Prior to the events of the controversial press conference, his apology and being declared persona no grata in Cannes, nordiskfilmogtvfond.com spoke to Lars von Trier about his disaster movie and film as an art form.
On Wednesday, May 18th, Lars von Trier, the enfant terrible of Danish cinema shocked Cannes and the world not with his competition entry Melancholia, but with a provocative remark made during the film's press conference. The director promptly offered his apology: "I am not anti-Semitic or racially prejudiced in any way, nor am I a Nazi", he said.
However, yesterday, (May 19) the Cannes Film Festival decided at an extraordinary meeting to declare Lars von Trier ‘Persona non grata in Cannes'. Melancholia the film was kept as a competition entry.
We spoke to the director before the festival - and the famous press conference.
Thierry Frémeaux, Cannes Film Festival's General Delegate said Melancholia is one of your most ‘accessible films. How do you feel about that?
Terrible! (laughs). But it comes from a pure heart in the sense that nobody forced me to do it. Yes it is kind of ‘easy' to see. It has to do with the fact that it's a very romantic film, because I like German romanticism. That's why it was such a pleasure to make. But I hope there are also other dimensions to the film than the soft eyes... I'm guilty anyway. It's my responsibility.
What was the starting point for the film?
Maybe again, this is why I feel guilty, because the starting point was Penelope Cruz. She wanted to be in one of my films. She had an idea about a play: [Jean Genet's The Maids]. I said I don't do that [adaptation from existing material] but I'd like to try to write a film for you. So the film was really written for Penelope, based on information she gave me about her, and I tried to create a character based upon my feelings about her. Then when I had finished the script, Penelope suddenly said she had only three weeks to do the film. She had to work on the new Pirates of the Caribbean. I said that's just impossible!! She said she hoped we would still work together another time. I said: "yes of course, but I don't think I'll write you another film"... Maybe in the end it's good that she didn't do it. It might have been too much. I'm very fond of what Kristen Dunst did in the film anyway.
What about Charlotte Gainsbourg. This is your second film with her after Antichrist for which she won Best Actress in Cannes 2009?
I have a weak spot for her. She was so brave with Antichrist. I love her very much. . I work very well with her. She's one of the boys!
What roles do the two actresses play in the film?
The idea of using ‘The Maids' came from Penelope. I took the name Claire -used for Charlotte-but turned the maids into sisters. I know - from my mother - how evil sisters can be to each other. So I thought it was interesting. Kirsten plays Claire's sister Justine.
But ‘The Maids' is really a social drama. How did it evolve into this cosmic collision and doomsday movie?
With Penelope came the title of the film. From the title came the idea that one sister -Justine- should be melancholic. Then suddenly I thought of this planet Melancholia swallowing the earth. The film comes from the feeling of being melancholic and if the world comes to an end, I thought it would be funny to show all the nonsense that we do. What we're doing with our little lives if we hold it against the end of everything. But I must say the film is very much about me and my depression. Justine is very much like me, the way I experience depression.
Melancholia means extreme depression and the inability to take pleasure in activities. You said you hated making Antichrist. How was your state of mind on Melancholia?
The shooting of Melancholia was much more pleasurable because I felt much better. I think melancholia has a lot to do with longing. Again, from there came the romantic element inspired by German romanticism.
What roles do men play in Melancholia?
In my films, men are always idiots or bastards or both. It's the same here. They are unreliable, cowards. They do all the bad things, but with a certain panache.
The DoP is Manuel Alberto Claro. How was it to work with him, and not with your long-time collaborator Anthony Dod Mantle?
I had a disagreement with Anthony on a few films before, how they were shot. But my collaboration with Manuel was a real pleasure and he was loyal to my vision.
As with many of your previous films, Melancholia has a rigid structure, an Overture, then two acts: Justine-Claire. Why did you choose this structure? Is it because you relate film to other artistic works like literature and theatre?
That is a good question. I think I've always worked that way. I need a firm structure. I am inspired by literature, especially now. I've stopped drinking and I'm reading a lot. Dostoïevski, Thomas Mann. I just read ‘Buddenbrook' for instance. With that book, you could spend an entire month. There are difficult parts, lighter parts, the storyline is only touched lightly here and there. When I read it, I think people have become so much more stupid today. People want 1.5 hour of film. Everything is about storyline, storyline. It's such a pity. I hope I've made a confusing film with Melancholia.
Talking about literature, Nordic crime book to screen adaptations are very popular these days. What do you make of it?
I'm quite sure it's complete rubbish! I wouldn't touch the literary works, and neither the films! I'd rather shoot myself instead!
You often say that cinema is your religion-how strong is your faith in today's cinema as an art form? Your film references seem to have stopped with Bergman, Visconti, Tarkovski?
I'm very lazy. If you like wine, you don't want to try too many different wines to pollute your mouth. It's not that films are bad. It's just that I try to keep my mouth clean. I've seen the films I should see. My feeling is that from what I see on TV, films are so plot orientated it's unbelievable. You should be inspired by literature, which doesn't mean you should film literature. I just saw a film adaptation of Buddenbrook. It was awful, ridiculous to take 1,000 pages and boil them down to 1.5 hours.
But I could imagine another kind of film, whereby you would use the possibilities you get on the internet which is to reach the few users/viewers you have, finance the film with them and maybe make an 80 hour film. Like in a book, you would use half an hour to describe a room. I'm currently reading Marcel Proust. He uses many hours to describe something and it's a pleasure. It says so much more about life then all the stupid plots!
Melancholia is about the end of the world. Are you pessimistic about the future of mankind?
No, I'm optimistic because when you have a common enemy you tend to stand together. What will come out of it, I don't know. But what is also revealed in the film is that there is no life anywhere else in this enormous universe, an interesting concept that puts things in another perspective. It makes our life more special, and less special at the same time. Welcome to Lars von Trier's hell again!!! (laughs).
Zentropa is almost 20 year old and has become one of the biggest powerhouses in Europe. What is your involvement in the company today?
I'm not involved in the company. Peter Aalbæk Jensen and I created the company to control the films I was doing. I'm very egoistic in that sense. As long as they give me control, I'm happy...Let's see how much control they will give me with the hard core pornographic film I want to do next!