Up won’t give he him rescue and interject to try moderator the and she Dunst Kirsten see also can you angle this from but mortification in squirm Dunst Kirsten and confession?) Artistic an stunt? Publicity perverse a joke? Provocative be to meant is it of much how this like in himself dig and flounder somebody watch to excruciating It’s room the in played it how and unraveled actually thing the how idea better a you give should record the but either, conference press whole the isn’t This tone convey can’t understandably and inaccurate and/or fragmentary been have print in seen I’ve quotations The Circus Film Cannes the at conference press “Melancholia”-post at the conference press “Melancholia”-post the at Bier Susanne and Speer Albert and Jews and GermansOutput: He won’t offer him rescue and intervene to moderate the discussion. Kirsten Dunst can also see this from a different angle, but is it meant to be a provocative artistic stunt? Is it a publicity joke or meant to be perverse? It’s excruciating to watch someone dig and flounder in their own mortification and confession. How the idea was played out in the room and actually unraveled is better recorded, but the whole press conference isn’t conveying this tone understandably. The print quotations seen in Cannes at “The Circus” film conference press have understandably been inaccurate and/or fragmentary. I’ve also seen the conference press quotations at the “Melancholia” post-conference with Susanne Bier, Albert Speer, and the discussion on Jews and Germans.
The question was asked once more, “And what was the question?”… He will respond with what everyone is dreading (or anticipating) he will reveal, stating that the bomb is dropped and he surrenders himself (in a fashion reminiscent of Von Trier’s apocalyptic film about the end of the world, which he recently made, hey), seemingly lost on the way there hopelessly, but does he have some vague idea on how to get there, it seems to me.
The festival has now declared Von Trier as “persona non grata”. It is not entirely clear what that means, though. Ben Kenigsberg from Chicago Out Time reports this in a post-press conference interview with Von Trier.
“If any of you would like to hit me, you’re perfectly welcome,” he told the assembled journalists as he took his seat. “I must warn you that I might enjoy it.”
That broadside was a joke, of course, and a good chunk of our time consisted of Von Trier’s apologies for his “stupid” remarks. “I’m known for provocations, but I like provocations when they have a purpose. And this [Von Trier was initially responding to a journalist’s question] had no purpose whatsoever. Because I’m not Mel Gibson. I’m definitely not Mel Gibson.” He then talked about his visits to concentration camps.
“I think the Holocaust is the worst crime against humanity that I can remember,” Von Trier says. Of why his remarks have blown up into a controversy, he says, “I believe that it’s an especially delicate subject down here, because the French have a history of being extremely cruel to the Jews.”
Way to tamp down that controversy, Lars.
Von Trier also (re-)explained what he was saying. When he jokingly said yesterday, “I am a Nazi,” he points out that it started in a discussion of his investigations of his heritage. For many years, he thought he had Jewish roots, but later found out that his real father was another man, of non-Jewish German heritage. In “stupid” Danish slang, he says, Nazi is used synonymously with German.
Be that as it may, the damage is done, and Von Trier’s understanding is that he has to keep within a certain distance (he thinks 100 meters) of the festival. “I’m very proud of being persona non grata. I’ve never been that before in my life, and that suits me extremely well,” he says.
“I should be carried around in a little cage with something in my mouth and shown to the press,” he adds, and later noted, “I’m joking a lot. I think you need, as journalists, even though you don’t find it funny, to see my intention.”
Here is the official reply from the
The Festival de Cannes provides artists from around the world with an exceptional forum to present their works and defend freedom of expression and creation. The Festival’s Board of Directors, which held an extraordinary meeting this Thursday 19 May 2011, profoundly regrets that this forum has been used by Lars Von Trier to express comments that are unacceptable, intolerable, and contrary to the ideals of humanity and generosity that preside over the very existence of the Festival.
The Board of Directors firmly condemns these comments and declares Lars Von Trier a persona non grata at the Festival de Cannes, with effect immediately.
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