I regret not being at Cannes as much as anyone would-- why yes, I do wish I could leave rain-soaked New York for the French Riviera, how'd you guess? But I've never regretted my absence more than today, with early review of Lars von Trier's new movie Melancholia and especially reports from the subsequent press conference, where von Trier speculated about making a porno starring Kirsten Dunst and Charlotte Gainsbourg, suggested that Melancholia "might be really not worth seeing," and oh yeah, called himself a Nazi and that he sympathized with Hitler.
Vulture has assembled what they call "The 10 Most Controversial Things Lars Von Trier Said at the Melancholia Press Conference," which includes the full Hitler quote and all kinds of other madness. This might be my favorite, just after the Nazi reveal:
2. Following up, when asked if he’d like to do a blockbuster: “Yes. We Nazis like to do things on a big scale. Maybe I could do the Final Solution.”
It seems clear to me that von Trier is joking, in the incendiary, irritating way you might recognize from his films. But then again, people are kind of required to get offended whenever Hitler is mentioned, so I guess I understand it as a scandal too. Mostly I'm just dying to see Melancholia all the more-- and much like Antichrist's bizarre reception at Cannes made it a hotter ticket once it came out here, von Trier has certainly upped the publicity ante for whenever Melancholia gets a release.
