The CultureCritic Guide to Lars von Trier...

Plumbing the depths of human despair might not be everyone's idea of what constitutes a decent film, but there's a lot more to Lars von Trier than that. He is a hugely important independent voice in cinema, and attempts to paint him a Nazi, a misogynist, a pornographer (well, actually...) or outright ban his films do not take away from his visionary flair.

This week sees the UK release of the Danish filmmaker's latest work Melancholia, starring Kirstin Dunst, and to celebrate, we've put together a quick guide to our pick of his formidable and provocative back catalogue...

Europa (1991)

Lars von Trier's debut feature film, The Element of Crime (1984) was also the first chapter in his ‘Europa' trilogy, the director's attempt at coming to terms with his native continent. The film is a strangely surreal noir-ish affair, in which an ex-pat detective hunts a serial killer through Cairo. It was followed by Epidemic, which documents the fictional spread of a plague (in the footsteps of Camus and Bergman but not quite as successfully), and starring Lars himself. The pinnacle of the trilogy (and the best indication of what was to come) was its finale, Europa. A young American arrives in post-war Europe (always a winning premise) and, while working as a train conductor, finds himself in entangled in a terrorist conspiracy. Von Trier is not afraid to confront Europe's ghosts, with the Holocaust looming large throughout. In fact, years before he was making dubious comments at Cannes, Lars was brought up thinking he was Jewish, and makes a brief cameo in Europa as a Jew.

Breaking The Waves (1996)

Following Europa, Lars embarked on his ‘Golden Heart' trilogy, beginning with 1996's Breaking the Waves and ending in 2000 with the dark musical Dancer in the Dark, starring Björk. 1998's The Idiots came in between. The thread linking the three films is plot-based - all feature a young woman who endures tragedy or mistreatment.  Breaking The Waves is set in the bleak Scottish highlands and stars Emily Watson as the sweet and innocent Bess, who marries a Danish oil rig worker, Jan. When Jan is injured and unable to perform sexually, he urges Bess into sexual liaisons with others, which she can then relate to him. Does the local community approve? No it does not, and von Triers shows in no uncertain terms the cruelty of a patriarchal, overtly religious and hypocritical community as it closes in and takes advantage of vulnerable Bess, with devastating results. Not an easy watch by any means, but anyone who comes away from this thinking that von Trier is a misogynist has really missed the point.

The Idiots (1998)

A satirical film about von Triers' naysayers, particularly those ready to review his films without having seen them... We jest, of course; The Idiots is actually the second film in the 'Golden Heart' trilogy, and is remarkable for being von Triers' first (and only) film adhering to the Dogme 95 manifesto. Dogme was the movement he co-founded with fellow Danish filmmaker Thomas Vinterberg (whose own Festen is, in truth, the better of the first ever two Dogme films). A reaction to overproduced Hollywood films with a strict code of conduct for would-be members, the movement's rules include shooting on location (no sets), with a hand-held camera and no additional props (a rule Lars promptly broke in The Idiots by bringing in porn stars for the notorious unsimulated orgy scene). The film follows timid Karen as she falls in with a group of suburbanites whose idea of recreational fun involves ‘spazing' (their term, not ours) in public places thus finding their inner idiot, and living in a commune. There's probably a comment on middle-class complacency here, among all the un-PC goings-on.

Dogville (2003)

Lars von Trier is afraid of flying which imposes limits on where he can film. It also means that he's never been to the USA, but why should that stop him criticising it on film? Dogville is the first part of another trilogy, the as-yet-incomplete ironically titled 'USA: Land of Opportunities'. Filmed on a strikingly minimal stage-like set, various features of a town are represented by white markings on a black floor. The film (and its sequel) follows Grace, an outsider who arrives in Dogville with nothing. The initially welcoming community slowly begins to turn on this new arrival, their treatment of Grace deteriorating in increasingly nasty ways. The film is narrated by John Hurt and separated into distinct sections - the particularly memorable sixth chapter is titled ‘In which Dogville bares its teeth', for example. As if afraid he hadn't made his point clearly enough, von Trier ends the film with images of desperate poverty from Depression-era America accompanied by David Bowie's Young Americans. See what he did there?

Nicola Kidman was not the only actor in this to forego a reprieve of their role in the trilogy's second installment, Manderlay, set on a plantation and dealing with slavery. James Caan was also feeling ‘too patriotic' to join in.

The Boss of It All (2006)

We know what you're thinking: this is all very well, but can he do laughs? Funny you should ask, as our final choice is this highly successful comedy, proving the great auteur does indeed have a funny bone. For years, the owner of an IT company avoids blame for unpopular management decisions by fooling his employees into believing the company is actually controlled by a fictional boss, based overseas. When he decides to sell up, his Icelandic buyers demand to meet the Director, forcing him to hire in a jobbing actor to play the role. Hilarity ensues, including a rather brilliant cultural showdown between some ‘sentimental Danes' and fiery Icelanders. As in all the best jokes, there is a brilliant punchline to cap it all off. Apparently, we can expect an American remake to materialise in the not too distant future.

Melancholia is out this Friday, read the latest reviews here.