Lars Von Trier isn’t genuinely sorry about anything except that one bird

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

Hey, remember that one time that Lars Von Trier said this then made Kirsten Dunst really uncomfortable:

“I thought I was a Jew for a long time and was very happy being a Jew…. I really wanted to be a Jew, and then I found out that I was really a Nazi…. Which also gave me some pleasure…. What can I say? I understand Hitler. But I think he did some wrong things, yes, absolutely…. I’m just saying I think I understand the man. He’s not what you would call a good guy but I…yeah, I understand much about him and I sympathize with him a little bit…. Okay, I’m a Nazi.”

During an interview with GQ, the interviewer showed Von Trier the video of himself saying these things during the Cannes Film Festival while doing press for MELANCHOLIA. This is the outline of the play by play as he watchest:

…What can I say? I understand Hitler…

“This is why I shouldn’t do interviews—I should just shut up and I should do my films. This was terrible to listen to.”

Then again, the guy has never felt genuinely sorry for anything as he told GQ. Von Trier explained, “I don’t think there is a right or wrong thing to say. I think that anything can be said. That is very much me. The same with film—anything
can be done in a film. If it can be thought in the human mind, then it could be said and it could be seen on a film. Of course you get troubles for it afterwards, that’s for sure, but that doesn’t make it wrong. To say I’m sorry for what I said is to say I’m sorry for what kind of a person I am, I’m sorry for my morals, and that would destroy me as a person. It’s not true. I’m not sorry. I am not sorry for what I said. I’m sorry that it didn’t come out more clearly. I’m not sorry that I made a joke, but I’m sorry that I didn’t make it clear that it was a joke. But I can’t be sorry for what I said—it’s against my nature.”

To check out the whole interview, head here. It’s a good read.