“Melancholia” is Lars von Trier’s intelligent, melodramatic, achingly beautiful and wickedly funny new film. It tells the story of Justine (a transcendent Kirsten Dunst), a severe depressive, and her doting and practical sister, Claire (Charlotte Gainsbourg). Justine’s depression takes the corporeal shape of a planet called Melancholia, which is on a steady collision course with [...]
How are you doing with your new year’s resolutions? Did you start this month with enthusiasm and optimism? We seem to enjoy this annual ritual of creating restrictions for ourselves. Some restrictions which seem to complement each other (like exercising and eating less chocolate) in fact serve to double the challenge (burning more calories while [...]
The Cannes Film Festival declared Danish filmmaker Lars Von Trier a “persona non grata” and banned him from the festival Wednesday for saying he sympathizes with Hitler. The remarks came as the filmmaker told an awkward, rambling joke during a news conference to promote his film “Melancholia.” “What can I say? I understand Hitler, but [...]
Zentropa released a new clip of Lars Von Trier’s upcoming apocalyptic drama “Melancholia” this week. The clip features sisters (played by Kirsten Dunst and Charlotte Gainsbourg) discussing the nature of the life on earth while the specter of major catasrophe looms large. Watch:
Self promotion and unfettered egotism have served director Lars Von Trier well. After he proclaimed himself “the greatest film director in the world” at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival premier of his controversial “Antichrist,” he enjoyed loads of press and a significant spike in interest in the film. Now, two years later, the Danish filmmaker’s [...]
As Lars Von Trier’s “Antichrist” arrives on DVD, I felt compelled give the film a second viewing. What I found was this: despite the overwhelming controversy surrounding the film’s gratuitous sexual violence, the most troubling, terrifying moments in “Antichrist” were essentially sexless and bloodless — and talking fox-less. I realized that much of “Antichrist’s” terror [...]
I must confess to a prejudice: I hate films that don’t change spaces. At the theatre, it doesn’t matter to me if there are no set alterations and every scene takes place in the same location; when it comes to film, I want to move from one space to another. This may sound like an [...]
Controversial Danish filmmaker Lars von Trier, known for his graphic and challenging films like “Antichrist” and “Breaking the Waves” has a new trick up his sleeve…Roland Emmerich style. According to Variety, the auteur’s next feature will be a disaster movie with psychological and dramatic elements titled, “Melancholia.” The title is shorthand for Planet Melancholia, a [...]
Lars von Trier’s controversial film, “Antichrist” will get a circa-Halloween release in Los Angeles and New York, with the film going out Oct. 23, reports Variety. IFC, the film’s largest buyer at the Cannes Film Festival, snatched up the surreal, psycho-erotic horror thriller starring Charlotte Gainsbourg and Willem Dafoe during the festival. The film caused [...]
Michael Haneke’s “The White Ribbon,” won top honors at the 62nd Cannes Film Festival, the Palme d’Or (Golden Palm). Sony Pictures Classics has acquired the North American rights to the black-and-white WWI drama. Jacques Audiard’s gritty prison drama, “A Prophet” won the Grand Prix, Christoph Waltz took top actor honors for Quentin Tarantino’s “Inglourious Basterds,” [...]
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