Return to the terrifying hospital of Lars von Trier

Lars von Trier says that the noise sounded more or less like this: “Fup!”.

In the darkness of the room, it was heard once.

Then another.

And little by little, as the screening progressed, the effect multiplied.

“Fup, fup, fup”, reproduces the Danish filmmaker.

, was premiering at the Cannes festival

.

But the director also perfectly remembers how quickly the seats in that cinema shot up.

Every time someone left in the middle of the film, it was impossible not to hear them.

“It became a symphony.

But even then I thought it was a good thing.

If you don't get into the movie, better go away”, adds the author.

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Lars von Trier announces that he has Parkinson's

Extreme since his debut, but consistent.

Because, during 40 years of career, Von Trier has not stopped generating the same reaction.

There have been successes and failures, awards and insults.

his last film, divided again: seats that vibrated with exaltation, while others were left empty.

Some can't stand his works, despise them or call them gratuitous provocations.

Others, on the other hand, have elevated him to the category of genius, even messiah.

Back in 1999

offered a headline that has not lost its validity: "A joke or the most brilliant filmmaker in Europe?".

At this point, each front has it very clear.

Hence, the adorers rub their hands before the director's return to one of his most beloved creations: after

launched in 1994 and become a cult series, and its 1997 sequel, the creator has filmed a third installment,

, available on Filmin.

Three decades ago, Von Trier (Copenhagen, 66 years old) introduced his camera to a sinister hospital, populated by ghosts, strange creatures and massive doses of terror, surrealism and black humor.

And now, for his return, he starts precisely from the closure of that story.

Specifically, to ridicule him.

“How can they sell this shit halfway?

And what a fine ending”, affirms the elderly protagonist, Karen, after viewing the epilogue of the original work on television.

At the Venice festival, where

premiered last September —and this talk with the author was held—, this sequence was enough to unleash the first applause.

Only 20 seconds had passed.

But, throughout the six episodes, fans will find many more reasons, old and new, to reinforce their love affair with Von Trier.

The public, in general, will also be happy to know that the filmmaker is “well”.

After publicly announcing that he suffers from Parkinson's, in September he clarified: “I shake a little, I have to get used to it.

But I'm much better than when we filmed.

I'm afraid that at some point you're going to have to suffer another film of mine”.

It was addressed, in fact, to all viewers.

But four journalists were listening to him in a meeting that, on the other hand, seemed to evoke one of his films: in a narrow room, he had to squeeze to fit in front of the small screen of a laptop.

There was Von Trier, on video conference, available for 10 minutes and literally four questions.

Plus one bonus,

when time ran out.

So, he only gave time to know that he has a great time writing about the universe of

that he chose a hospital, among other reasons, because they usually have a quality: "You don't know where you are all the time";

that fans bombarded him for years asking for another sequel;

and, above all, that Von Trier was afraid of betraying himself with

“I was very scared that he would make a movie for all the fans.

I've seen Bergman's

, I've seen everything he's done, including the commercials.

And at one point I see a man who is selling all his good ideas through

, a pity.

There are many famous directors with a very big house and the only way to pay for it, when their production rate is reduced, is to look for more commercial films”.

Needless to say, he opts for other paths.

Even his haters will admit that Von Trier isn't afraid of risk.

His

is the first film in history shot entirely on digital;

he has constantly sought to change and not stagnate.

And the Dogme 95 movement, which he promoted, calls for a cinema that is cleansed of the alleged modern filth: camera in hand, no artificial light and even dispensing with the name of the director.

But, in addition to his talent, his fame owes a lot to scandals.

In his films there are real penetrations, mutilations, explicit violence, murders.

earned him fierce accusations of humiliating people with disabilities.

He was declared persona non grata at the Cannes festival for years because, during the promotion of

, he said: "I understand Hitler."

And more generally, you never quite know if he's taking something seriously or just looking to laugh about it.

It is difficult to understand, for example, where his announced project of exposing diamonds inspired by each of his films is going.

Or to what extent he was joking when he defined himself as "the best filmmaker in the world".

He himself has spoken on several occasions about his addiction to alcohol, his frequent anxiety and obsession, his fleeting admission to a psychiatric hospital or when, right on his deathbed, his mother confessed to him that his biological father was not the one he wanted. young Lars had always believed.

He tells himself that his family was relentlessly atheistic and communist, which is why faith played such an important role in his creations.

At the same time, however, von Trier has also hinted that perhaps the entire biography of him is fiction.

In the end, behind so much noise, his work remains.

And, now,

.

The specialized website Imdb attributes a phrase to Von Trier that sums up his career: "In life, basically, everything scares me except filming."

When he gets behind the camera, it's just the other way around: others are afraid.

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