A lot of critical ink gets spilled over Lars von Trier, but when one’s body of work is as button-pushing as his undoubtedly is, a lot of the more nuanced points about method and approach can get lost in the noise. For instance: von Trier, for all his tendencies towards provocation, has always had an excellent ear for music. The Danish filmmaker has scored some truly haunting scenes to baroque and classical tunes over the years: whatever your issues might be with “Melancholia,” the excerpt that opens the film, from Wagner’s “Tristan and Isolde” is beautiful and otherworldly. On a similar note, von Trier is probably the only director I can think of who could play a heavy-hitting Rammstein track over the opening title of one of his movies (“Nymphomaniac”) and somehow pull it off pull it off. Like any good filmmaker, von Trier has a sharp and specific ear, as well as a knack for utilizing beloved musical standards to his own deranged ends.
The director’s production company Zentropa will be partnering with the Danish Broadcasting Corporation later this year to curate a musical night dedicated to von Trier’s filmography and, more specifically, his knack for marrying image and music. Selected excerpts from across von Trier’s filmography will play with a live orchestral accompaniment from the Danish National Symphony Orchestra.
It’s an interesting move for a director like von Trier, who’s arguably known less for his musical choices and more for other aspects of his, shall we say, directorial personality. Still, there’s something to be said for experiencing cinema with the enhancement of a live classical ensemble – Paul Thomas Anderson’s relatively recent Los Angeles screening of his great “Punch-Drunk Love” was staged with a live re-enactment of Jon Brion’s famously disorienting score, plus Joanna Newsom singing Shelley Duvall’s vocals – and this is probably doubly true for von Trier, whose movies so often hinge their pivotal moments on pieces of iconic music.
Check out the trailer for the concert, which will be happening on August 20th and feature music by Wagner, Händel, Vivaldi, and Pergolesi, plus Bjork‘s overture from “Dancer In The Dark,” David Bowie‘s “Life On Mars” from “Breaking The Waves” and more.