According to reviewers, bloggers, and scholars, Lars von Trier’s films, particularly Dancer in the Dark (2000) and Dogville (2003) tend to evoke multiple intense, often contradictory, emotional responses from viewers. The films’ dialectical effects can perhaps be explained by the fact that they broadcast their artifice, which results in a seeming break in the audience’s emotional immersion. The question that this thesis seeks to explore is how the films can simultaneously distance and engage viewers. Generic theories, as well as theories on emotion and film reception, are useful in exposing von Trier’s emotive strategies. In the end, it might be that von Trier endeavours to evoke emotions in viewers while also making us aware of his manipulations in order to suggest that as spectators we must constantly question the film and its creator. More troublingly, he implies that there might be something fundamentally perverse about our desire to watch films.

According to reviewers, bloggers, and scholars, Lars von Trier’s films, particularly Dancer in the Dark (2000) and Dogville (2003) tend to evoke multiple intense, often contradictory, emotional responses from viewers. The films’ dialectical effects can perhaps be explained by the fact that they broadcast their artifice, which results in a seeming break in the audience’s emotional immersion. The question that this thesis seeks to explore is how the films can simultaneously distance and engage viewers. Generic theories, as well as theories on emotion and film reception, are useful in exposing von Trier’s emotive strategies. In the end, it might be that von Trier endeavours to evoke emotions in viewers while also making us aware of his manipulations in order to suggest that as spectators we must constantly question the film and its creator. More troublingly, he implies that there might be something fundamentally perverse about our desire to watch films.

Submitted by Jaqueline Duarte (1157279@mackenzie.br) on 2018-04-27T21:15:44Z No. of bitstreams: 2 FRANSMAR BARREIRA COSTA LIMA.pdf: 3275378 bytes, checksum: db0e4d113869620dd2efeadb7b3f0104 (MD5) license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) / Rejected by Eliana Barboza (eliana.silva1@mackenzie.br), reason: Jaque, o orientador foi trocado com um dos membros da banca. Favor alterar. on 2018-05-02T12:21:09Z (GMT) / Submitted by Jaqueline Duarte (1157279@mackenzie.br) on 2018-05-02T16:09:08Z No. of bitstreams: 2 FRANSMAR BARREIRA COSTA LIMA.pdf: 3275378 bytes, checksum: db0e4d113869620dd2efeadb7b3f0104 (MD5) license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Eliana Barboza (eliana.silva1@mackenzie.br) on 2018-05-02T17:39:15Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 2 FRANSMAR BARREIRA COSTA LIMA.pdf: 3275378 bytes, checksum: db0e4d113869620dd2efeadb7b3f0104 (MD5) license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-05-02T17:39:15Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 FRANSMAR BARREIRA COSTA LIMA.pdf: 3275378 bytes, checksum: db0e4d113869620dd2efeadb7b3f0104 (MD5) license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2018-03-09 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / This essay intends a study of the Danish film-maker's work, Lars von Trier, as a grounding for the "cinema-thougt" that, when incorporated by a reader who assumes the reflexion in the existence, develops significant reviews. We call this reader "inspectador", because he is the initiative of incorporating the "restlessness" of the director and of assuming movie's situations in his subjectivity. The first part of the research analyzes the cinema as philosophy form Lars von Trier ideas, where the "inspectador"'s role is defined, the methodology of indirect communication and the cinema as possibility. This part also discuss the grounding and references that founds the problematic in Lar von Trier's work and how his movies stand out as "cinema-thougt. The second part analyzes the Cinema as philosophy from the "restnessless" of the existent, that is, visits Lars von Trier's production in order to reflect questions that arise in especific moments of his movie: as the Dogma 95 (Idioterne - #2, 1998), and the movies that precinds the correct formulation of the scenario, substituited by a "plan-map", as Dogviller (2003) e Manderlay (2005). / A presente tese investiga a obra do cineasta dinamarquês Lars von Trier como fundamento para o cinema-pensamento que, ao ser apropriado por um leitor que assume a reflexão na existência, desenvolve leituras significativas. Chamamos esse leitor de inspectador, pois é dele a iniciativa de se apropriar das inquietações do diretor e assumir as situações do filme em sua subjetividade. A primeira parte da pesquisa analisa o cinema como filosofia a partir de Lars von Trier, onde se define o papel do inspectador, a metodologia da comunicação indireta e o cinema como possibilidade. Trata também dos fundamentos e referências que embasam a problemática da obra de Lars von Trier e como seus filmes se situam como cinema-pensamento. A segunda parte analisa o Cinema como filosofia a partir das inquietações do existente, ou seja, visita a produção de Lars von Trier para refletir questões que surgem em momentos específicos de sua produção cinematográfica: como o movimento Dogma 95 (Os idiotas - #2, 1998), e os filmes que abstraem a formulação concreta do cenário, substituídos por uma planta-baixa, como Dogville (2003) e Manderlay (2005).

Analisamos, neste trabalho, o filme Anticristo (2009), do cineasta Lars von Trier, tomando como base um viés crítico que contemplasse a relação entre sua construção formal e seus conteúdos implícitos e explícitos. Assim como outras obras do artista, igualmente questionadoras, perturbadoras e políticas, Anticristo mostra-se capaz de apontar dinâmicas histórico-sociais relevantes para a compreensão de seu tempo, além de desnudar diversas características substanciais do pensamento hegemônico, espantosamente naturalizadas. Nesses termos, a tese proposta é a de que o filme reapropria-se de um método estéticopolítico brechtiano com o fim de criar uma contraposição ao modelo dramático que orienta grande parte das produções cinematográficas mainstream. Sendo responsável por sua estruturação mais ampla, essa reapropriação vincula-se à formatação do foco narrativo do filme, associado à personagem masculina e plasmado com várias nuances de obras de Strindberg e de Freud, bem como do Expressionismo. Configura-se, portanto, essencial o exame da inter-relação que Anticristo apresenta entre os planos histórico e social, e os planos do indivíduo e de sua subjetividade, inclusive de sua construção psíquica. A partir dessa análise revelam-se contradições fundamentais da sociedade ocidental, sobretudo no que se refere às questões de gênero, guarnecidas pela inquietante alusão que o filme faz à caça às bruxas. / In this thesis, we analyze the film Antichrist (2009), by Lars von Trier, from a critical perspective that contemplates the relationship between its formal construction and its implicit and explicit content. As with other works by the artist, equally questioning, disturbing and political, Antichrist has shown itself capable of pointing out historical and social dynamics that are relevant to the comprehension of its time; it also lays bare several substantial characteristics of the hegemonic thinking, which are naturalized in an unsettling way. Accordingly, the proposed thesis is that a Brechtian aesthetic-political method is reappropriated by the film, in order to counterpoint the dramatic model that guides much of the mainstream film productions. Being responsible for the broader structuring of Antichrist, this re-appropriation is linked to the design of the films narrative perspective, which is associated to the male character and shaped by various nuances of works by Strindberg and Freud, and also of Expressionism. The examination of the interrelationship between the historical and social level, and the level of the individual and of his subjectivity, including his mental construction, becomes thus essential in Antichrist. From such analysis, fundamental contradictions of Western society can be unveiled, especially the ones regarding gender issues, which are furnished by the uncanny allusion to the Witch Hunt brought up by the film.

Esta pesquisa associa a enunciação fílmica ao âmbito do traumático e da repetição, procedimento que produz variações que constituem uma imagem fundamental. Esta imagem não pode ser configurada materialmente no relato, só vislumbrada através justamente das variações, das repetições com diferenças. A inacessibilidade da imagem fundamental reside justamente em sua pregnância, sua perfeição na articulação de sentidos e de significação na síntese. A imagem fundamental pode, por sua vez, dialogar também com o traumático na instância do enunciado, dos significados que podem ser constituídos e alterados a partir do procedimento de repetição dos acontecimentos no decorrer da narrativa. A pesquisa utiliza o Dogma 95 para estudo: o Dogma #1, \"Festa de Família\", e do Dogma #2 \"Os idiotas\", filme que constitui juntamente \"Ondas do destino\" e \"Dançando no Escuro\", a Trilogia Coração de Ouro, de Lars von Trier. / This research associates the filmic enunciation to the extent of the traumatic and its repetition procedure. The variations produced by repetition constitute a fundamental image that cannot be configured in the narrative. This image can only be glimpsed through its variations, its repetitions with differences. The inaccessibility of the fundamental image rests exactly in its pregnancy, its perfect articulation of senses and its possibility of meaning through synthesis. The fundamental image can also dialog with the traumatic in the instance of the story, of the meanings that can be produced and modified by the repetition of the narrative events. This research uses Dogma 95 films: Dogme #1, \"Celebration\", and Dogme #2 - \"The idiots\" which with \"Breaking the waves\" and \"Dancer in the Dark\" constitute Lars von Trier\'s Heart of Gold Trilogy.

Esta pesquisa associa a enunciação fílmica ao âmbito do traumático e da repetição, procedimento que produz variações que constituem uma imagem fundamental. Esta imagem não pode ser configurada materialmente no relato, só vislumbrada através justamente das variações, das repetições com diferenças. A inacessibilidade da imagem fundamental reside justamente em sua pregnância, sua perfeição na articulação de sentidos e de significação na síntese. A imagem fundamental pode, por sua vez, dialogar também com o traumático na instância do enunciado, dos significados que podem ser constituídos e alterados a partir do procedimento de repetição dos acontecimentos no decorrer da narrativa. A pesquisa utiliza o Dogma 95 para estudo: o Dogma #1, \"Festa de Família\", e do Dogma #2 \"Os idiotas\", filme que constitui juntamente \"Ondas do destino\" e \"Dançando no Escuro\", a Trilogia Coração de Ouro, de Lars von Trier. / This research associates the filmic enunciation to the extent of the traumatic and its repetition procedure. The variations produced by repetition constitute a fundamental image that cannot be configured in the narrative. This image can only be glimpsed through its variations, its repetitions with differences. The inaccessibility of the fundamental image rests exactly in its pregnancy, its perfect articulation of senses and its possibility of meaning through synthesis. The fundamental image can also dialog with the traumatic in the instance of the story, of the meanings that can be produced and modified by the repetition of the narrative events. This research uses Dogma 95 films: Dogme #1, \"Celebration\", and Dogme #2 - \"The idiots\" which with \"Breaking the waves\" and \"Dancer in the Dark\" constitute Lars von Trier\'s Heart of Gold Trilogy.

Analisamos, neste trabalho, o filme Anticristo (2009), do cineasta Lars von Trier, tomando como base um viés crítico que contemplasse a relação entre sua construção formal e seus conteúdos implícitos e explícitos. Assim como outras obras do artista, igualmente questionadoras, perturbadoras e políticas, Anticristo mostra-se capaz de apontar dinâmicas histórico-sociais relevantes para a compreensão de seu tempo, além de desnudar diversas características substanciais do pensamento hegemônico, espantosamente naturalizadas. Nesses termos, a tese proposta é a de que o filme reapropria-se de um método estéticopolítico brechtiano com o fim de criar uma contraposição ao modelo dramático que orienta grande parte das produções cinematográficas mainstream. Sendo responsável por sua estruturação mais ampla, essa reapropriação vincula-se à formatação do foco narrativo do filme, associado à personagem masculina e plasmado com várias nuances de obras de Strindberg e de Freud, bem como do Expressionismo. Configura-se, portanto, essencial o exame da inter-relação que Anticristo apresenta entre os planos histórico e social, e os planos do indivíduo e de sua subjetividade, inclusive de sua construção psíquica. A partir dessa análise revelam-se contradições fundamentais da sociedade ocidental, sobretudo no que se refere às questões de gênero, guarnecidas pela inquietante alusão que o filme faz à caça às bruxas. / In this thesis, we analyze the film Antichrist (2009), by Lars von Trier, from a critical perspective that contemplates the relationship between its formal construction and its implicit and explicit content. As with other works by the artist, equally questioning, disturbing and political, Antichrist has shown itself capable of pointing out historical and social dynamics that are relevant to the comprehension of its time; it also lays bare several substantial characteristics of the hegemonic thinking, which are naturalized in an unsettling way. Accordingly, the proposed thesis is that a Brechtian aesthetic-political method is reappropriated by the film, in order to counterpoint the dramatic model that guides much of the mainstream film productions. Being responsible for the broader structuring of Antichrist, this re-appropriation is linked to the design of the films narrative perspective, which is associated to the male character and shaped by various nuances of works by Strindberg and Freud, and also of Expressionism. The examination of the interrelationship between the historical and social level, and the level of the individual and of his subjectivity, including his mental construction, becomes thus essential in Antichrist. From such analysis, fundamental contradictions of Western society can be unveiled, especially the ones regarding gender issues, which are furnished by the uncanny allusion to the Witch Hunt brought up by the film.

<p>With a hermeneutical method using narratology this thesis is interpreting the auteure Lars von Trier´s discussed movie <em>Antichrist</em>. On one hand within the limits of the hermeneutic Paul Riceours analysis of structure is used to reconstruct the narrative of the film out of the different part of discourses that I have construed in my first reading to find out a deeper comprehension of the relation between the characters and their relations to the different discourses. On the other hand the discourses which extracts out of His and Hers actions and statements are related to the clues that I´ve found out from interviews with von Trier regarding <em>Antichrist</em> where he, among other things, touches upon philosophical work of Friedrich Nietzsche and his own disregard about protestantism and religion. All in all this first phase of interpretation is termed the different horizons which I finally interprete and coalesce with my subjects comprehension on a metadiegetic and meta-metadiegetic level. By this a ”fusion of horizons” in the sense of Hans-Georg Gadamer can take place, which directly leads into the big scene of Relevations. But ”Chaos reigns” in von Triers <em>Antichrist </em>as well as Nietzsches philosophy.</p>

With a hermeneutical method using narratology this thesis is interpreting the auteure Lars von Trier´s discussed movie Antichrist. On one hand within the limits of the hermeneutic Paul Riceours analysis of structure is used to reconstruct the narrative of the film out of the different part of discourses that I have construed in my first reading to find out a deeper comprehension of the relation between the characters and their relations to the different discourses. On the other hand the discourses which extracts out of His and Hers actions and statements are related to the clues that I´ve found out from interviews with von Trier regarding Antichrist where he, among other things, touches upon philosophical work of Friedrich Nietzsche and his own disregard about protestantism and religion. All in all this first phase of interpretation is termed the different horizons which I finally interprete and coalesce with my subjects comprehension on a metadiegetic and meta-metadiegetic level. By this a ”fusion of horizons” in the sense of Hans-Georg Gadamer can take place, which directly leads into the big scene of Relevations. But ”Chaos reigns” in von Triers Antichrist as well as Nietzsches philosophy.

Nymphomaniac represents yet another complex art-movie by director Lars von Trier. The reception amongst film critics is seemingly incoherent about whether the film reproduces misogynist values or if the film could be perceived as feminist.  This thesis aims to explore how Laura Mulvey’s theory of the male gaze still applies and provides tools for examination together with the intersectional approach, to decode and identify patriarchal conventions. As whiteness is inextricably linked to patriarchal structure it is discussed throughout this thesis and in a separate chapter. Hence this thesis suggests an intersectional feminist critical analysis to be the most adequate method to examine this movie and to fully comprehend how different elements of power coexist to suppress women and racialized people within the context of Nymphomaniac.  This thesis concludes that von Trier does not only embrace the male gaze, he also occasionally rejects it.