Danish film director Lars Von Trier described himself as a Nazi and called Israel “a pain” during the Cannes Film Festival.
Von Trier, who was at the festival to promote his film “Melancholia,” reportedly made the comments in jest.
The director, who won the festival’s highest prize, the Palme d’Or, in 2000, said during a news conference May 18 that he had thought for a long time that he was Jewish, and was happy with that. (Von Trier’s mother apparently told him on her deathbed that the man he had thought was his father was not related to him.)
“I really wanted to be a Jew, and then I found out that I was really a Nazi because, you know, my family was German, which also gave me some pleasure,” Von Trier said at the news conference.
“What can I say? I understand Hitler, but I think he did some wrong things, yes, absolutely. But I can see him sitting in his bunker in the end. He’s not what you would call a good guy, but I understand much about him, and I sympathize with him a little bit.
“But come on, I’m not for the Second World War, and I’m not against Jews. I am very much for Jews. No, not too much, because Israel is a pain in the ass.”
Von Trier’s publicists later issued a statement saying the director “sincerely apologize[d]” for the remarks.
Elan Steinberg, vice president of the American Gathering of Holocaust Survivors and their Descendants, in a statement said that “Holocaust survivors condemn Von Trier’s repulsive comments as an insensitive exploitation of victims’ suffering for self-serving promotion and publicity.
“His vulgar comments may have been made in jest and for shock, but those subjected to the brutalities of the Nazi regime cannot find amusement in recalling the torture and deaths of those terrible times. We cannot give a review of his film, but as a person Von Trier is a moral failure.”
Journalists and critics have called Von Trier’s new film a triumph and said it is in the running for the Palme d’Or. His politically charged comments could harm his film’s chances, according to reports. — jta & ap