This electronic thesis or dissertation has been downloaded from the King’s Research Portal at https://kclpure.kcl.ac.uk/portal/ Lars von Trier and the prophetic voice a comparative analysis of Lars von Trier and the old testament prophet Ezekiel Ver Straten-Mc Sparran, Rebecca Awarding institution: King's College London The copyright of this thesis rests with the author and no quotation from it or information derived from it may be published without proper acknowledgement. END USER LICENCE AGREEMENT Unless another licence is stated on the immediately following page this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International licence. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ You are free to copy, distribute and transmit the work Under the following conditions: Attribution: You must attribute the work in the manner specified by the author (but not in any way that suggests that they endorse you or your use of the work). Non Commercial: You may not use this work for commercial purposes. No Derivative Works - You may not alter, transform, or build upon this work. Any of these conditions can be waived if you receive permission from the author. Your fair dealings and other rights are in no way affected by the above. Take down policy If you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact [email protected] providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim. Download date: 11. Oct. 2021 1 Lars von Trier and the Prophetic Voice: A Comparative Analysis of Lars von Trier and the Old Testament Prophet Ezekiel Rebecca Ver Straten-McSparran Doctor of Philosophy in Theology and Religious Studies Research King’s College London April 1, 2019 2 ABSTRACT The films of Lars von Trier are consistently described as excessive, categorized as extreme cinema. Dense, dark, but rarely titillating, they enhance conflict and impact by simultaneously folding together multiple layers of excess both stylistic and visceral within complex narrative frameworks, all of which lack clear narrative resolution but culminate in death. Von Trier’s films induce trauma, and emotional rupture rarely paralleled in cinema yet challenge audiences to respond to cinema in new ways. Although often noted, the film’s spiritual, religious nuances rarely have extended analysis beyond Breaking the Waves (1996) and Dogville (2003). I will argue that the spiritual, biblical content of the films holds a key to making sense of von Trier’s oeuvre of excess. In this perspective, the excess is subsumed under spiritual conflict—beyond a human to human struggle—which acts as a centrifugal force, exploding outward. Thus, spiritual conflict is the mechanism that unpacks the films’ notorious excess. Von Trier's films, in my view, truthfully and prophetically expose the complicity of the spectator in personal and structural evil, forcing self-examination related to the films' theological themes. As such, von Trier’s films and concerns may be considered analogous to the extreme, transgressive prophetic voice of the Hebrew prophet Ezekiel, understood in light of insights drawn from his prophecy and its form of delivery. I will explore the prophetic voice in von Trier's films by juxtaposing them with Ezekiel's prophecy through Paul Ricoeur’s hermeneutics and Ben Quash’s theological aesthetics. Ezekiel and von Trier both have a reputation as destabilizing critics of their cultures, von Trier as the provocateur of extreme cinema, and Ezekiel as the outrageous prophet who acts and verbalizes the unspeakable in God's name. The focus of this thesis however, is not von Trier’s status as an artist-prophet, but a prophetic voice 3 that issues forth in the films, juxtaposed not with Ezekiel the prophet, but Ezekiel’s prophecy and prophetic acts. There is not sufficient evidence to validate von Trier as artist-prophet, and the layers of history and redaction limit our knowledge of the person Ezekiel. 4 Acknowledgements Many thanks to my advisor Ben Quash, whose critical insight, theological and aesthetic knowledge, kindness, and sensitivity to my quandaries has made all of the difference. While he did not promote his book, Found Theology: History, Imagination, and the Holy Spirit to me, it became critical and integral to the thesis. Thank you also to my early second supervisor, Catherine Wheatley, who guided me through current film studies conversations and sources, and gave excellent notes. This thesis is made better by the challenging questions and positive spirit of my examiner Hugh Pyper, and by my examiner Joe Kickasola, whose combination of rigor and reservations about Lars von Trier, particularly as a sincere prophetic voice, generated wonderful arguments and better thinking. I’m glad the thesis changed your mind about von Trier! Thank you, my circle of beloved and powerful prayer partners, Anne Baumgartner, Beatrice Blanc, Thomas Bush, Bobette Buster, Karen Covell, Diane Cox, Melissa Croteau (deep gratitude for your hours of analysis, editing, and listening), Jacqueline Tipton, and my lovely mother, Jacqueline Ver Straten. Your constant love and encouragement in my darkest moments is nothing less than astonishing. I am deeply grateful for yet another tier of beloved soul friends and mentors who have extended great care and grace in helping me to complete this herculean task: Rebecca Duncan, my celestial cheerleader, Dr. Ken Bussema, my past boss who initiated and supported this process, Dr. Rich Gathro, an earlier boss who has become my mentor in the wings, and my beautiful sisters, Debby Anderson, Catherine McHenry, and Cindie Boatwright. A very special thanks goes out to Steve Turner, whose book, imagine. a vision for Christians in the arts, generated my fascination with the artist as prophet. My children, Nolan, Jacqueline, and Simone, their beloved spouses, and my little 5 grandchildren have provided both the greatest distraction and greatest delight. My deepest gratitude goes to my lovely husband and dearest friend, Dave McSparran aka David Raven, who brings music into our lives, loves to cook for me, and above all, knows how to love me. 6 Contents Abstract 2 Acknowledgements 4 Introduction 7 Chapter 1 Context: Prophets and Prophecy, Ezekiel, and the Artist-Prophet 37 Chapter 2 The Aesthetics of Prophecy: The Narrative Structure and Prophetic Themes of Ezekiel in the Film Narratives of Lars von Trier 117 Chapter 3 The Aesthetics of Image and Sound: Embodying the Prophetic Voice 171 Chapter 4 Antichrist: Paradise Lost and our Capacity for Evil 243 Conclusion 305 Appendix 1 Filmography 311 Appendix 2 Review of Non-Theological Critical Scholarship 320 Appendix 3 A Brief History of Critical Biblical Scholarship and the Phenomenon of Prophets in Ancient Cultures 325 Bibliography 328 7 Introduction The films of Lars von Trier are consistently described as excessive, and more recently have been categorized as extreme cinema.1 Dense with metaphor and myth, they deconstruct their characters, themes, and symbols, while simultaneously constructing complex, layered worlds of beauty, depth, and violence. They enhance conflict and impact by pressing to extremes every aspect of form and narrative. Critics proclaim their disgust. Spectators fainted during screening of Antichrist (2010).2 The House that Jack Built (2018) induced mass walk outs.3 Although at times the excess in von Trier’s films’ is sexual or violent, this is not always the case. They are dark but rarely titillating. Scholars describe the films’ layers of excess in a variety of ways, describing their impact on the spectator in excessive terms: trauma, expressions of the Lacanian Real, the postmodern sublime, misogyny, sadomasochism, and so forth. Response to von Trier’s films goes beyond the stylistic excesses described by Kristin Thompson’s work on cinematic excess,4 and the body genre excesses described by Linda Williams.5 By simultaneously folding together multiples of excess, both stylistic and visceral, within complex narrative frameworks, all of which culminate in death and lack clear narrative resolution, von Trier’s films effect a trauma and emotional rupture rarely paralleled in cinema. However the impact on the spectator is described, their emotional rupture has been identified as a 1 Mattias Frey, Extreme Cinema: The Transgressive Rhetoric of Today’s Art Film Culture (Rutgers University Press, 2016), 1. 2 “‘Anti-Prize’ for Lars von Trier’s ‘Misogynist’ Movie,” France 24, May 24, 2009, https://www.france24.com/en/20090524-lars-von-trier-antichrist-misogynist-movie-prize-cannes-film-festival- ecumenical-jury. 3 Gwilym Mumford, “‘Vomitive. Pathetic’: Lars von Trier Film Prompts Mass WalKouts at Cannes,” The Guardian, May 15, 2018, sec. Film, https://www.theguardian.com/film/2018/may/15/vomitive-pathetic-lars-von-trier-film- prompts-mass-walkouts-at-cannes. 4 Kristin Thompson, “The Concept of Cinematic Excess,” Leo Braudy and Marshall Cohen, eds., Film Theory and Criticism: Introductory Readings, 6th edition (New YorK: Oxford University Press, 2004), 513–24. 5 Linda Williams, “Film Bodies: Gender, Genre, Excess,” Braudy and Cohen, 727–41. 8 trauma that endures when genre, style, emotion, or story is pressed beyond excess;6 as a ‘therapeutic’ shock to thought;7 or as an affective sublime.8 Although many of the films include a great deal of humor, such as Epidemic (1987), The Kingdom (1994 Miniseries), Breaking the Waves (1996), The Idiots (1998), The Boss of it All (2006), and The House that Jack Built (2018), few serious scholars consider the oeuvre as a whole merely playfully disruptive. Linda Badley suggests that von Trier “has invented a form of psychodrama that traumatizes audiences while challenging them to respond to cinema in new ways.”9 Many of the same scholars mention the films’ spiritual and biblical nuances, but rarely are they given extended analysis beyond Breaking the Waves (1996) and Dogville (2003). I will argue that the spiritual/biblical content of the films is key to making sense of von Trier’s oeuvre of excess.