I'll preface by saying that I'll never be able to hear 'Fame' again without picturing Edgar's wife from Men In Black being drug down the road face down behind a van. So thank you Lars for that. I think he has a penchant for Bowie. If I recall correctly the closing credits of Dogville were set to 'Young Americans.'
Lars von Trier's latest outing definately lived up to the hype it was generating. This was a truly disturbing movie. There are not too many visuals that have plucked a raw nerve in me like seeing that boy's contorted face in the freezer did. Lars Von Trier has always been a provocateur valuing shock alongside philosophy. I've heard several analysis of this movie and one that I think makes a lot of compelling points is that the film is somewhat autobiographical. Almost as if Von Trier is speaking through Jack making an arguement for the value of his life's work.
I watched this movie in succession with the Fritz Lang classic 'M' and I thought that was a very interesting Juxtaposition seeing two very different types of madmen portrayed. The killer Hans Beckert in 'M' is horrified at his latent tendencies but acts compulsarily. He loathes the hand that has been dealt him in life but sees no way out. He is, dare I say, a somewhat sympathetic character. I also thought of Alex from 'A Clockwork Orange.' He takes immense pleasure in what he does and relishes his violent outbursts. He waits for his next chance to partake in depravity almost like a teenager waits for the weekend to cut loose. Whereas Beckert from 'M' partakes in depravity almost as a salve/medicine to ease his suffering. I think Jack is somewhere in between them. In the scenes where Jack commits his crimes he doesnt seem to be enjoying himself or apalled by himself but almost as if he is doing an obligatory task. He feels like his 'art' is the only way he can reach the world and that the world would be lesser without it. I think Lars probably feels similar. Arrogant? Yes, but isn't that what film is? Seeing the world through the eyes of different people. I've seen most of his filmography and found all of them very compelling/interesting although not always agreeable. A big difference between Lars and a lot of other film makers is that Lars takes these subjects, feelings or ideas that we as a public are fascinated with and realizes them so fully and so viscerally that we recoil not only from what we are seeing but from ourselves for being engaged. 'The House that Jack Built' is the kind of movie that will make the true crime buff not as excited to watch that serial killer documentary on the history channel. At least until the experience wears off and we can slip back into sipping our cans of 'Depravity-Lite' again. I think that's kind of powerful. The only other movie that I can think of off them top of my head that had that effect on me was Michael Haneke's 'Funny Games.'
But the film definately raises the question on the fundemental elements that must be in place to facilitate art. Is there anyone who would say that Poe's 'The Raven' is not an important entry to culture? There is no love in it. Only despair and torment. I think art for me is creative observations of facets of humanity as a whole. Even the parts we don't like to think about.
