Reporting From Planet Lars von Trier

.

Well this is a wonderful treat - one of MNPP's readers, the splendidly-named Jacques Dillinger (he's got his own blog right here, go read it!), took to the comments of one of our posts to share with us all some highlights (emphasis on high) from an interview that director Lars von Trier just gave in Denmark. It's all so great that I'm just going to copy and paste and share it here. Thank you so much for this, Jacques!

"Pssst! Here's some fresh news from Denmark, where Lars Von Trier gave a very rare interview at Copenhagen University this afternoon, (it last happened 9 years ago...): His possibly 8-episoded TV-series The House That Jack Built is still on, and it's a serial killer story from the serial killer's point-of-view. 

Trier said many other things, here's a few: That he can get pretty much anything financed and cast at this point in his career. That he isn't feeling good at the moment and cries a lot. That he is back to drinking, but still attends AA meetings because he loves the people there. - He drinks 'moderately' now, because it helps him to work. 

He also finally revealed what has been his drug of choice for years, which he says he stopped using around Antichrist, when he was suffering from depression: It was coke. Specifically 2 grams a day! (Plus a bottle of vodka.) 

Trier was as fierce, fragile and funny as ever, but refused to say anything controversial about Muslims, Muhammed cartoons or Hitler, although he was teased in the directions by interviewer, film studies professor Peter Schepelern. 

Trier was also asked about the long-reported Five Obstructions project with Martin Scorsese, which, he says unfortunately will probably never happen. He says that Scorsese is the nicest guy, (and teases that he is around 120 centimeters tall), but also manic-depressive with financial obligations which stunt his involvement with this long talked about project. 

Finally Trier stated again that he tries not to see any films made after he began making films himself, but that he has seen Matrix, which he thought was awesome, and he also granted that Danish Dogme masterpiece The Celebration is "a good film." He also still watches the films of Michael Haneke, whom he admires. And continues to find inspiration in the works of his greatest director heroes, Carl Th. Dreyer and Andrej Tarkovsky."

.