![]() The Cannes screening surprised many, not only because the material clearly aims to shock with its depictions of horrific violence, but because Cannes festival director Thierry Fremaux had banned von Trier in 2011, declaring him “persona non grata” after the director compared himself to Adolf Hitler and then alluded to himself as a Nazi. And yet, his games have grown tiresome and predictable over the years, leaving The House That Jack Built nothing to love or hate, but merely something to shrug off as yet another Lars von Trier film.Īfter a divisive premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, IFC has released The House That Jack Built stateside in a two-and-a-half-hour R-rated cut, somewhat trimmed from the original unrated “director’s cut” version, which will debut on digital platforms in mid-2019. Love or hate, that’s what von Trier wants polarized reactions fulfill his narcissistic need for attention. As von Trier goads his audience into a reaction, he doesn’t seem to care whether that reaction is unabashed praise from his devoted cinephiles, who are perhaps too quick to defend whatever von Trier does given its aesthetic merits and authorship, or the disapprovals from critics, who have grown tired of the director’s antics. With his gristly, didactic tale of a serial killer, the Danish filmmaker seeks to justify his sometimes unpopular personal and artistic choices by arguing his case with an unsubtle metaphor, while remaining all-too-aware that his arguments and methods will be used against him-to the extent that this awareness becomes, tediously, part of the film. Lars von Trier’s latest cinematic provocation, The House That Jack Built, arrives with a host of punishing images and themes designed to stimulate his audience one way or another.
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