Epidemic
A jet-black comedy of contagion, a subversive medical-horror freak-out, and a sly metacinematic prank, Lars von Trier’s sophomore feature—born from a bet that he couldn’t make a film for less than $150,000—finds the director channeling his singular thematic obsessions into an evocatively lo-fi, perversely self-reflexive provocation. The filmmaker himself stars as a harried screenwriter whose efforts to complete a script about the outbreak of a deadly disease coincide with a grisly real-life plague. A twisted reflection on Europe’s haunted past—from the Black Death to World War II—and its scarred present, Epidemic is von Trier at his most idiosyncratic and audaciously experimental.
DIRECTOR-APPROVED BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES
- 3K digital restoration, approved by director Lars von Trier, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
- Audio commentary featuring von Trier and screenwriter and actor Niels Vørsel
- From Dreyer to von Trier, a 2005 interview with cinematographer Henning Bendtsen
- Program featuring interviews with Vørsel, film scholar Peter Schepelern, cinematographer Kristoffer Nyholm, actors Udo Kier and Michael Simpson, and film consultant Claes Kastholm Hansen
- Danish television interview with von Trier from 1991
- Trailer
- New English subtitle translation and English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
Available In
Collector's Set
DIRECTOR-APPROVED BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES
- 3K digital restoration, approved by director Lars von Trier, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
- Audio commentary featuring von Trier and screenwriter and actor Niels Vørsel
- From Dreyer to von Trier, a 2005 interview with cinematographer Henning Bendtsen
- Program featuring interviews with Vørsel, film scholar Peter Schepelern, cinematographer Kristoffer Nyholm, actors Udo Kier and Michael Simpson, and film consultant Claes Kastholm Hansen
- Danish television interview with von Trier from 1991
- Trailer
- New English subtitle translation and English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
Cast
- Lars von Trier
- Lars/Dr. Mesmer
- Niels Vørsel
- Niels
- Claes Kastholm Hansen
- Claes
- Susanne Ottesen
- Susanne
- Jørgen Christian Krüff
- Sommelier
- Cæcilia Holbek
- Nurse
- Leif Magnusson
- Doctor
- Olaf Ussing
- Doctor
- Ole Ernst
- Doctor
- Udo Kier
- Udo
- Michael Simpson
- Cabdriver/Priest
- Svend Ali Hamann
- Hypnotist
- Gitte Lind
- Hypnotist’s assistant
Credits
- Director
- Lars von Trier
- Producer
- Jacob Eriksen
- Screenplay by
- Lars von Trier
- Screenplay by
- Niels Vørsel
- Director of photography
- Henning Bendtsen
- Camera assistant
- Jesper Find
- 16 mm camera operator
- Kristoffer Nyholm
- 16 mm camera operator
- Lars von Trier
- 16 mm camera operator
- Niels Vørsel
- 16 mm camera operator
- Cæcilia Holbek
- 16 mm camera operator
- Susanne Ottesen
- Key grip and gaffer
- Leif Barney Fick
- Key grip and gaffer
- Søren Danielsen
- Assistant lighting technician
- Thomas Gammeltoft
- Prop master
- Peter Grant
- Wardrobe
- Manon Rasmussen
- Production manager
- Per Årman
- Editor
- Lars von Trier
- Editor
- Thomas Krag
- Music
- Peter Bach
- Sound
- Peter Englesson
- Sound
- Thomas Krag
- Sound
- Niels Vørsel
- Makeup
- Søren Hedegaard
- Makeup
- Bibbi Bergholdt
- Special effects
- Søren Gam Henriksen
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Trailer for Epidemic
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