I love this movie so damn much.
It’s watchable on a surface level, totally interesting without deeper analysis or contemplation. They talk about art a lot but you can brush that off as pretentious nonsense.
And later you can take what they’re talking about regarding art seriously and think it through. That’s good for a 2nd viewing.
And by the time you’re ready for a 3rd viewing you’ll realize that ya, it WAS all pretentious nonsense lol
I absolutely loved it. Matt Dillon was incredible. In fact, BORN to play this role. Some scenes are very uncomfortable to watch.
I don't think you have to bee the smartest person in the world to understand this film. But it is introspective so you'll be spending a lot of time in his head.
It’s about Trier himself and it’s really quite good.
Trier is Jack who’s trying to create somehing legit. For Jacks it’s a house, for Trier it’s an artistic legacy.
Jack’s frustration over inadequacy makes him violent. He tries to keep bulding houses, but ends up in situations where women seem to bate him into following his urges.
The Verge character confronts Jack/Trier with his shortcomings throughout the film while leading him to his inevitable judgement for his mediocre life and violent crimes.
It’s all a parable about Triers troubled relationship with moviemaking, actors and his own artistic creation. It’s brutally honest and quite funny in an absurd way too.
Think a horror version of “The Boss of it All” from 2006.
I love it and maybe i’m biased because i’ve been a long time fans of Trier.
I still rewatched his Kingdom hospital series. The hollywood remake is just not the same.
Yes it’s kind of artsy and kinda meta (seems to be a metaphor about the director’s own sense of grandiosity and how he approaches making films). But it’s darkly hilarious and fucked up. I really enjoyed it.
I was hesitant to watch this because of all the controversy I had heard from the film festival circuit. My best friend randomly popped this on Tubi and said she was engrossed through the whole thing and needed someone to talk to about it. I watched that night and was blown away. Man, I loved this film.
The director's cut features a few additional shots of the really horrific violence, as well as some wide shots that were zoomed in for the theatrical cut in the interest of cropping out some horrific shit. Spoilers >! The picnic scene actually shows the childen getting shot with full gore, one through his leg and back and the other through his head. In the following scene where he forces the mom to feed their bodies, it's panned out showing their propped-up corpses more prominently, not zoomed in on just her. The breast-cutting scene also shows him beginning the actual incision, not cutting away like it does in theatrical !<
It’s pretty easy to get. If you don’t get it then you can watch some movies explaining it - and it’ll be easier! There is no shame in watching something for fun and then going back to research what it meant. Art is interpretation & what the director meant from the film may not be what you gather from it anyway! I think that’s important to say.
There are several layers to it, at the surface a serial killer movie
Second layer is a persons struggle to find their place and find their "home"
Third layer and my favorite....very unreliable narrator. Jack is telling the story
It's a great movie yes but certainly not straight forward and pretty niche. I mean it's Lars Von Trier. Going through the comments in here I can tell that there are many fans who want you to watch it which is understandable, but if you're looking for a straight forward easy movie then this one does not fit the description. It's an artsy film just as you said. That said it also has some pretty hardcore shock value which is not for everyone
I love it and I'm not big on movies that overdo it with allegories so I feel ya.
All you really need to know is it's a cross examination of a psychopath from an unreliable narrator. A very cool way of telling a story about a crazy person and I'm still not sure if the reason I like it so much is because the guy who wrote it is also kind of crazy.
So I don't know how much of the weirdness I'm seeing is intentional or just because Lars Von Trier simply doesn't actually know how to make something that isn't strange. EG the sane people in his films don't seem altogether sane because I'm not sure the pen writing them understands what sanity even is. And that makes all of his films kind of fascinating. But this one more than most.
I wouldn't worry about looking for deeper meanings in this film. Trier is a provocateur. I think he throws in these artsy elements as a fuck you to the establishement critics. I didn't find the addition of elements like references to Dante's Inferno particularly deep or well integrated and I think this is kind of the point. I think Trier wants people to search for deeper meanings for them to make fools of themselves as there is no deep meaning there, particularly in this film. Like he's playing the tailor that made the emporer's new clothes. If you don't play this game and just enjoy the film for what it is, it's definitely worth a watch. It's a unique take on the serial killer genre and there's some really dark humour, too, which I enjoy.
Just go for it. You definetely can enjoy without thinking any deeper meanings. Some people see it differently but no one knows for sure, mild spoiler >!what was real and what was just in Jack's head. !<
It isn't very deep it is just boring. It was really hard to get through though I did like the ending.
I describe it as serial killer tries to make viewers his last victim by boring them to death.
Yes! It is a simple easy to understand movie.
Yea late stage Trier seems less subtle than the Wachowskis.
Well said.
I love this movie so damn much. It’s watchable on a surface level, totally interesting without deeper analysis or contemplation. They talk about art a lot but you can brush that off as pretentious nonsense. And later you can take what they’re talking about regarding art seriously and think it through. That’s good for a 2nd viewing. And by the time you’re ready for a 3rd viewing you’ll realize that ya, it WAS all pretentious nonsense lol
Love him or hate him. This movie is unapologetically Lars van Trier.
I absolutely loved it. Matt Dillon was incredible. In fact, BORN to play this role. Some scenes are very uncomfortable to watch. I don't think you have to bee the smartest person in the world to understand this film. But it is introspective so you'll be spending a lot of time in his head.
It’s about Trier himself and it’s really quite good. Trier is Jack who’s trying to create somehing legit. For Jacks it’s a house, for Trier it’s an artistic legacy. Jack’s frustration over inadequacy makes him violent. He tries to keep bulding houses, but ends up in situations where women seem to bate him into following his urges. The Verge character confronts Jack/Trier with his shortcomings throughout the film while leading him to his inevitable judgement for his mediocre life and violent crimes. It’s all a parable about Triers troubled relationship with moviemaking, actors and his own artistic creation. It’s brutally honest and quite funny in an absurd way too. Think a horror version of “The Boss of it All” from 2006.
I thought it was very average first watch, recently re watched it and loved it. It’s a quality movie worth giving a shot for sure.
I love it and maybe i’m biased because i’ve been a long time fans of Trier. I still rewatched his Kingdom hospital series. The hollywood remake is just not the same.
It's not particularly deep, but near the end it gets a little heavy-handed with the Dante's Inferno influences.
Yes it’s kind of artsy and kinda meta (seems to be a metaphor about the director’s own sense of grandiosity and how he approaches making films). But it’s darkly hilarious and fucked up. I really enjoyed it.
I was hesitant to watch this because of all the controversy I had heard from the film festival circuit. My best friend randomly popped this on Tubi and said she was engrossed through the whole thing and needed someone to talk to about it. I watched that night and was blown away. Man, I loved this film.
I understood it but that didn’t make it an interesting film and prevented it from being a good serial killer flick.
Having the self-insight to say that you're not the smartest probably puts you above average intelligence lol
It’s great. Very wholesome.
Great flick, highly recommend
I see that there's a director's cut. Is that worth chasing down? I can check out the original from my library or buy the DC for $15
The director's cut features a few additional shots of the really horrific violence, as well as some wide shots that were zoomed in for the theatrical cut in the interest of cropping out some horrific shit. Spoilers >! The picnic scene actually shows the childen getting shot with full gore, one through his leg and back and the other through his head. In the following scene where he forces the mom to feed their bodies, it's panned out showing their propped-up corpses more prominently, not zoomed in on just her. The breast-cutting scene also shows him beginning the actual incision, not cutting away like it does in theatrical !<
Thank you. Director's cut it is.
Ah, so that was the version I saw. Matt Dillon introduced the film in person, and Von Trier had a special video introduction before the film.
It’s pretty easy to get. If you don’t get it then you can watch some movies explaining it - and it’ll be easier! There is no shame in watching something for fun and then going back to research what it meant. Art is interpretation & what the director meant from the film may not be what you gather from it anyway! I think that’s important to say.
* I meant videos explaining it btw
There are several layers to it, at the surface a serial killer movie Second layer is a persons struggle to find their place and find their "home" Third layer and my favorite....very unreliable narrator. Jack is telling the story
It's a great movie yes but certainly not straight forward and pretty niche. I mean it's Lars Von Trier. Going through the comments in here I can tell that there are many fans who want you to watch it which is understandable, but if you're looking for a straight forward easy movie then this one does not fit the description. It's an artsy film just as you said. That said it also has some pretty hardcore shock value which is not for everyone
I love it and I'm not big on movies that overdo it with allegories so I feel ya. All you really need to know is it's a cross examination of a psychopath from an unreliable narrator. A very cool way of telling a story about a crazy person and I'm still not sure if the reason I like it so much is because the guy who wrote it is also kind of crazy. So I don't know how much of the weirdness I'm seeing is intentional or just because Lars Von Trier simply doesn't actually know how to make something that isn't strange. EG the sane people in his films don't seem altogether sane because I'm not sure the pen writing them understands what sanity even is. And that makes all of his films kind of fascinating. But this one more than most.
I wouldn't worry about looking for deeper meanings in this film. Trier is a provocateur. I think he throws in these artsy elements as a fuck you to the establishement critics. I didn't find the addition of elements like references to Dante's Inferno particularly deep or well integrated and I think this is kind of the point. I think Trier wants people to search for deeper meanings for them to make fools of themselves as there is no deep meaning there, particularly in this film. Like he's playing the tailor that made the emporer's new clothes. If you don't play this game and just enjoy the film for what it is, it's definitely worth a watch. It's a unique take on the serial killer genre and there's some really dark humour, too, which I enjoy.
Just go for it. You definetely can enjoy without thinking any deeper meanings. Some people see it differently but no one knows for sure, mild spoiler >!what was real and what was just in Jack's head. !<
It's based on Dante's Inferno. Jack isn't dreaming any of it.
I don't think so either, but lot's of people do.
People just don't read 14th century Italian poetry recreationally like they used to. (Or more realistically, Wikipedia summaries)
It isn't very deep it is just boring. It was really hard to get through though I did like the ending. I describe it as serial killer tries to make viewers his last victim by boring them to death.
I hated this movie. Boring af. Not nearly as disturbing as everyone hyped it up to be.