May 28, 2011
6 notes
“…As far as I’m concerned, this is a mature response. Von Trier takes responsibility for the ‘stupid’ things he said, explains that he was ‘panicking’ when he made the comments, and proves that he has thought deeply about Hitler and Nazism. When he says that ‘the Nazi thing lies in all of us somewhere’ and that ‘it’s something that we have to fight against,’ he is talking about the same thing Hannah Arendt described as the ‘banality of evil’ in her brilliant book on history’s great atrocities, Eichmann in Jerusalem. Von Trier is reminding us that Hitler was a flesh-and-blood human being and Nazis were normal people — and that it’s vital we comprehend regular citizens’ capacity to be drawn into unspeakable acts of evil. I remember learning similar lessons in Sunday school.
“…In the past week, von Trier has turned some very unfortunate and hurtful comments into an intelligent statement on the dangers of misunderstanding the lessons of World War II. He has given the necessary and respectful apology. Does he court controversy? Yes. Do his films push limits and make us uncomfortable? Definitely. Does the dialog about his treatment of women need to continue? Of course. But it’s time for Cannes and the public to forgive him for saying that he was a Nazi or appearing to endorse Hitler — because he’s spent nearly a week proving to us that he isn’t and he doesn’t.”
/ Could We Just Forgive Lars von Trier Already? by Judy Berman
6 notes
I like provocations, but I like provocations for a reason and there was no reason here. This was just — I felt like I was driving in a car and suddenly there was a curve I hadn’t seen and I couldn’t keep the car on the track. So there was no reason for this provocation and I really regret that it happened. I believe in good provocations that can start something, but this one was completely wrong. And I’m not clever enough to understand that saying things like that in this place, of all places in the world, this was absolutely a no-go.Lars von Trier apologizing for his ‘Nazi gaffe’
“…As far as I’m concerned, this is a mature response. Von Trier takes responsibility for the ‘stupid’ things he said, explains that he was ‘panicking’ when he made the comments, and proves that he has thought deeply about Hitler and Nazism. When he says that ‘the Nazi thing lies in all of us somewhere’ and that ‘it’s something that we have to fight against,’ he is talking about the same thing Hannah Arendt described as the ‘banality of evil’ in her brilliant book on history’s great atrocities, Eichmann in Jerusalem. Von Trier is reminding us that Hitler was a flesh-and-blood human being and Nazis were normal people — and that it’s vital we comprehend regular citizens’ capacity to be drawn into unspeakable acts of evil. I remember learning similar lessons in Sunday school.
“…In the past week, von Trier has turned some very unfortunate and hurtful comments into an intelligent statement on the dangers of misunderstanding the lessons of World War II. He has given the necessary and respectful apology. Does he court controversy? Yes. Do his films push limits and make us uncomfortable? Definitely. Does the dialog about his treatment of women need to continue? Of course. But it’s time for Cannes and the public to forgive him for saying that he was a Nazi or appearing to endorse Hitler — because he’s spent nearly a week proving to us that he isn’t and he doesn’t.”
/ Could We Just Forgive Lars von Trier Already? by Judy Berman
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