Lars von Trier isn’t really a Nazi

This morning at Cannes, Danish director Lars von Trier had a press conference (which you can watch here) for his movie ‘Melancholia’, starring Kirsten Dunst. Now, if you don’t know, von Trier is pretty goofy, and he’ll say goofy shit in interviews because that’s easier than giving a real answer.

Well this morning he was asked about the fact that his father wasn’t the man who raised him, but actually someone he never met, which was something his mother only told him on her deathbed when he was 33. This was also when he learned then that he wasn’t Jewish, but actually half Jewish and half German.

So in response to this question, Lars said…

“I really wanted to be a Jew and then I found out I was really a Nazi, because my family was German. Which also gave me some pleasure.
“What can I say? I understand Hitler. I think he did some wrong things, yes, absolutely. He’s not what you’d call a good guy, but I understand much about him and I sympathize with him a little bit.”
“I don’t mean I’m in favor of World War II and I’m not against Jews, in fact I’m very much in favor of them. All Jews. Well, Israel is a pain in the ass [pause] … How can I get out of this sentence?
OK, I’m a Nazi.”

And later when asked about independent films vs. studio films, he added…

“Yeah, we Nazis have a tendency to try to do things on a greater scale. Yeah, maybe you could persuade me [to do] The Final Solution—with journalists.”

Lars has joked that he was a Nazi before, and he didn’t mean it then either, and even though he has now apologized for what he said today, people are still freaking out. It’s not even a good joke. If you want to freak out over a joke, try this one: what’s the best part of taking a shower with a 12 year old girl? Get her hair wet and she looks 10. There. At least that’s a solid joke to complain about.

(image source = wenn)