U10 - The Violent Misogyny of Lars von Trier and the Authoritarian Aesthetic

Course Description:

Lars von Trier is one of the most controversial filmmakers of contemporary cinema, often celebrated for his audacious cinematic style while simultaneously criticized for his violent misogyny and authoritarian aesthetic. His films depict female suffering with an intensity and excess that provoke ongoing debate: Are his works critical interrogations of patriarchy and power, or do they merely aestheticize and reproduce the very violence they claim to expose?

This course examines von Trier’s films through the lenses of psychoanalytic theory, feminist film criticism, and deconstruction, with particular attention to the relationship between phallocentrism, logocentrism, and cinematic representation. We will explore how von Trier’s work aligns with Freudian and Lacanian psychoanalysis, both of which construct female subjectivity as a site of absence, lack, and sacrifice within a phallogocentric master narrative. At the same time, we will interrogate whether his films reinforce these structures or, alternatively, offer a space for resistance.

Beyond von Trier, the course will engage with broader cinematic traditions that depict female suffering, fetishization, and martyrdom, from Hitchcock’s suspense thrillers to the art-house provocations of Catherine Breillat and Michael Haneke. Special attention will be given to authoritarian aesthetics—the use of formal and narrative structures that rigidly control audience perception, often in ways that parallel authoritarian political ideologies. We will ask: Does von Trier’s stylistic control mirror the very mechanisms of domination and punishment depicted in his films? Does his work expose the brutality of power or simply indulge in it?

By analyzing these films alongside key theoretical texts, students will develop a critical vocabulary for discussing cinematic representations of gendered violence, power, and oppression, while also refining their ability to read film as a political and ideological form.

Course Objectives:

By the end of this course, students will be able to:

• Critically engage with von Trier’s films in relation to feminist, psychoanalytic, and deconstructive theory.

• Define and interrogate key concepts such as phallocentrism, logocentrism, fetishism, the male gaze, and authoritarian aesthetics.

• Analyze how von Trier’s visual and narrative strategies shape audience identification and affect.

• Compare von Trier’s work to other filmmakers who engage with similar themes of violence and gender representation.

• Develop original critical arguments about the ethics and politics of cinematic violence.

Course Schedule

Week 1: Introduction – Cinema, Violence, and Gender

• Readings:

  • Laura Mulvey, Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema

  • Carol J. Clover, Men, Women, and Chainsaws (Introduction)

  • Barbara Creed, The Monstrous-Feminine (Selections)

• Screening: Psycho (Alfred Hitchcock, 1960)

• Discussion Topics:

  • The male gaze and spectatorship

  • Horror, gender, and cinematic violence

  • Von Trier’s place in the history of controversial directors

Week 2: Phallocentrism and the Symbolic Order

• Readings:

  • Jacques Lacan, The Signification of the Phallus

  • Derrida, Spurs: Nietzsche’s Styles (Selections)

• Screening: Breaking the Waves (1996)

• Discussion Topics:

  • Phallocentrism as a structuring logic

  • Von Trier’s "martyr-women" and Christian symbolism

  • Desire, sacrifice, and submission in psychoanalysis and cinema

Week 3: The Suffering Woman as Spectacle

• Readings:

  • Laura Mulvey, Afterthoughts on “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema”

  • Slavoj Žižek, The Pervert’s Guide to Cinema (Selections)

• Screening: Dancer in the Dark (2000)

• Discussion Topics:

  • The aesthetics of female suffering

  • Spectacle vs. critique in von Trier’s work

  • The role of music, melodrama, and affect

Week 4: Castration, Fetishism, and the Limits of Psychoanalysis

• Readings:

  • Sigmund Freud, Fetishism

  • Jacques Lacan, Seminar X: Anxiety (Selections)

• Screening: Antichrist (2009)

• Discussion Topics:

  • Is von Trier’s portrayal of female sexuality inherently misogynistic?

  • The maternal body as horror and abjection

  • Castration anxiety and its cinematic manifestations

Week 5: Authoritarian Aesthetics and Cinematic Control

• Readings:

  • Theodor Adorno, Aesthetic Theory (Selections)

  • Rainer Forst, The Right to Justification (Selections)

• Screening: Dogville (2003)

• Discussion Topics:

  • How does von Trier manipulate the audience?

  • Narrative structures as mechanisms of control

  • The politics of suffering and punishment in Dogville

Week 6: The Limits of Subversion

• Readings:

  • Angela McRobbie, The Aftermath of Feminism (Selections)

  • Judith Butler, The Psychic Life of Power (Selections)

• Screening: Nymphomaniac Vol. I & II (2013)

• Discussion Topics:

  • Does von Trier’s work challenge or reinforce gender oppression?

  • The ethics of shock-value in cinema

  • Who controls female sexuality in von Trier’s films?

Week 7: Beyond von Trier – Other Cinematic Explorations of Gendered Violence

• Readings:

  • Tania Modleski, The Women Who Knew Too Much (Selections)

  • bell hooks, The Oppositional Gaze

• Screenings (Selections):

  • Catherine Breillat, Fat Girl (2001)

  • Michael Haneke, The Piano Teacher (2001)

  • Agnes Varda, Vagabond (1985)

• Discussion Topics:

  • How do other filmmakers explore gender, violence, and power?

  • Alternative feminist cinematic strategies

Assignments & Assessments:

• Film Analysis Journals (30%) – Weekly reflections on films and readings.

• Midterm Essay (25%) – A close reading of one von Trier film using feminist and psychoanalytic theory.

• Final Research Project (35%) – A longer analysis of a film (or films) of the student’s choice, applying concepts from the course.

• Participation & Discussions (10%) – Engaging in class debates and presentations.

Final Thoughts:

This course does not take for granted whether von Trier’s films are misogynistic or subversive; rather, it engages deeply with the contradictions and tensions in his work, using critical theory to explore how cinema constructs, reinforces, or resists systems of domination. Students will leave this class with a stronger grasp of how aesthetic form, ideology, and gendered power intersect in film, as well as the ability to apply psychoanalytic and feminist critique to contemporary visual culture.