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Epidemic
Epidemic
	Danish theatrical release poster
Directed by	Lars von Trier
Written by	Lars von Trier; Niels Vørsel
Produced by	Jacob Eriksen
Starring	Lars von Trier; Niels Vørsel
Cinematography	Henning Bendtsen
Edited by	Thomas Kragh
Music by	Peter Bach
Production; companies	Det Danske Filminstitut; Elementfilm A/S
Distributed by	Angel Films
Release dates	May 1987 (Cannes); 11 September 1987;
Running time	106 minutes
Country	Denmark
Languages	Danish; English

Epidemic is a 1987 Danish experimental medical dark comedy-horror film^[2] co-written and directed by Lars von Trier; it is the second installment of Trier's Europa trilogy, following The Element of Crime (1984) and succeeded by Europa (1991).

Co-written by Trier and Niels Vørsel, the film focuses on the screenwriting process. Vørsel and Trier play themselves, coming up with a last-minute script for a producer. The story is inter-cut with scenes from the film they write, in which Trier plays a renegade doctor trying to cure a modern-day epidemic. The film marks the first in a series of collaborations between Trier and Udo Kier.

Plot

In a metafiction version of the film, divided into five days. On the first day of the protagonists, screenwriters Lars and Niels lose the only copy of a film script (Kommisæren Og Luderen, "The Policeman and the Whore", a reference to The Element of Crime). They begin to write a new script about an epidemic: the outbreak of a plague-like disease. Another protagonist is a doctor, Mesmer, who, against the will of the Faculty of Medicine of an unknown city, goes to the countryside to help people. During the next days, the facts of the script join the real-life events in which a similar disease starts to spread. Lars and Niels go to Germany, where they meet a man who describes the Allied bombing of Cologne during the Second World War.

After the trip, Niels goes to a hospital where he undergoes a minor surgical procedure and while there tells Lars to go to see Palle, a pathologist who is performing an autopsy on a man who has recently died of an unknown disease. The last day, Lars and Niels have a dinner with their producer, to whom they reveal the end of the film, that Mesmer and his medical kit have spread the disease. The producer does not like the short twelve-page script, which has no violence, few deaths, and no subplots (which are common in Danish cinema). After that a hypnotist and a woman arrive in the house, to "help" writing the script, but the woman is overpowered by the visions of the script which are becoming real. She commits suicide with a fork, then another woman who shares the house with Lars and Niels dies too, and Niels begins showing the signs of the disease.

Cast

Excluding his portrayal of von Trier as Dr. Mesmer, most of the film's cast portray fictionalized versions of themselves:

Lars von Trier
Niels Vørsel
Allan De Waal
Ole Ernst
Michael Gelting
Colin Gilder
Svend Ali Hamann
Claes Kastholm Hansen
Ib Hansen
Anja Hemmingsen
Kirsten Hemmingsen
Cæcilia Holbek
Gert Holbek
Udo Kier
Jørgen Christian Krüff
Jan Kornum Larsen
Gitte Lind
Leif Magnusson

Reception

The film was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1987 Cannes Film Festival.^[3] It was nominated for Best Film at the Fantasporto International Fantasy Film Festival in 1988.^[4]

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a rating of 25%, based on 8 reviews, with an average rating of 5.4/10.^[5] On Metacritic, the film holds a score of 66 out of 100, based on 4 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".^[6]

Robert K. Elder of the Chicago Tribune gave the film 3 out of 4, and wrote: "Will never be confused with von Trier's great films. But it is an intriguing introduction to his later cinematic obsessions".^[7] The Village Voice called the film "among [Lars von Trier's] better and most revealing movies".^[8] Chicago Reader gave the film 3 out of 5, and wrote: "Aside from the Pirandellian games and some interplay of different film stocks there isn't much going on here, though von Trier rewards the patient with a strange and horrifying climax".^[9]

Home media

In 2023, The Criterion Collection released a 3K restoration of Epidemic as part of the Blu-ray box set, Lars von Trier's Europe Trilogy.^[10]

References

^ Lasagna, Roberto; Lena, Sandra (12 May 2003). Lars von Trier. Gremese Editore. p. 124. ISBN 978-88-7301-543-7. Retrieved 15 October 2010.
^ "Lars von Trier's Europe Trilogy". The Criterion Collection. Retrieved 22 October 2022.
^ "Festival de Cannes: Epidemic". festival-cannes.com. Archived from the original on 23 January 2013. Retrieved 2009-07-21.
^ "1988 Fantasporto: Porto International Film Festival". indiepixfilms.com. Archived from the original on 26 July 2011. Retrieved 22 May 2011.
^ "Epidemic - Rotten Tomatoes". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 14 August 2012.
^ "Epidemic". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 10 October 2014.
^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 21 August 2004. Retrieved 29 January 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
^ Hoberman, J. (11 November 2003). "Film". villagevoice.com. Retrieved 17 May 2023.
^ "Epidemic". 13 February 2004.
^ "Epidemic". The Criterion Collection. Retrieved 14 August 2023.