Director Lars Von Trier is thrown out of Cannes Film festival

[Jesse Watts]

This was an absolute train wreck! What was this guy thinking!?

Video:

Article:

http://beta.news.yahoo.com/von-trier-regrets-hitler-remarks-likes-title-160038563.html

[chrisnewton]

It is well known that Mr. Von Trier has some serious mental health issues, notably bouts of manic depression. So much so that on "Antichrist" he would disappear for hours on end and they would find him in a near catatonic state off in the woods somewhere. He shouldn't have said what he did, but we shouldn't judge too quickly. Remember Bobby Fischer and his rants near the end of his life? Mental illness isn't pretty.

Chris Newton

[justanross]

It is well known that Mr. Von Trier has some serious mental health issues, notably bouts of manic depression. So much so that on "Antichrist" he would disappear for hours on end and they would find him in a near catatonic state off in the woods somewhere. He shouldn't have said what he did, but we shouldn't judge too quickly. Remember Bobby Fischer and his rants near the end of his life? Mental illness isn't pretty.

Chris Newton

I would never have thought that by his happy films.

[geordi]

Oy vey! Talk about putting your foot in your mouth... Stepping on a verbal land mine, he didn't just step on it, he jumped around on it, then somehow made it worse!

Kirsten Dunst sitting next to him there looked like she wished she was ANYWHERE else right then.

[Mirror]

Just watched the clip.

Is 'Nazi' the new N word?  I remember in the 60's and 70's you could wear Nazis helmets and partial uniforms around and no one took it as serious as people do now.  And that's when your dad fought against the Nazis in WWII.  Now you can't even say Nazi without people being so outraged they want to string you up.

I get what he was saying.  He doesn't condone what Hitler did but that he understands where he was coming from considering Hitlers skewed background.  Actors do it all the time when they "get in the head" of a character.  This guy made some stupid jokes that went over like a turd in a punchbowl, but who doesn't say something they regret from time to time.  Particularly when you're put on the spot in front of a crowd and are expected to be entertaining when you know dang well that you aren't.  I do have to say that I don't get the Albert Spier comment though.  Give the guy a break

[arovinsky]

Lars Von Trier is and has been a smartass contrarian  his whole career. He also seems to have a need  to say (or do) the most politically incorrect thing in any situation.  For years he made misogynist films that pretended to be feminist; Bjork famously wouldn't speak with him when she won the Palme D'Or for the wretched Dancer in the Dark. So now he said he's a Nazi. Then he retracted it and said he himself is Jewish, because the man who turned out to be his step father (as opposed to his father) was Jewish!!!?

So Cannes expelled him from the Festival and made him Persona Non Grata?

I think Von Trier is an immature jerk and a misogynist, but I also think that Cannes over-reacted.

They're probably just tired of his crap,  but making it official is a bit much.

And for what it's worth, yes, I am Jewish.

[RPSharman]

Just watched the clip.

Is 'Nazi' the new N word?  I remember in the 60's and 70's you could wear Nazis helmets and partial uniforms around and no one took it as serious as people do now.  And that's when your dad fought against the Nazis in WWII.  Now you can't even say Nazi without people being so outraged they want to string you up.

I get what he was saying.  He doesn't condone what Hitler did but that he understands where he was coming from considering Hitlers skewed background.  Actors do it all the time when they "get in the head" of a character.  This guy made some stupid jokes that went over like a turd in a punchbowl, but who doesn't say something they regret from time to time.  Particularly when you're put on the spot in front of a crowd and are expected to be entertaining when you know dang well that you aren't.  I do have to say that I don't get the Albert Spier comment though.  Give the guy a break

I agree.

And even though it shouldn't matter, I am of Jewish heritage.

Robert

[afewmoreyears]

"Understands where he was coming from"  Are you kidding....?  really?

Throw him under the bus and put it in reverse and drive over him 10 times.... What an idiot. Just what did he "understand" about anything that went down... Sorry, I don't understand.... I never will, nor do I understand anyone who beats down the path of turning the Holocaust into something we can understand. If you can understand it, you probably have problems... Not historically, but why....

  Hitlers skewed background?  Millions of people have "skewed backgrounds" all over the world, seldom do they mass murder millions of people, and NOT just Jews.

  As for my dad, yes, he did fight against them in WWII, he hunted down and brought Nazis in for trial, He saw the camps, and later, so did I...and I can tell you, nobody in my family was wearing helmets or Nazi clothes... Nor was that an accepted form of behavior. Ask any vetran of that era... It was an insult, and still is...  As long as my dad was alive, he never bought German made products.. I still cringe when I see bikers with that helmet... WTF?  I have nothing against the modern German people, but those artifacts carry a special meaning, and one that should not be taken lightly IMHO.

F--k that guy....  what an idiot. If he really feels like thinking those thoughts, good for him, but to be dumb enough to air them at a venue like that is unimaginable... or, mentally unstable... pick one.

[Kevin Sorensen]

Having just returned from Washington D.C. and seeing many of the memorials there. The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

will remain forever eched in my memory. After spending a few hours there on the two tours that we took, its very hard to

believe anyone could find humor in one of  the most tragic events that ever happend to the human race.

Sorry, but " mental health "  is a poor excuse.

[RPSharman]

After spending a few hours there on the two tours that we took, its very hard to

believe anyone could find humor in one of  the most tragic events that ever happened to the human race.

I don't believe he was trying to find humor in the Holocaust.  There is no humor in the Holocaust.  He was trying find his way out of an awkward moment with humor, which clearly didn't work very well.  And I believe his lack of command for the English language led him into this very awkward moment.

I don't know anything about the man, but based on this clip, I believe he deserves a break.

Robert

[Kevin Sorensen]

Robert, No argument from me. Well spoken.

Cheers.

[RadoStefanov]

Lost in translation....

He must have said I understand Why people followed Hitler. Historicly speaking Europe screwed the Germans  for a very long time before Hitler showed up.

But he might just be is having a mentally chalenged moment.

Or maybe he knew it is going to be a bad publicity.

Any publicity is a bad publicity.

In Europe there is a zero tolerance towards any kind of Racism or Nazi sympathizing which I tottaly support.

Robert, No argument from me. Well spoken.

Cheers.

[Marco Lopez]

It was indeed a stupid comment. My question is, is this reaction based on the fact that we feel guilty of how we failed as a human society after the II WW? Because imho, eventually we ended up being something worse...I'm referring to the slow acceptance of the Big Brother controlling system ( cameras in subways, supermarkets, ATM's, streets etc...), the bank system, the oil wars, a bad health/educational system, the disappointing political system, the uprising of the extreme Right Wing in Europe...Or is it fear, that we are heading again towards the same situation that human society was before the II WW?

[jason porter]

All I heard was a guy trying to be sarcastic and no one getting the joke (because it wasn't funny)

[Noah Timan]

Just what did he "understand" about anything that went down... Sorry, I don't understand.... I never will, nor do I understand anyone who beats down the path of turning the Holocaust into something we can understand. If you can understand it, you probably have problems... Not historically, but why....

  Hitlers skewed background?  Millions of people have "skewed backgrounds" all over the world, seldom do they mass murder millions of people, and NOT just Jews.

  As for my dad, yes, he did fight against them in WWII, he hunted down and brought Nazis in for trial, He saw the camps, and later, so did I...and I can tell you, nobody in my family was wearing helmets or Nazi clothes... Nor was that an accepted form of behavior.

Thank you.

There isn't really a shortage of things that we can find to be cute about.  Genocide isn't one of them. 

Kudos to Cannes for telling him not to let the door hit his ass on the way out.

[Noah Timan]

Lost in translation....

He must have said I understand Why people followed Hitler. Historicly speaking Europe screwed the Germans  for a very long time before Hitler showed up.

So the "very long time" you are referring to is the 14 years between A) the Germans trying to occupy Europe in WWI, failing, and signing the armistice in 1918 -- and the Nazis coming to power in 1932 and starting all over again?