A steady relationship - Lars von Trier wins seventh Bodil

by Jorn Rossing Jensen

05/03/2012 - Danish director Lars von Trier was absent as usual, but his wife Bente Frøge said ”thank you” (and added that she had promised to come home with a bottle of champagne), when the Danish Film Critics Association Saturday (March 2) at Copenhagen’s Bremen named his Melancholia [trailer, film focus] Best Film of the Year. It also took the prize for Best Cinematography (Manuel Alberto Claro).

The honours are accompanied by a Bodil statuette, which is von Trier’s second (after Antichrist [trailer, film focus] in 2010) and his seventh in total for his now crowded mantelpiece – no other Danish film director comes close.

When last month the Danish Film Academy awarded its Roberts, Melancholia received 10 and Martin P Zandvliet’s A Funny Man [trailer] six – this time ratio was 2:4, as the biopic of Danish top comedian Dirch Passer won for Best and Best Supporting Actor (Nikolaj Lie Kaas, Lars Ranthe), Best Stage Design (Charlotte Bay Garnov, Peter Grant) and the Audience Prize.

The grande dame of Danish stage and screen, 77-year-old actress Ghita Nørby, left with an Honorary Life Achievement Bodil – Nørby has performed in more than 140 film roles and collected four ’real’ Bodils for them.

FULL LIST OF BODIL AWARDS 2012

Best Film
Melancholia - Lars von Trier
Producers - Meta Louise Foldager, Louise Vesth

Best Actress
Lene Maria Christensen - Family

Best Actor
Nikolaj Lie Kaas - A Funny Man

Best Supporting Actress
Paprika Steen - Superclasico [trailer]

Best Supporting Actor
Lars Ranthe - A Funny Man

Best Cinematographer
Manuel Alberto Claro - Melancholia (and Heidi Marie Faisst’s Rebounce [trailer])

Best Documentary
The Will - Christian Sønderby Jepsen

Best US Film
Winter’s Bone - Debra Granik

Best Non-US Film
A Separation - Asghar Farhadi

Special Bodil
Distributor Jes Graversen of Miracle Film Distribution

Honorary Life Achievement Bodil
Actress Ghita Nørby

The Henning Bahs Award (for Best Set Design)
Charlotte Bay Garnov, Peter Grant - A Funny Man

The Blockbuster Audience Award
A Funny Man