Lars Von Trier Says He'll No Longer Do Interviews; Faces Investigation Over Cannes Comments

From the 'blown way the hell out of proportion' file: Lars von Trier has now been questioned by Danish police over comments he made at this year's Cannes Film Festival. The comments in question are those in which he said he sympathized with Hitler — essentially a poorly-considered moment in which he took a wrong track down a meandering train of thought in response to a question about his family history. The comments had him declared 'persona non grata' at Cannes and have had deeper repercussions than any of us would have anticipated.

The director has apologized for those comments, then refused to apologize, then even poked fun at the response in a promo poster for Melancholia, which bore a 'persona non grata' stamp. But now he's backing off once more — from everyone. After being questioned by police, Lars von Trier has issued a statement saying that he'll no longer speak in public or do interviews.

In a statement released today the director says,

Today at 2 pm I was questioned by the Police of North Zealand in connection with charges made by the prosecution of Grasse in France from August 2011 regarding a possible violation of prohibition in French law against justification of war crimes. The investigation covers comments made during the press conference in Cannes in May 2011. Due to these serious accusations I have realized that I do not possess the skills to express myself unequivocally and I have therefore decided from this day forth to refrain from all public statements and interviews.Lars von Trier

Avedøre, 5. October 2011

Does this mean he'll never do another interview? Perhaps Badass Digest scored one of the last interviews with the director? Or has his lawyer simply said 'be cool for now,' so that if this blows over he can go back to being a provocateur? And, more than anything else: an investigation? Seriously? Anyone who looks at the press conference video can see that Trier is making a lame attempt at a joke, and that he's just meandering with no malicious intent.