Epidemic

[hedwig]

semi-spoilerish, kinda-sorta

epidemic is lars von trier's black and white film from the year 1987, the second in his europa trilogy, after Element of Crime and before Europa.

i know 03 was a fan of this. does anyone else like it? or hate it? or anything?

also, does anyone know why (or hav any theories on why) they put that red logo on the screen? i listened to the director's commentary on the part when it first appears and all von trier says is that they had to pay a lot of money for it.

i've only watched it once, i'd like to see it again. it's pretty amazing. as of now i can't say i liked it as much as Dogville or Dancer, but i still loved it. especially the last scene.. i'll post more thoughts on this later.

[w/o horse]

This is going to get redirected but let's talk about it until then.

The red logo:  To further blur the line between the story and the real-life parts?  It comes up once they start typing.

Epidemic is interesting to watch.  It was an unusual choice for a follow up to The Element of Crime, a movie which has it beat visually in every which way.  A provocative idea that makes for a brooding film and a concept I would like to see done better.

The ending is spastic and somewhat perfect.  Lars in the closet is a lasting image.

[hedwig]

This is going to get redirected

no its not.

The red logo:  To further blur the line between the story and the real-life parts?  It comes up once they start typing.

do you really feel it added anything to the reality/fiction line-blurrage? i don't, hence my confusion over its presence. i just did a google search and everyone who comments on the red logo says something like, "i don't know why it was there," and then adds that it was incredibly distracting.

i got used to it, but what's it there for!? i guess we'll never know. 

an observation, not necessarily a criticism: in epidemic, it occasionally seems like von trier is experimenting to learn more about the filmmaking process, and not doing much else. for example, although it could be argued that the scene where they discuss neils' pen-pals in atlantic city serves as a moment of safe haven and pause before the disturbing spastic final scene, it could also be argued that the scene is essentially needless and completely unconnected to the rest of the movie. in fact, von trier himself says that in the audio-commentary.

another note on the final scene: it was the real thing.. the hypnosis depicted in that scene was really occurring as it was being filmed. the woman did not know about the storyline of 'epidemic,' and the lines relating to 'epidemic' were dubbed in post. i read this in the faber&faber book on von trier. i think capturing a real hypnosis on film for a movie that draws connections between cinema and hypnosis is a fascinating concept.

[SoNowThen]

I dunno why, but the part with the little girl talking, and Lars and the other guy listening and laughing... there's something amazing about that scene...

[grand theft sparrow]

does anyone know why (or hav any theories on why) they put that red logo on the screen?

I think it's supposed to be a constant reminder that there is a "real" epidemic happening that we are not seeing... until the end, that is. 

It's like Hitchcock's theory that, if the audience knows ahead of time that something bad is going to happen, it increases the audience's tension in the scene.  He used the example of two people talking in a room and suddenly a bomb goes off, which gives the audience a jolt that lasts about 10 seconds.  But if you show the bomb in the room before the people even get in there and start talking, then the entire scene has an incredible amount of tension.

Pretty much all of Epidemic is based around this principle.  I don't know if it was necessary or not, as the narration was sufficient, but it did serve that purpose for me a couple of times.  I'd get caught up in the film itself, in the process of them writing the story, and then I'd look in the upper left hand corner and it's "Oh, shit, that's right.  When is the plague going to hit?" 

But something that I didn't get was the film within the film where the black priest, after talking about the city burning, says, "All a nigger needs are loose shoes, tight pussies, and a warm place to shit."  I didn't quite understand what Lars was trying to get at with that.

And that closing song, man... I listened to it twice.  I laughed at the camp value the first time but the second time, I noticed that very faintly, you can hear the woman screaming in the background.  Creepy.