September 20, 2011
Director retracts apology for Hitler sympathy at Cannes
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Lars Von Trier promoting "Melancholia" at the Cannes film festival in 2011. Photo by Georges Biard
Director Lars von Trier has retracted his apology for his expressions of sympathy for Hitler and Nazis at the Cannes Film Festival.
In an interview in this month’s GQ magazine, von Trier said his apologies at and immediately after Cannes, where he was declared a persona non grata and removed from the festival in May, were not sincere and forced, the Toronto Sun reported.
“I’m not sorry. I am not sorry for what I said,” he reportedly told GQ. “I’m sorry that it didn’t come out more clearly. I’m not sorry that I made a joke. But I’m sorry that I didn’t make it clear that it was a joke.”
Von Trier had said during a news conference at Cannes that “I really wanted to be a Jew, and then I found out that I was really a Nazi because, you know, my family was German, which also gave me some pleasure.
“What can I say? I understand Hitler, but I think he did some wrong things, yes, absolutely. But I can see him sitting in his bunker in the end. He’s not what you would call a good guy, but I understand much about him and I sympathize with him a little bit. But come on, I’m not for the Second World War, and I’m not against Jews. I am very much for Jews. No, not too much, because Israel is a pain in the ass.”
