Danish director Lars von Trier admitted to care centre for Parkinson’s disease

Copenhagen – Danish film-maker Lars von Trier, a major name in contemporary auteur cinema who has Parkinson’s disease, has been admitted to a care centre, his production company Zentropa said on Feb 12.

“Lars is currently associated with a care centre that can provide him with the treatment and care his condition requires,” Zentropa producer Louise Vesth posted on Instagram.

“It’s a complement to his private accommodation. Lars is doing well under the circumstances,” she added, lamenting the “need to pass on very personal information” following speculation in the Danish media.

Zentropa, which was co-founded by von Trier, announced in 2022 that he had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.

The 68-year-old, one of the biggest stars of Danish cinema, has directed more than 14 feature films, often disturbing and violent, and has never shied away from controversy.

The Oscar-nominated director sparked outrage in 2011 by telling a Cannes Film Festival press conference for his film Melancholia that he was a Nazi who understood German dictator Adolf Hitler and sympathised “with him a little”.

Von Trier was banned, but his film remained in competition and its star Kirsten Dunst won an award for best actress. He later apologised for the comment.

In 2018, the screening of his film, The House That Jack Built, at Cannes sparked a mass walkout. The serial-killer film, starring American actor Matt Dillon, received a standing ovation from those who stayed until the end.

Von Trier won the Palme d’Or at Cannes in 2000 for harrowing melodrama Dancer In The Dark.

The father of four wrote in a now-deleted Instagram post in 2023 that “with any luck, I should still have a few decent movies left in me”.

In September 2024, a project he was set to direct, titled After, was granted 1.3 million Danish kroner (S$245,000) by the Danish Film Institute, according to a listing published by the national agency. AFP