The moral of this story if quite simple – don’t refer to yourself as a Nazi, even in jest. At a press conference at Cannes the other day for his movie Melancholia (which is in competition at the festival), Lars Von Trier did just that. While he was obviously only joking, he said, “For a long time I wanted to be a Jew. But then I found out I was actually a Nazi. My family were German. And that also gave me some pleasure. What can I say? I understand Hitler
I sympathise with him a bit.
He went on to say, I dont mean Im in favor of World War II and Im not against Jews. In fact Im very much in favour of them. Well, Israel is a pain in the ass but Now how can I get out of this sentence? Ok. Im a Nazi.
At the same conference, he also admitted his film may be crap theres quite a big possibility that it might not be worth seeing, and that he wants to make a porno with Melancholia star Kirsten Dunst and Charlotte Gainsbourg.
His words caused quite a stir, and while he quickly issued a statement apoligising for being an ass, the organisers of Cannes weren’t happy at all, holding a special meeting and then issuing a statement declaring, ‘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.’ We’re presuming they didn’t like the Nazi comments, rather than finding a Dunst/Gainsbourg porno intolerable.
Von Trier later spoke to THR, telling them, Its a pity because (Jewish festival head) Gilles Jacob is a close personal friend of mine. What I said was completely stupid but I am absolutely no Mel Gibson What I meant was I could imagine what it was like for Hitler in the bunker, making plans. Not that I would do what Hitler did. But its a pity if it means I will lose contact with Cannes.
He went on to say, I have to say Im a little proud of being named a persona non grata. I think my family would be proud. I have a French order. Now they will likely tear it off my chest.
It’s not quite clear what the ban means, as it’s the only one anybody can remember ever been given out, although it is known his movie remains in competition, but that he won’t be allowed to attend the awards ceremony on Sunday.
The comments are already having repursussions outside the festival too, with the distributor that owns the Argentinian rights to Melancholia saying it now won’t release the movie because of it, and Von Trier admitting he may now have difficulty raising money or getting certain actors to work with me.
Although saying you’re a Nazi is a dumb thing to do, there is a slight sense on mountains and molehills about the whole thing. See what you think for yourself, with the footage of Von Trier at the press conference below.