Lars von Trier must be present in any list of the most important contemporary filmmakers. All of his films have won critical acclaim and are considered outstanding achievements, especially his later work, which has been available to a wider public.

The following is a list with features of von Trier's films:

States (of being): darkness, sickness, handicappedness (also blindness), hostility, upheaval, war, bad weather (storm, rain, wind, steam, fog)
Objects: lamps in the dark (the storm, the wind), bare, leafless trees
Settings in a wider sense: Africa (tribes and Egypt), Europe (Germany)
Settings in a narrow sense: underwater (state of asphyxia), barren landscapes, fields
Other recurring elements: horses (falling, dying horses)
Von Trier was influenced by directors C.T. Dreyer, Tarkovsky and Bergman. He lists THE MIRROR by Tarkovsky and ORDET by Dreyer as two of his favorite films.