You know what a press conference with Kirsten Dunst and Charlotte Gainsbourg doesn’t need? Barely sensical Nazi jokes from Lars Von Trier. The Melancholia director made his beautiful stars visibly uncomfortable earlier today when he decided to talk about how he “understands” Hitler, among other Nazi things. FYI, the man who raised Von Trier was Jewish, though Lars later learned he was actually the product of an affair his mom had with her German employer:
The only thing I can tell you is that I thought I was a Jew for a long time and was very happy being a Jew, then later on came [director] Susanne Bier, and suddenly I wasn’t so happy about being a Jew. That was a joke. Sorry. But it turned out that I was not a Jew. If I’d been a Jew, then I would be a second-wave Jew, a kind of a new-wave Jew, but anyway, I really wanted to be a Jew and then I found out that I was really a Nazi, because my family is German. And that also gave me some pleasure.
So, I, what can I say? I understand Hitler. I think he did some wrong things but I can see him sitting in his bunker. I’m saying that I think I understand the man. He is not what we could call a good guy, but yeah, I understand much about him and I sympathize with him.. But come on! I’m not for the Second World War. And I’m not against Jews. No, not even Susanne Bier. I am very much for them. As much as Israelis are a pain in the ass. How do I get out of this sentence? Okay, I am a Nazi. As for the art, I’m for Speer. Albert Speer I liked. He was also one of God’s best children. He has a talent that…Okay, enough.
On top of that riffage (which had Dunst diving behind him, crying “Oh god!”), Von Trier also joked about her and Gainsbourg wanting to make a porno with him (“They said, ‘we don’t give a s— about dialogue. We just want to have a lot of very, very unpleasant sex.’”), and praised Dunst for her “knowledge of depression.” While those familiar with Von Trier’s wit (and work) won’t be too scandalized by any of this, it really would be a shame if his loose tongue distracted innocents from the film itself, which looks crazy enough without his commentary. See photos of the film’s stars in the gallery below.
[Photo: Getty Images]
