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Lars von Trier Issues Last Statement Ever, No Longer Doing Interviews
by Alex Billington
October 5, 2011
Its been a rather turbulent year for Danish filmmaker Lars von Trier. His latest film, Melancholia, an exploration into stress and the apocalypse, premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in May, but after making odd statements about Nazis and Hitler during the press conference, von Trier was banned—persona non grata—from Cannes. While he's back with his own character poster for the release of Melancholia, a quote was issued by his publicist today confirming that, after an investigation into his comments, von Trier has "decided from this day forth to refrain from all public statements and interviews." Full statement below!
Here's the full statement released by Lars von Trier, in connection with his comments in Cannes (info here).
Today at 2 pm I was questioned by the Police of North Zealand in connection with charges made by the prosecution of Grasse in France from August 2011 regarding a possible violation of prohibition in French law against justification of war crimes. The investigation covers comments made during the press conference in Cannes in May 2011. Due to these serious accusations I have realized that I do not possess the skills to express myself unequivocally and I have therefore decided from this day forth to refrain from all public statements and interviews.
Lars von Trier
Avedøre, 5. October 2011
So he's going the way of the Wachowskis and Terrence Malick before him, but only because he was forced to since his comments made in Cannes have been upsetting many people all over the world. Believe it or not, it's actually illegal (in certain areas of the world) to sympathize with or condone the actions of Hitler and the Nazis during WWII ("law against justification of war crimes"), which is why he's now in trouble with the police. Von Trier at first apologized, then fumbled all that by supposedly retracting his apology, now he's in even bigger trouble with authorities that don't care about his filmography at all. It sounds like he's just not good at public speaking, sometimes saying too much or getting lost in translation, which is why he's taking this very drastic measure to "refrain from all public statements and interviews" from now on, unfortunately.
It might be a sad day for fans of Lars von Trier, the Danish auteur. Until further notice, we won't be seeing interviews or hearing any more from the director of films like Medea, Breaking the Waves, Dogville, Dancer in the Dark and Antichrist. Though I'm certain he'll continue working (he even has a nymphomaniac project coming up) and we'll still be able watch his films, he won't be making any public appearances anytime soon.
9 Comments
2
Good, can't keep his foot out of his mouth so he may as well keep it shut.
Alex B on Oct 5, 2011
3
Following the links through to the video of the original statements at Cannes, it's painful watching Kirsten Dunst trying to figure out "WTF? How do I get away from this maniac?"
Anonymous on Oct 5, 2011
4
I can understand people being offended, but at the same time I feel like there should be a certain amount of freedom in what the man is allowed to say, especially given that he has that freedom in his films. Ill advised? Perhaps, but the man should still be able to say whatever the hell he wants.
Phillip Gockel on Oct 5, 2011
5
He must have went to the Mel Gibson school of comedy. ( That's a joke by the way)
Pilgrim_UK on Oct 5, 2011
6
Who cares!!
Superabilio on Oct 5, 2011
8
I cannot believe how stupid and ignorant people must be that they do not get his sarcasm. It's so obvious if you watch the nature of the interview.
reeft on Oct 6, 2011
9
Antichrist was shit. Good riddance to that fool.
Anonymous on Oct 6, 2011
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