One of the bigger stories surrounding the Cannes Film Festival this May is the addition of filmmaker Lars von Trier’s latest work, “The House That Jack Built,” as an out-of-competition selection. Von Trier was famously banned from Cannes back in 2011 after making comments that were deemed sympathetic towards Hitler and the Nazis. However, after seven years, von Trier is back in France premiering his latest film.
And in an email to IndieWire, Cannes boss Thierry Fremaux is opening up as to why the time was now for von Trier to come back to the prestigious event. Suffice to say, Fremaux doesn’t think the punishment fit the crime.
However, the reason von Trier is back is simple. He’s a great filmmaker and made a quality film that Cannes wanted to debut. “His film is out of competition because it is such a singular object, a subject so controversial, that this was his best place,” Fremaux said. “And whether we like it or not, we are dealing with a great film and a great filmmaker.”
But as mentioned above, Fremaux is clearly someone that didn’t necessarily agree with the banning of von Trier. As we’ve mentioned before, the brain trust at Cannes has been divided on the subject of the controversial director, with some wanting the ban to be in effect, while others (including Fremaux) have been lobbying to get von Trier back sooner than later.
“I am personally happy that Lars von Trier is here because it is time to acknowledge that he was a victim, certainly of his bad jokes, but also of a punishment that was disproportionate and that had lasted long enough,” Fremaux said.
The folks at Cannes will get to see whether or not ‘Jack’ is the film that is worthy of von Trier’s return when the film debuts in early May. However, for the rest of us, we’ll have to wait until the film in the Fall.