a dangerous disease that caused the brain to rapidly deteriorate – Parkinson’s disease. It would seem that for a master working with audiovisual content this is a death sentence. But no. Lars, who suffered from alcoholism, literally took his head in his hands and began treatment. Relatives noted that everything was going quite well.
In the fall of 2022, the third season of the Kingdom series, titled Exodus, which Trier filmed in the 1990s, will be released. The project was shown at the Venice Film Festival and stylistically turned out to be very close to the aesthetics of David Lynch’s Twin Peaks. Trier decided to return to the medical saga alongside those who starred with him 30 years ago: Gita Nerby, Peter Mugind, Søren Pilmark and Udo Kier. The mega-famous Lars Mikkelsen (“Sherlock”, “House of Cards”, “The Witcher”) will also appear in the project.
Photo: frame from the video.
And then he announced that he was taking a break for health reasons. And finally, some good news: the maestro is back in business. Admittedly, he himself is hiding it. Another Scandinavian let it slip: the Swede Stellan Skarsgård, star of “Dune 2” and half of Trier’s films (“Dogville,” “Melancholia,” “Nymphomaniac”).
Photo: frame from the video.
“Now that he is undergoing treatment, he is improving every day,” said the actor. – So much so that he is already working on a new film.
It is still unknown what kind of project Trier is preparing, who he will choose for the main roles and what resonant subject he will once again raise. There are only hints that filming could begin this year.
Overall, Lars said that he lived with this diagnosis for quite a long time, he just didn’t express it so as not to scare the public.
“I’ll take a short break to decide what to do next,” he said. “I hope, of course, that my condition will improve.” This is a disease you won’t be able to get rid of, but you can work with the symptoms.
