A Study On The Relationship Between Power And Sex In Lars Von Trier's Films

Danish director Lars von Trier is often called a madman by fans because his style and content always offend the audience and critics.Although his films are full of bloody,violent,naked and sexual scenes,the challenge to the scale extension of the film is not eye-catching,but closely related to the core of the film.The thesis of this paper focuses on the relationship between power and sex,which is a core element in several of his works.In this paper,Michel Foucault's micro power theory is applied to study the relationship between power and sex in Lars von Trier's films.The first chapter of this paper traces back to the origin of the large number of sexual elements in the film of Lars von Trier,explores the close relationship between the sexual elements in his works and the culture of Denmark where he was born and his own growing experience,and then discusses the director's actions in the face of the invasion of American cultural hegemony.The second chapter focuses on the discussion of the relationship between power and sex in the film works.Michel Foucault thinks that the most basic operation mode of micro power is discipline.The sex in the film is shrouded in the dense net of power,bound by marriage,regulated by society and controlled by religion.Sex is constantly struggling and breathing in the encirclement of power.In the third chapter,because the micro power is actually a contrast of power relations,the relationship between power and sex is simply understood as oppressive and negative,which is one-sided.Sometimes,the relationship between power and sex is pursued and used by each other.In Lars von Trier's films,men use power to coerce women to achieve their own goals,and women actively seduce men for the interests of the country.In this relationship of mutual use,sex becomes the victim of power transaction and the tool of political conspiracy.The fourth chapter expounds that the characters in Lars von Trier's films counterattack power by making concrete actions related to sex.They make jaw dropping group actions from the language level to the behavior level,and then to the most thorough escape of power after the failure of resistance--death.This series of actions reveal that where there is power to oppresse and control,there is resistance and sacrifice.However,once the inherentpower system is formed,it is difficult to break it bypersonal power.The revolt ended in failure.