Promoting Your Movie 101: Director Lars Von Trier Tells Cannes Press He’s A Nazi

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by Jon Bershad | 1:12 pm, May 18th, 2011

» 19 comments

It shouldn’t be that hard to get publicity for the new movie Melancholia. It has a great cast with stars like Kirsten Dunst, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Kiefer Sutherland, and Alexander Skarsgard. It’s about the end of the world which is a very popular subject these days. And Dunst even purportedly has three nude scenes! That thing should market itself. However, director Lars Von Trier isn’t one to rest on his laurels so he told the press at Cannes today that he was a Nazi.

Congratulations, sir. Instant headlines earned.

Here’s what he said, transcription and description from Vulture:

“The only thing I can tell you is that I thought I was a Jew for a long time and was very happy being a Jew, then later on came [Danish and Jewish director] Susanne Bier, and suddenly I wasn’t so happy about being a Jew. That was a joke. Sorry. But it turned out that I was not a Jew. If I’d been a Jew, then I would be a second-wave Jew, a kind of a new-wave Jew, but anyway, I really wanted to be a Jew and then I found out that I was really a Nazi, because my family is German. And that also gave me some pleasure. So, I, what can I say? I understand Hitler. I think he did some wrong things but I can see him sitting in his bunker. [Kirsten Dunst goes, "Oh God!" and hides uncomfortably behind Lars.] I’m saying that I think I understand the man. He is not what we could call a good guy, but yeah, I understand much about him and I sympathize with him … But come on! I’m not for the Second World War. And I’m not against Jews. No, not even Susanne Bier. I am very much for them. As much as Israelis are a pain in the ass. How do I get out of this sentence? Okay, I am a Nazi. As for the art, I’m for Speer. Albert Speer I liked. He was also one of God’s best children. He has a talent that … Okay, enough”

Von Trier didn’t stop there. He also said his next film would be a porno and, when asked if he’d ever do a blockbuster, he responded, “Yes. We Nazis like to do things on a big scale. Maybe I could do the Final Solution.” (Vulture has the full list of his wacky comments)

Of course, none of this should be taken seriously. Von Trier is a provocateur (the guy’s got the word “fuck” tattooed on his knuckles) and despite the fact that the new film is supposedly a meditation on his own struggles with depression, he’s known for these crazy press conferences. Perhaps he was just trying to outdo himself after his last visit to the film festival in which critics reacted angrily to his the graphic violence (a whole bunch of genital mutilation) in his film Antichrist and he responded by telling them that he was the “best director in the world.” (The movie went on to win Gainsbourg that year’s best actress award)

So, does Von Trier actually consider himself a Nazi? About as much as he actually considers himself the world’s best directer, ie. probably not. So why would he say that? Well, out of the non-cinephiles amongst you, how many had heard about Melancholia before this morning. Yeah, that’s what I thought.

Check out the movie’s Nazi-free trailer below:

Alexander Skarsgard, Cannes Film Festival, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Kiefer Sutherland, Kirsten Dunst, Lars Von Trier, Melancholia

skyfet

Nice going Mr! at least he is honest, he wants to sell his stuff.
Tony the Fist

Hollywood should thank God for Nazis. Without them we wouldn’t have:

Indiana Jones
Hell Boy
Apt Pupil
Dr. Strangelove
Cabaret
Inglourious Basterds
Kelly’s Heroes
The Dirty Dozen
etc. etc. etc.
Color Me Badd

Can’t wait to see this movie, Lars Von Trier is probably the best current filmmaker and if you know anything about him you know he says crazy stuff all the time so Gawker and Mediaite gives him free promo.

Thanks guys.
Color Me Badd

He is the best director in the world, there is no problem with a guy telling the truth. Just like Color Be Badd is the best poster on Mediaite, can’t argue with the truth.
Zandandido

I’ve never heard of this guy or anything he has done. So for me, this guy is just famous for being famous.
Color Me Badd

Zandandido said:
I’ve never heard of this guy or anything he has done. So for me, this guy is just famous for being famous.

He isn’t Paris Hilton, just because you haven’t experienced something doesn’t mean it hasn’t happened.

By your twisted logic the old question of “if a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it does it make a sound” has been answered

But thank you for showing your ignorance, I will remember never to take anything you say seriously, from now on.
MrTPar_taY

Nazi? This guys just f@*k’d in the head!
TheEagle

Tony the Fist said:
Hollywood should thank God for Nazis. Without them we wouldn’t have:

Indiana Jones
Hell Boy
Apt Pupil
Dr. Strangelove
Cabaret
Inglourious Basterds
Kelly’s Heroes
The Dirty Dozen
etc. etc. etc.

Where Eagles Dare
Patton
Bridge over the River Kwai
The Producers
Sanjay

Nazi? No. He’s simply ripping off tired tactics from the Mark Kostabi school of promotion. So now apparently Von Trier’s personality has finally caught up to his films, in terms of hackneyed ideas and pompous tedium. Wow.
murphy0071

Nazism is the merger of the government and corporations working in harmony to achieve common goals. Since the corporations by fait accompli run the U.S. and are closely allied with Republicans whose trickle down inflation theory has been proven wrong and even questioned by some Republicans.

The Republicans are only forestalling the need for tax revenues until their is a complete collapse of the New Deal.

These cannibals actually believe all men are created equal and can fend for themselves in the financial jungle. It reminds of a case in Hong Kong. A woman would not sue because it was her fault for choosing the wrong professional. In this case, they are asking us to cast millions of dollars into an abyss that comes with tremendous risk.

Given wages over the last 15 years of stagflation, the collapse provided by the bankers and their cronies in politics will assure the goals of the most conservative of Republicans.
SmartAlec

I thought Lars was the biggest idiot of the day…until I read Color Me Badd’s comments.
cjd ohio 1

Color Me Badd said:
Can’t wait to see this movie, Lars Von Trier is probably the best current filmmaker and if you know anything about him you know he says crazy stuff all the time so Gawker and Mediaite gives him free promo. Thanks guys.

good to know you openly support a nazi
Sean68

murphy0071 said:
Nazism is the merger of the government and corporations working in harmony to achieve common goals. Since the corporations by fait accompli run the U.S. and are closely allied with Republicans whose trickle down inflation theory has been proven wrong and even questioned by some Republicans.

The Republicans are only forestalling the need for tax revenues until their is a complete collapse of the New Deal.

These cannibals actually believe all men are created equal and can fend for themselves in the financial jungle. It reminds of a case in Hong Kong. A woman would not sue because it was her fault for choosing the wrong professional. In this case, they are asking us to cast millions of dollars into an abyss that comes with tremendous risk.

Given wages over the last 15 years of stagflation, the collapse provided by the bankers and their cronies in politics will assure the goals of the most conservative of Republicans.

Are you familiar with Freud’s concept of the narcissism of the small difference? Corporations control both parties. So if the Republicans are Nazis? What are the Democrats? Hirohito’s Japan?
Color Me Badd

cjd ohio 1 said:
good to know you openly support a nazi

Good to know you are a knuckle dragging neanderthal, but I already knew that.
cjd ohio 1

Color Me Badd said:
Good to know you are a knuckle dragging neanderthal, but I already knew that.

maybe, would rather be that, than support a nazi like you do
Girth Brick

Color Me Badd said:
Can’t wait to see this movie, Lars Von Trier is probably the best current filmmaker and if you know anything about him you know he says crazy stuff all the time so Gawker and Mediaite gives him free promo.

Thanks guys.

‘Breaking the Waves’ is a masterpiece.

So then I had to see all his work – only liked ‘Dancer in the Dark’ among what I have seen.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Thorkil-Kowalski-Vrge/566276352 Thorkil Kowalski Værge

Lars von Trier said:I really wanted to be a Jew and then I found out that I was really a Nazi, because my family is German.

Actually it is the Germans that should be offended by Lars von Trier equating Germans and Nazis.

Yesterday there were three links on Drudgereport about this Danish director’s statements. Saying “Nazi” or “Hitler” to a politically correct audience is like writing dirty words on a public toilet. No one should be offended nor surprised by its existence.

Lars von Trier is just a sad man who has given up looking for a purpose in this world.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Thorkil-Kowalski-Vrge/566276352 Thorkil Kowalski Værge

Can anybody explain to me what the wedding symbolizes in this movie? Has anyone seen the movie??
hgarner2000

An effective though perhaps questionable tactic to spread awareness.