The Orchid Gardener (1977) Characters, Setting & Themes Explained

Release, runtime and language

1977 · 37 mins · Danish

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Starring

Lars von Trier, Karen Oksbjerg, Inger Hvidtfeldt

Victor Marse, a visual artist in crisis, meets lesbian nurses Eliza and her girlfriend in a sanatorium. He lives with Eliza and her son, imagines another woman on the coast, stages a suicide she ignores, and constantly watches a blank canvas. He dons Nazi and female outfits, visits the cinema, is hinted to harm a girl, and engages in a masochistic relationship with Eliza, nearly shooting her before she brandishes a whip. He later lies naked before his painted canvas, drives a funeral car to work in an orchid garden, and the film ends ambiguously as a cross is driven into the ground, suggesting his death.