233 replies to this topic

[Peter T Chattaway]

I've seen reviews calling this Lars von Trier's "best" and most "restrained" film since Europa (1991) ... which is a film that I have not yet seen. (The earliest von Trier that I've seen is The Kingdom (1994).) Still, sounds interesting!

[Ryan H.]

Overstreet, on 18 May 2011 - 10:24 AM, said:

More on Von Trier's troublemaking press conference from Pete Hammond:

If you actually watch the press conference, it's pretty clear Von Trier was just joking around. Maybe these jokes were in bad taste, but nobody should be taking these comments seriously.

Peter T Chattaway, on 18 May 2011 - 11:05 AM, said:

Still, sounds interesting!

Sure does.

[Anders]

Peter T Chattaway, on 18 May 2011 - 11:05 AM, said:

I've seen reviews calling this Lars von Trier's "best" and most "restrained" film since Europa (1991) ... which is a film that I have not yet seen. (The earliest von Trier that I've seen is The Kingdom (1994).) Still, sounds interesting!

You should check out EUROPA. I think it's probably my favourite Von Trier film. This bodes well for my enjoying MELANCHOLIA.

[Christian]

Ryan H., on 18 May 2011 - 11:08 AM, said:

Overstreet, on 18 May 2011 - 10:24 AM, said:

More on Von Trier's troublemaking press conference from Pete Hammond:

If you actually watch the press conference, it's pretty clear Von Trier was just joking around. Maybe these jokes were in bad taste, but nobody should be taking these comments seriously.

FWIW, I read that Kirsten Dunst told the press after the conference that Von Trier was being completely serious. But he's become deliberately outrageous to the point where the only thing one can do is refuse to take his behavior and sayings at face value. I must say, I enjoyed reading about the press conference more than I have any other Cannes-related coverage this year, much of which has been quite good.

As for his vow to make a porno film, hasn't he been vowing that for years? I'm thinking this "promise" preceded "The Idiots," which I never saw but remember wondering, after its release, if it was the film Von Trier referred to.

Anders, on 18 May 2011 - 11:43 AM, said:

Peter T Chattaway, on 18 May 2011 - 11:05 AM, said:

I've seen reviews calling this Lars von Trier's "best" and most "restrained" film since Europa (1991) ... which is a film that I have not yet seen. (The earliest von Trier that I've seen is The Kingdom (1994).) Still, sounds interesting!

You should check out EUROPA. I think it's probably my favourite Von Trier film. This bodes well for my enjoying MELANCHOLIA.

Yes, Zentropa was my favorite Von Trier film for years. I'm not sure it still is. The last time I saw it it failed to cast the spell over me it once had. But it's pretty great.

Edited by Christian, 18 May 2011 - 11:57 AM.

[Ryan H.]

Christian, on 18 May 2011 - 11:57 AM, said:

Anders, on 18 May 2011 - 11:43 AM, said:

Peter T Chattaway, on 18 May 2011 - 11:05 AM, said:

I've seen reviews calling this Lars von Trier's "best" and most "restrained" film since Europa (1991) ... which is a film that I have not yet seen. (The earliest von Trier that I've seen is The Kingdom (1994).) Still, sounds interesting!

You should check out EUROPA. I think it's probably my favourite Von Trier film. This bodes well for my enjoying MELANCHOLIA.

Yes, Zentropa was my favorite Von Trier film for years. I'm not sure it still is. The last time I saw it it failed to cast the spell over me it once had. But it's pretty great.

I need to revisit EUROPA/ZENTROPA.

[Tyler]

Ryan H., on 18 May 2011 - 12:03 PM, said:

Christian, on 18 May 2011 - 11:57 AM, said:

Anders, on 18 May 2011 - 11:43 AM, said:

Peter T Chattaway, on 18 May 2011 - 11:05 AM, said:

I've seen reviews calling this Lars von Trier's "best" and most "restrained" film since Europa (1991) ... which is a film that I have not yet seen. (The earliest von Trier that I've seen is The Kingdom (1994).) Still, sounds interesting!

You should check out EUROPA. I think it's probably my favourite Von Trier film. This bodes well for my enjoying MELANCHOLIA.

Yes, Zentropa was my favorite Von Trier film for years. I'm not sure it still is. The last time I saw it it failed to cast the spell over me it once had. But it's pretty great.

I need to revisit EUROPA/ZENTROPA.

It's streaming on Netflix, along with several other LtV movies.

[Ryan H.]

Glenn Heath Jr.:

Von Trier avoids antagonizing the viewer with his usual gut-punch theatrics, settling down for a story about colliding worlds, breaking façades, and shifting alliances. The relationships we carry on our shoulders are so heavy the world can literally split apart from the pressure, and there's nothing like a gigantic blue orb to put specific burdens in perspective. Melancholia finds solace in this respect by dismantling the ways expressions of love, commitment, and family can fail. The hovering balloon lanterns incinerating in the sky, an ignored photograph of a ranch, and dismantled vows are signals of an emotional world shifting off its axis. These are von Trier's cinematic cave paintings to a pulverizing overture of calamity. Melancholia descends calmly into the fiery red night with an unnerving grace only von Trier could conjure. Life on Earth may be evil, as Justine resolutely confesses in a sobering monologue to Claire, but there's hope in the mortal resignation that there might be a chance to start again, somewhere ethereal beyond the scope of cinema.

[Darren H]

Again, my friend in Cannes, offering his highest score of the fest by nearly two points:

Quote

Melancholia (8.6) - don't need controversy to make a great film, and this one is stellar (har har). Melancholia not about apocalypse, but rejecting preciousness to achieve real happiness; good idea to screen it after Tree of Life.

[Overstreet]

Dunst, seated beside Von Trier while facing the Cannes press, reacts to his statements.

Oh, haven't we all had moments like this one?

Edited by Overstreet, 19 May 2011 - 03:55 PM.

[NBooth]

Ryan H., on 18 May 2011 - 11:08 AM, said:

Overstreet, on 18 May 2011 - 10:24 AM, said:

More on Von Trier's troublemaking press conference from Pete Hammond:

If you actually watch the press conference, it's pretty clear Von Trier was just joking around. Maybe these jokes were in bad taste, but nobody should be taking these comments seriously.

And now he's banned from the festival.

Really, the whole thing reminds me of Dylan's famous declaration that he could sympathize with Kennedy's assassin, except that Von Trier seemed to realize while he was talking how tasteless his comments were and tried--at least, halfheartedly--to backpedal. But even in the scheme of tasteless-Nazi-symathizer jokes, Von Trier's comments strike me as pretty tame. Perhaps not defensible, but nothing on the level of--say--dressing up as a Nazi for a costume party.

Edited by NBooth, 19 May 2011 - 04:11 PM.

[Christian]

Darren H, on 18 May 2011 - 05:08 PM, said:

Again, my friend in Cannes, offering his highest score of the fest by nearly two points:

And all anyone can talk about is the press conference. Years from now, maybe not even that long, people are going to watch Melancholia and wonder why it didn't win any major prizes at Cannes. (Assuming the movie is as good as some say it is, which isn't to say that it might not have superior competition.)

Edited by Christian, 19 May 2011 - 04:26 PM.

[Ryan H.]

Von Trier is banned now? That's a little over-the-top, I'd say. I'd have sooner banned him for showing a film like ANTICHRIST there than any of his comments during the MELANCHOLIA press conference.

But seriously, if MELANCHOLIA is as good as people are saying it is, it's a shame Von Trier's craziness is overshadowing the film.

[Peter T Chattaway]

NBooth wrote:
: But even in the scheme of tasteless-Nazi-symathizer jokes, Von Trier's comments strike me as pretty tame. Perhaps not defensible, but nothing on the level of--say--dressing up as a Nazi for a costume party.

Not that dressing up as a Nazi for a costume party would have to signify Nazi sympathization, any more than dressing up as Darth Vader or a stormtrooper would signify Sith sympathization.

[Darrel Manson]

Ryan H., on 19 May 2011 - 05:11 PM, said:

Von Trier is banned now? That's a little over-the-top, I'd say. I'd have sooner banned him for showing a film like ANTICHRIST there than any of his comments during the MELANCHOLIA press conference.

But seriously, if MELANCHOLIA is as good as people are saying it is, it's a shame Von Trier's craziness is overshadowing the film.

While I think it's a bit over the top as well (and that his comments were amazingly stupid), I can understand why a European community might react a bit more strongly than I.

Wait. If I say I understand something that I wouldn't necessarily agree with, will I be banned?

[Ryan H.]

Darrel Manson, on 19 May 2011 - 05:51 PM, said:

If I say I understand something that I wouldn't necessarily agree with, will I be banned?

[Persona]

You guys missed the point. Cannes Schmannes, we all knew they were too uppity to understand sarcasm anyway. Or at the very least, borrowing from what SDG recently said about Herzog, "I'm never entirely sure whether he has a point to make or only a "point," i.e., whether he says what he says because it's what he really think or because he likes the effect of how it sounds." LvT has been provoking the Cannes crowd for years. Didn't he storm out after not winning for -- correct me if I'm wrong, I think it might have been Zentropa? And he launched dogme in the streets there, right? The origins of dogme are reactionary to the kinds of films he was writhing against at Cannes.

The point you missed is that the distributors have also dropped the film. So now we either never see it, or another company gets to benefit from Argentina Distribution Company's drop.

[Ryan H.]

Persona, on 19 May 2011 - 08:58 PM, said:

The point you missed is that the distributors have also dropped the film. So now we either never see it, or another company gets to benefit from Argentina Distribution Company's drop.

I'm sure another company will pick it up. A film like MELANCHOLIA is too big to just fade into nothingness.

[Persona]

Also, I forgot to say that as a huge LvT fan, the news of his mouth was a real bummer on this occasion. I kinda thought that was a topic that, well, unless you're making a film called Inglourious Basterds, you keep a distance from. There's a "No poking" clause around it. It's a humane thing.

[Darren H]

Stef, where did you hear that Magnolia won't be distributing Melancholia? As far as I know, they still have the film in the States.

[Persona]

Darren H, on 20 May 2011 - 07:29 AM, said:

Stef, where did you hear that Magnolia won't be distributing Melancholia? As far as I know, they still have the film in the States.

Oh.

The link above referred to a "Argentina Distribution Company" dropping the film. Perhaps that is only for Argentina.