Table of contents Introduction 3 Mission 4 Method 4 Theory 5
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Ironic distanceThe subject of irony is a central theme in Epidemic and is projected throughout the film as we follow the creation of a manuscript being developed. The use of irony is an aspect the viewer is subjected to from the beginning of the movie or to be more exact the irony appears in the second scene of Epidemic. After Niels calls Lars to tell him that he has problems printing out their script, Lars decides to come to Niels’ apartment. Lars enters a taxicab and tells the driver he needs to go to Store Kongensgade. The taxidriver looks at him and nods, starts the taximeter and puts the car in gear. As he puts his foot on the gas pedal, the car starts going backwards. He tries again and the same thing happens. As he keeps trying to get it in first gear, Lars and the taxi driver look at each other and suddenly the cab driver burst out laughing. Lars responds; “Hvis du fortsætter på den måde, så skylder du mig penge…om lidt.”43 The driver nods and tries again, but he cannot stop laughing so Lars exits the car and the scene ends. At this point we, the audience, are confused because how are we supposed to interpret this particular scene. The episode does not seem to promote the story or plot in any way and as such the scene becomes ironic, which is expressed on different levels. On the surface it is ironic that Lars meets a taxi driver who does not know how to drive, but underneath the obvious, the irony emerges through its distancing with the audience. This is seen through the actors’ less than professional performance in the scene, which to the viewer looks like an outtake – this is also further supported by the actor who plays the cab driver, Michael Simpson, who explains that Trier did not give him any instruction when shooting the episode and that he in fact could not find the first gear, which made him laugh. Because of this, the film demonstrates once again its metafictive demeanor for the reason that it shows the audience its position as fiction. Epidemic is filled with scenes like the one mentioned above and the ironic distancing becomes noticeable throughout the film. There are several episodes where the audience is constantly subjected to seemingly pointless conversations and meaningless actions. We follow a conversation where the two writers discuss with a friend on which wine to serve at their dinner with the film consultant which does not claim any attachment to the story of the film. We hear about audio tapes of Niels’ pen pals in Atlantic City that was an experiment where Niels was trying to write a novel, which again has nothing to do with the main story of Epidemic. In these scenes, the irony is displayed through the distance Trier creates between the narrative and himself. Rules and commitmentThere are circumstances that ensure our commitment to a character and these are met if the character lives up to our person schemata44 - our perception of what constitutes a well balanced person with human characteristics. When we have established that we are dealing with such a character, then we are faced with two possibilities. The first possibility is to express empathy towards the person which entails an immediate and condition-less reaction to a character’s emotions. This can be seen when we are introduced to a person, who we do not necessarily know anything about, be subjected to pain or when we react to a characters expressed emotion of grief or joy. The second possibility is sympathy, where the viewer is urged to find interest in the character and its motivations, beliefs and moral codes, which can be described as alignment. If a person acts in an unacceptable way, we will presumably not identify with him/her. However if we at the same time obtain knowledge of his/her thoughts and motivations, it can create what is called allegiance.45 To sum up, alignment is the method a movie’s plot chooses to present the fictional characters, which provides us with the preconditions to decide if we experience allegiance with them. Allegiance is then the conscious choice the viewer makes in light of the plot, whether we can connect with a character’s morale and motives.46 The commitment to a character is therefore an easy way to ensure interest in a film and as such it is often practiced in mainstream movies. Again, this is one of the aspects Trier criticizes and this is portrayed by the lack of interest and commitment that the audience has with the characters in Epidemic, where the film’s alignment does not create any allegiance between the audience and Lars and Niels. This aspect is the direct opposite of what characterizes a mainstream film, which is also pointed out by Rose/Christiansen, Hollywood-fortællingen er karakterbåren, og derfor er det netop karakterernes udvikling og målrettethed, som styrer og skaber fortællingens fremdrift.47 However, the episodes mentioned do seem to be validated in one respect when analyzing the film and that is the motto, Lars states in the scene regarding the discussion of a movie’s dramaturgy. At one point in this scene, Lars says, “En film bør være som en sten I skoen.”48 and this is in reality quite true about Epidemic, which is confirmed by the scenes mentioned above. Furthermore, by Trier’s own admission he notes that the audience would be so bored that they would walk out of the theater which makes these scenes deliberate and necessary. This aspect also becomes a central part of Trier’s position as a Postironist when applying Andersen’s theory on the Postironical. The ironic narrative structure of Epidemic is Trier’s comments and criticism of mainstream film culture, which he is clearly against. This aspect is supported when taking the structure of typical mainstream film into account. As mentioned earlier, according to Rose/Christiansen, the traditional Hollywood or mainstream movie often follows a certain set of narrative and stylistic structures and as such appeals broadly to the general public. They note a common characteristic which mainstream films seem to practice – that they appeal to the most basic emotions in people; to love and hate, to win and lose, to laugh and cry, which are emotions we all recognize and therefore cannot help but commit to.49 Conversely, Epidemic does not appeal to any of these basic emotions and in fact tries to avoid them as much as possible. Furthermore, according to Ross/Christiansen mainstream films often contain a high degree of redundans50 (redundancy) to ensure that the audience can follow the action. If it is important that a character should be perceived as evil, this can be made clear to the audience by making him kick a dog or violent to children. In Epidemic there is a clear lack of redundancy and we in fact do not know how to perceive the characters because at one point they seem sincere and at another they are being ironic. Not knowing how to react to the characters is also an aspect Rose/Christiansen comments on concerning the audience’s commitment to the characters. In the mainstream film the viewer does not necessarily need to experience the same feeling as the character does, but the audience should, however, be able to emotionally invest in the character. In addition, the criticism of the mainstream film by Trier leaves the question on how to categorize Epidemic as film genre. According to Rose/Christiansen the narrative structure that characterizes classic film genres is disrupted in other forms of fiction films. Where the mainstream film is often characterized by a goal-oriented hero, an art film is done so by another set of values. Art film can be seen as the common term to describe modern European and American independent films and these are often experimental fiction movies. The essential aspect in these films is not so much the story but rather the correlation between the style and the themes that the story’s unsolvable problems introduce. The problems in art film are often existential and therefore needs unusual solution strategies and we as audience are not presented with a solution to the problems art films create which often ends with an open interpretation. On the basis of this, Epidemic falls into the category of an art film. |