Lars Von Trier Questioned by Police Over Cannes Statements

Danish filmmaker Lars Von Trier announced that he had been questioned by the police in Denmark over the controversial comments he made during Cannes 2011.

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“Today at 2 p.m. I was questioned by the Police of North Zealand in connection with charges made by the prosecution of Grasse in France from August 2011 regarding a possible violation of prohibition in French law against justification of war crimes,” he wrote in a statement.

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“Due to these serious accusations I have realized that I do not possess the skills to express myself unequivocally and I have therefore decided from this day forth to refrain from all public statements and interviews,” the Melancholia filmmaker continued.

At the Melancholia press conference at Cannes, Von Trier made a shocking statement when asked about his Germanic roots.

“For a long time I thought I was a Jew and I was happy to be a Jew,” he began, “then I  met (Danish and Jewish director) Susanne Bier and I wasn’t so happy. But then I found out I was actually a Nazi. My family were German. And that also gave me some pleasure. What can I say? I understand Hitler…I sympathize with him a bit.”

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Von Trier qualified that “I don’t mean I’m in favor of World War II and I’m not against Jews, not even Susanne Bier” before digging himself deeper. “In fact I’m very much in favor of them. All Jews. Well, Israel is a pain in the ass but…”

Von Trier apologized shortly after he made the statements, but was eventually banned from the festival. He later took back his apology.