Latest news with #DancerintheDark
Tatler Asia
26-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Tatler Asia
Boo first, applaud later: 12 Cannes cult classics that outlived the jeers
2. 'Dancer in the Dark' (2000) Lars von Trier has a long, messy relationship with Cannes, and Dancer in the Dark is his most operatic offence. This heartbreaking musical stars Björk as a blind factory worker saving up for her son's eye surgery. Between tearjerking tragedies and abrupt, dreamlike musical numbers, audiences were split—some moved to tears, others to the exits. The Palme d'Or win didn't silence the sceptics, but in time, its raw emotion, jagged beauty and Björk's once-in-a-lifetime performance cemented its status as one of the strangest, saddest musicals ever made. 3. 'Crash' (1996) Not to be confused with the Oscar-winning drama of the same name, this David Cronenberg film is about car crash fetishists. Based on the J.G. Ballard novel, Crash features James Spader and Holly Hunter in a world where mangled metal equals erotic thrill. When it screened at Cannes, audience members reportedly fled the theatre in disgust, and one jury member called it 'the most repulsive film' he'd ever seen. Naturally, it's now a cult classic—studied, fetishised and deeply respected as a bold examination of modern alienation and obsession. 4. 'The Neon Demon' (2016) Nicolas Winding Refn's blood-soaked, neon-lit descent into the fashion industry might as well have come with a 'Viewer Discretion Advised' warning. Elle Fanning stars as an aspiring model who becomes the target of envy, violence and possibly supernatural forces. At Cannes, the film's cannibalism, necrophilia and vacant stares drew audible gasps and widespread mockery. But over time, its high-gloss aesthetic and unflinching nihilism found its tribe. Now, it lives on in mood boards and horror-film retrospectives as goth couture gold. 5. 'The Tree of Life' (2011) Terrence Malick's metaphysical epic, featuring dinosaurs, galactic wombs and Jessica Chastain twirling in sunlight, was booed by audiences who just wanted a linear story, or at least a clear point. Instead, they got a meditation on grief, grace and the cosmos. Brad Pitt plays a strict 1950s father, while Sean Penn wanders through modern architecture looking confused. The film was either an existential masterpiece or a pretentious snoozefest, depending on who you asked. A decade later, it's lauded as one of the most ambitious films of the 21st century. This is definitely one of the most memorable Cannes cult classics. 6. 'Southland Tales' (2006) After the success of Donnie Darko , Richard Kelly went full apocalypse in this chaotic messiah satire starring Dwayne Johnson, Seann William Scott and Justin Timberlake lip-syncing to The Killers in a military uniform. Cannes audiences weren't impressed. It was long, incoherent and drowning in references to everything from Revelations to reality TV. The boos were deafening. But in hindsight, Southland Tales reads like a prophecy—one that predicted the era of influencer politics and media collapse. It's a misunderstood fever dream turned Cannes cult classic. 7. 'L'Avventura' (1960) Michelangelo Antonioni's L'Avventura might be the OG of Cannes boos. A woman disappears during a Mediterranean yachting trip, but no one really tries that hard to find her. Instead, the remaining characters drift into existential malaise and complicated affairs. Viewers in 1960 were outraged. Where's the plot? Where's the resolution? But that's the point. What was once called boring is now recognised as revolutionary. It broke the rules of narrative and gave mood as story. Today, it's a textbook staple for film students and arthouse lovers. 8. 'Inglourious Basterds' (2009) When Quentin Tarantino returned to Cannes with this revisionist WWII flick, not everyone was thrilled by the sight of Hitler getting shot in a burning movie theatre. Some critics were uneasy with its gleeful violence and alternate history. But others saw brilliance in Christoph Waltz's turn as a charmingly cruel Nazi and the film's operatic tension. Despite early grumbles, Inglourious Basterds became a critical and commercial hit—and another entry in Tarantino's long list of genre-bending cult masterpieces. 9. 'The House That Jack Built' (2018) Only Lars von Trier could turn serial killing into a philosophical monologue. In this deeply polarising horror film, Matt Dillon plays Jack, a murderer who sees his crimes as art. The audience? Not so sure. With graphic violence, disturbing imagery and a finale that literally ends in Hell, over 100 Cannes attendees walked out. Still, for those who stayed, the film offered a provocative and chilling examination of art, cruelty and the male ego. Uncomfortable? Absolutely. Unforgettable? Even more so. See more: 5 cult classic movies that are so bad, they're good 10. 'The Brown Bunny' (2003) The boos were biblical. Vincent Gallo's slow, minimal road film—with an infamous scene with Chloë Sevigny—was the scandal of Cannes. Critics pounced, with Roger Ebert calling it one of the worst films ever screened at the festival. Gallo, never one to shy away from drama, fired back. Years later, a re-edited version emerged, and some began to see it differently: a meditative, melancholy look at guilt and male fragility. Still divisive, but undeniably unforgettable. 11. 'Marie Antoinette' (2006) Sofia Coppola dared to punk-rock Versailles. Set to New Order and Bow Wow Wow, her pastel-soaked portrayal of France's most infamous teen royal (played with vacant charm by Kirsten Dunst) was met with chilly disdain at Cannes. Audiences wanted powdered wigs; Coppola gave them Converse sneakers and ennui. But years later, Marie Antoinette is beloved for exactly that, a cotton-candy rebellion that made historical fiction chic again. This film is well beyond a list of Cannes cult classics. 12. 'Only God Forgives' (2013) Nicolas Winding Refn reunited with Ryan Gosling post- Drive for this Thai neon fever dream, but the reception at Cannes was anything but romantic. The film, featuring Gosling as a near-mute boxer avenging his brother's death, was booed for being ultra-violent, glacially slow and proudly opaque. But style-wise? It's jaw-dropping. As time passed, its hypnotic visuals, synth soundtrack and Kristen Scott Thomas's terrifying mother-from-hell performance have earned it a strange, silent cult following.
Yahoo
13-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Director Lars von Trier admitted to care facility for Parkinson's disease
Danish film director Lars von Trier has been admitted to a care facility for Parkinson's disease, his producer said Wednesday. 'Lars is currently associated with a care centre that can provide him with the treatment and care his condition requires,' Louise Vesth, a producer at von Trier's production company Zentropa, wrote on Instagram, according to a translation. 'Lars is doing well under the circumstances.' Vesth clarified that she was sharing the news because of speculation in the Danish media, and declined to offer any additional comments. The 'Melancholia' and 'Breaking the Waves' director, 68, publicly revealed his diagnosis in 2022. During an interview with Variety at the time, he opened up on how his condition had affected his work. 'It's a disease you can't take away; you can work with the symptoms, though,' he said. 'I just have to get used to that I shake and not be shameful in front of people. And then continue because what else should I do?' Von Trier, known for his disturbing and stylized work, is one of the most acclaimed film directors living today. His musical-tragedy 'Dancer in the Dark,' starring Icelandic singer Björk, won the Palme D'Or at the Cannes Film Festival in 2000. Kirsten Dunst won Best Actress at the same festival in 2011 for her turn in the psychological sci-fi drama 'Melancholia.' Von Trier is reportedly working on a new film about death and the afterlife, drawing on his own mortality to inspire the story. The film received a grant from the Danish Film Institute last September. '(The film) has always been designed to be made based on Lars' physical condition,' producer Peter Aalbæk Jensen said this week. 'He has always used limitations for something creative, and now it is his own physical limitation that he incorporates into the creative.' The film, titled 'After,' will be his first since 2018's 'The House That Jack Built,' starring Matt Dillon. _____
The Independent
12-02-2025
- Entertainment
- The Independent
Lars von Trier admitted to care centre for Parkinson's treatment
Lars von Trier has been admitted to a care centre where he will receive treatment for Parkinson's disease. The Danish filmmaker, 68, is known for his dark and provocative films including Dancer in the Dark, Nymphomaniac and Melancholia. In 2022, he went public with his Parkinson's diagnosis. In a new statement posted on the Instagram account of von Trier's production company Zentropa, producer Louise Vesth said in Danish: 'Lars is currently in a care centre that can provide him with the treatment and care his condition requires. 'It's a complement to his own private accommodation. Lars is doing well under the circumstances.' She went on to ask that his privacy be respected. The auteur has frequently courted controversy throughout his career. In 2023, he came under fire from the Ukrainian government after saying that 'Russian lives matter also' on social media. That August, von Trier had shared a post about Russia's ongoing invasion in Ukraine, saying: 'By the way: To Mr Zelenskyy and Mr Putin and, last but not least, Ms Frederiksen [Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen] (who yesterday posed, beaming, inside of one of today's most horrifying killing machines, as if she was head over heels in love). 'Russian lives matter also! Best regards, Lars.' In 2011, he was banned from the Cannes Film Festival for telling the world's media he was "a Nazi" and could "understand Hitler". He later apologized for the comments and returned to the festival with his 2018 serial killer thriller The House That Jack Built. He also denied sexual harassment allegations made against him by his Dancer in the Dark star Björk. In a 2018 interview with AlloCiné, von Trier said: 'You know, 90% of the journalists I spoke to believe that I harassed Björk, but that's ridiculous because I denied it, but no one wrote it. 'Because a good story is to write that I harassed her. And this is not the case. I touched her, it's true. I did it with all my actresses. Because she was doing a really intense job: screaming, being sick…so obviously I hugged her. But if she thinks a hug is harassment, then I think I will not be able to succeed without touching my actors." He added: 'I did not touch her in the wrong places, I think.' In a The Independent's Kaleem Aftab wrote than von Trier was 'back to doing what he does best, making psychological dramas that essay toxic masculinity.'
