A new Von Trier usually has cinephiles intrigued, you can't really discount the writer-director of "Breaking the Waves," "Dancer in the Dark," "Melancholia," and "Dogville," despite the fact that the last few years he's kind of lost a touch of himself with bouts of schizophrenia and depression which led to manic press conferences at Cannes in which he showed compassion for Hitler and insulted Nicolas Windig Refn. Also, despite the buzz that came before its release, "Nymphomaniac" was just not that good.
His latest endeavor into madness is "The House That Jack Built," a Matt Dillon-starring serial killer drama which I said last year "will surely be Cannes-bound." Well, the lineup for the 71st edition of the festival was announced earlier this week and "The House That Jack Built" was nowehere to be found.
I was told that the film perplexed the Cannes committee, headed by Festival Director Thierry Fremuax. They really didn't know what to do with the film, even if Von Trier has become a staple of the festival with every film he's released since "Dancer in the Dark" won the Palme D'Or back in 2000.
A report by French media Wask pictures a frantic Cannes committee offering Von Trier's latest film an "out-of-competition" slot, which was categorically refused by the director. According to the report, Von Trier is still trying to convince the general delegates of the fest to let him be part of the competition.
Von Trier told The Guardian earlier last year that 'The House That Jack Built," was inspired by Donald Trump: “'The House That Jack Built’ celebrates the idea that life is evil and soulless, which is sadly proven by the recent rise of the Homo trumpus – the rat king,”
The Official Synopsis:
Set in Washington during the ’70s and ’80s, and stretching out across twelve years, the story will be told from the point of view of Jack (played by Matt Dillon), and chronicle his development into a serial killer, all while he tries to finish his “masterpiece” as he eludes capture. So far, the only other cast member is Bruno Ganz, but there are four prominent female roles that are yet to be cast, and hopefully we’ll hear about those soon.