Since then, Von Trier has retreated quietly into the shadows to make his new film, Melancholia, which also just saw its premiere at Cannes. In true Von Trier fashion, he elected himself official shock-jock of the festival and in a garbled rant that, while completely tasteless, was misinterpreted as a blatant confession of antisemitism and sympathy for the National Socialist party. Von Trier prides himself on being a provocateur. Not to mention, he threw his heroine under the bus in the same press conference, announcing to the audience that Kirsten Dunst struggled with deep depression shortly before signing on for this film and he was able to manipulate that for his purposes. A class act, always.
That aside, Melancholia (which also stars Von Trier vets Aleksander Skarsgaard and Charlotte Gainsbourg) was very well-received and earned Dunst the Best Actress award. Von Trier apologized for his comments but, after two years of essentially deciding he was the most pig-headed filmmaker on earth, the Cannes Film Festival has finally put itself out of its own misery and banned him from ever returning. And while I do understand this decision to an extent, I also have to ask: Cannes, have you ever met Lars Von Trier? He is notorious for his complete inability to interact with other human beings in any kind of normal social convention. He has blatantly confessed to the world that he hates women. I mean, The man was cracking jokes about directing a porno starring Dunst and Gainsbourg for heaven's sake...while they were both sitting next to him. Well...at least now we can just watch his movies in peace without having to hear the nonsense that comes out of his mouth. Still...
I'm going to miss you, buddy.
