CANNES — Danish director Lars von Trier has never been one to mince words. The Dancer in the Dark and Breaking the Waves helmer — currently in Cannes to present Melancholia — clearly revels in creating a stir with his statements, which were ratcheted up to a new level of outrageousness with Wednesday’s admission that he was a Nazi.
Von Trier told reporters at the Melancholia press conference, “I found out I was actually a Nazi. My family were German. What can I say? I understand Hitler … I sympathize with him a bit.”
STORY: Lars von Trier Admits to Being a Nazi, Understanding Hitler
Melancholia stars Kirsten Dunst and Charlotte Gainsbourg — the 2009 winner of the best actress prize in Cannes for von Trier’s Antichrist — looked uncomfortable at Von Trier’s rambling, according to THR‘s Scott Roxborough, but they weren’t spared from his comments, either. He said that his next project with the pair would be a three- to four-hour porn film “with lots of uncomfortable sex.”
Here are other notable quotes from von Trier, whose credits include Dogville with Nicole Kidman and Manderlay starring Bryce Dallas Howard:
1. “I am the best film director in the world.” — Cannes 2009
2. ” I’m happy that I’m alive. I feel like someone coming back from Vietnam, you know; I’m sure that later on I’ll start killing people in a square somewhere, but right now, I just feel happy to be alive.” — from Jan Lumholdt’s book Lars von Trier: Interviews (Conversations with Filmmakers)
3. “I don’t care what people think of me.” — Time Out, 2005
4. “I come from a family of Communist nudists. I was allowed to do or not do what I liked. My parents were not interested in whether I went to school or got drunk on white wine.” — Die Zeit, 2005
5. On George W. Bush: “I think he’s in love with Condoleezza Rice. And he’s dreaming of being whipped by her.” — Die Zeit, 2005
