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Denmark has been producing films since 1897 and since the 1980s has maintained a steady stream of product due largely to funding by the state-supported Danish Film Institute. Historically, Danish films have been noted for their realism, religious and moral themes, sexual frankness and technical innovation.Danish filmmakers of note include Benjamin Christensen, Carl Th. Dreyer, Erik Balling, Gabriel Axel, Bille August, Lars von Trier, Anders Thomas Jensen and Susanne Bier. ... Read more

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The intimate memoirs of the coolest blonde in cinema history.The startling portrayal of an icy, sexually adventurous housewife in Louis Buñuel's Belle du Jourestablished Catherine Deneuve as one of the most remarkable and compelling actresses of her generation. Forty years later, Deneuve is still widely regarded as one of the grande dames of French cinema. Despite her international appeal, however, Denueve has always chosen to avoid the ferocious glare of Hollywood and seldom allows the public into her private life. In these memoirs, Deneuve takes the reader behind the scenes of her life and career in this fascinating collection of seven previously unpublished diaries that she kept while filming abroad. In her own words, Deneuve charts the shooting of films such as The April Fools; Tristana, directed by Luis Buñuel; Indochine; and Dancer in the Dark. Including a never before published interview with famed director Pascal Bonitzer, this memoir is an intimate look into Deneuve's life both on and off screen, and is every bit as riveting as her movie persona. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

3.5 Stars... Interesting insights but we want more!
Catherine Deneuve is one of the all-time leading stars of the French (and even European) movie industry. This book was published in France in 2005 (under the title "A L'Ombre de Moi-Meme") and now finally gets a proper release in the US.

In "The Private Diaries of Catherine Deneuve: Close Up and Personal", Deneuve shares with us the diaries she kept while shooting 6 movies (Dancer in the Dark; East-West; Nightwind; Indochine; Tristana; and The April Fools). It is not clear on what basis these particular movies were chosen as presumably Deneuve kept a diary during many of her other movies. The observations from Lars von Trier's Dancer in the Dark (in which Deneuve plays a supporting role and singer Bjork plays the main character) make for compelling reading. Towards the end of the troubled shoot, Deneuve writes "I'm pretty discouraged, I don't care anymore. Bjork turns up around 11, which isn't unusual, but without a word of explanation or apology to me or anyone, not a single word. There's no point in expecting logical behavior from her; you have to accept her for what she is, wild and unique". Wow! Many other diary entries are much more mundaine, take this one from the "Indochine" set: "Back to studio to try on the Indo-Chinese outfit I would like to wear in the pagoda scene where I go to make offerings after Camille disappears." But a bit later Deneuve writes "I packed my trunk with bread, biscuits, honey and special long-life yoghurts from the French Institute for Agronomy Research. Even the rats like them--one evening in my room, I heard and then saw them carefully cutting through the metal lids--but I like rodents". Say what?Deneuve served on the Cannes Jury in 1994 (with Clint Eastwood as President of the Jury), and shares her diary entries from that experience, but unfortunately nothing from the jury's deliberations.

In all, this is quite enjoyable if you're a movie buff and have seen most of these movies. Unfortunately, the diaries run only to page 120. What follows is a 50 page interview with Pascal Bonitzer, which is pretty insightful (Deneuve revealing she started writing movie set diaries to deal with the boredom on the set) but the interview is really not why I got this book for, give us more of Deneuve's diaries! Also included is a detailed filmography of Deneuve. ... Read more

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An opinionated, revealing collection of interviews with the mercurial Danish director of Dogville, Dancer in the Dark, and Breaking the Waves.

The only director to have accomplished the unique feat of premiering all of his features at Cannes, Lars von Trier is the unabashed prince of the European avant-garde. The grand ambitions of his career mirror those of an earlier generation of directors, such as von Sternberg and von Stroheim, a similarity the director openly acknowledges, having affected the lordly 'von' in his name as a tribute while still in film school. From his highly stylized debut, Element of Crime, to the universally acclaimed Breaking the Waves and controversial musical Dancer in the Dark, von Trier has constantly challenged the boundaries of contemporary film, and this thoughtful and engagingly humorous assortment of interviews with fellow director Stig Björkman reveals the motivation behind his most lasting and controversial innovations-most notably the back-to-basics Dogme 95 movement, as well as the propless, setless Dogville, which debuted at Cannes in 2003 to lavish praise. Accompanied by several 'manifestos' which explicate his most experimental films, Trier on von Trier promises a definitive portrait of "the most brilliant director working in cinema today." (IndieWIRE)
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Customer Reviews (3)

The man behind the interesting movies.
I am a fan of Lars von Trier's movies.In the U. S. A. there seems to be so little information about him.I enjoyed getting to know a little about the man behind the interesting movies.I purchased this about the same time that I bought the Kingdom, season 1 and season 2.Everyone thinks I'm crazy for liking his work as much as I do; but the seriousness, the offbeat, and different perspective of a Hollywood project is refreshing.Now I know a little more about the man behind entertains me.

Must read book
When you watch Trier's films you get some sort of another level cinema or I should say the genial cinema. Well, the book is about the man who makes it to be on this level.

Subject to Inspection
A lovely book. Allowed me to meet Von Trier at an unadulteratedly close range. There is a genuine and creative rapport between Von Trier and Bjorkman, and arising from this are very intimate reveals of Von Trier's impressionable childhood, his inner drive and vision, his spirit of abandon, and of course his almost miraculous sense of fascination. An outsider with great powers.
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