While Lars von Trier‘s harshest critics deride his treatment of women in his films, the director — or rather his business partners — know that controversy keeps the lights on, and with that in mind it’s no surprise to hear what his next film is.
Screen Daily recently caught up with the director who revealed his next film will once again put women front and center. “I’m thinking of making a film about a woman’s erotic birth, a woman who discovers her eroticism. The working title is ‘The Nymphomaniac,’” von Trier said. He goes to explain that he actually had another film he was considering but was advised that, for funding purposes, this one was the easier sell.
“I had two titles that I put to my business partner Peter Aalbæk Jensen. One was ‘The Nymphomaniac,’ the other was ‘Dirt in Bedsores.’ I asked him which one he thought was the most commercial. He said that with a title like ‘The Nymphomaniac,’ the film would already be financed,” he said. And while we’re still recovering from how awesome “Dirt In Bedsores” as a title alone is (it also sounds like something Harmony Korine would dream up), it should be said, this is still in early stages. There’s no actress lined up for the part and von Trier admits that it might be difficult given the subject matter, but we can’t imagine it’s any more challenging than cutting off your own clitoris, stabbing a dude in the dick and jerking him off until he ejaculates blood. Just saying.
But for now, von Trier is likely priming “Melancholia” for the Croisette in May. Starring Kirsten Dunst, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Kiefer Sutherland, Charlotte Rampling, John Hurt, Alexander Skarsgård, Stellan Skarsgård and Udo Kier, the film centers on two sisters and their differing reactions to the impending doom of the planet Earth. As von Trier elaborated last fall, the film will open with the Earth getting crushed and then presumably flash back to how it happened. Dunst and Alexander Skarsgård will play a married couple who slowly come apart as Dunst accepts the fate of the upcoming end of the world, pulling away from both her work and relationship, and settling into a slower pace of life. On the other hand, her sister, played by Gainsbourg, panicking with the looming end of civilization and eager to protect the fears of her 6-year-old nephew, will try and shield him from their fate. If you can’t make it to Cannes, Magnolia has already snatched up the U.S. rights to the film and will release it later this year.
And oh yeah, von Trier is still selling his mobile home on eBay — but the reserve hasn’t been met yet. Melancholia indeed.