Q: How ridiculous do you have to be to get banned from a film festival in which your film is considered to be one of the highlights?
A: You state that you sympathize with Hitler, and that your lineage… well, you know… I’ll let you watch for yourself.
Cannes Film Festival. THE festival to attend if you can afford it. Lars Von Trier, the famed Danish director, was on a panel, alongside his film’s star, Kirsten Dunst, when he was asked a line of questioning that led him on a diatribe of sorts, an attempt at making jokes in a foreign tongue, and ultimately the status of persona non grata. Ah, the romance languages…they make “you’re not welcome here” sound so much prettier, don’t they?
His film, Melancholia, was incredibly well received at its premier, and is/was considered by many to be in the running for the festival’s top prize, the Palm d’Or–or the Golden Palm, which is very different than On Golden Pond.
After the incident, Von Trier apologized, stating that he got carried away after he felt like he was drawn into a line of questioning during the screening.
Von Trier has long been the king of the beatdown–if you’re familiar with any of his films, you don’t generally leave the theatre with that warm, fuzzy feeling. Regardless, enjoy the video, and enjoy Kirsten Dunst as the poor girl looks as awkward as she did when Peter Parker kissed Ron Howard’s daughter.
