THE HOUSE THAT JACK BUILT
In seinem neuesten Film erzählt Lars von Trier die Geschichte eines hochintelligenten Serienkillers
namens Jack (Matt Dillon) im Zeitraum von zwölf Jahren aus dessen Perspektive. Jack betrachtet jeden einzelnen seiner Morde
als Kunstwerk und tauscht sich mit seinen Gedanken regelmäßig mit dem mysteriösen Verge (Bruno Ganz) aus. Während die Polizei
dem Killer über die Jahre immer dichter auf den Fersen ist, geht Jack immer größere Risiken ein, denn er ist noch nicht zufrieden
mit seinem Werk...
In Memoriam Bruno Ganz - einer der ganz großen Schauspieler im deutschprachigen Raum - hier in seiner letzten Kinorolle zu sehen.
In Memoriam Bruno Ganz - einer der ganz großen Schauspieler im deutschprachigen Raum - hier in seiner letzten Kinorolle zu sehen.
Auch in seinem aktuellen
Werk nimmt Lars von Trier keine Gefangenen. Diesmal schickt er Matt Dillon als unterkühlten Serienkiller los, der es auf Tiere,
Kinder und Frauen abgesehen hat, aber nicht nur. Fünf „Zwischenfälle“ aus der Laufbahn eines Mörders – wobei die Mittel des
ewigen Provokateurs so drastisch sind wie eh und je. Der Humor reicht oft ins finster Groteske und die (mitunter tabubrechende)
Gewalt ist schmerzhaft explizit, während Von Trier in ideenreicher, sadomasochistischer Selbsttherapie einmal mehr seine eigenen
Dämonen adressiert. Ein ebenso anstrengender wie absorbierender Film-Aufreger. (Sascha Rettig)
Two voices from the dark, two men in conversation on the way to the other side: That is the basic premise for Lars von Trier’s THE HOUSE THAT JACK BUILT. Jack is a serial killer, a psychopath and a narcissist with a knack for aesthetic theory. He tells about his work in a series of flashbacks, each concerning “incidents” from his bizarre spell of killings. The man on the listening end in this morality play is called Verge, as in “on the verge”, supposedly, even if there are hints on the Roman poet Vergil – who was of course the guide in Dante’s “The Divine Comedy”. This visionary text is the main inspiration for THE HOUSE THAT JACK BUILT: the deeds of Jack may be extremely hard to stomach, but there is something like accountability, even if it is aesthetical in its own way. Tellingly not only the atrocities of Jack are flashbacks, there are also glimpses of prior works by Lars von Trier, which makes THE HOUSE THAT JACK BUILT a summary of his own creations. And somehow the most repulsive of his movies becomes also his most consoling. The hell of psychopathology is not the last word. The last word is an image resonant of concepts (and images) of humanity: knowing the difference between good and evil. (Bert Rebhandl)
Two voices from the dark, two men in conversation on the way to the other side: That is the basic premise for Lars von Trier’s THE HOUSE THAT JACK BUILT. Jack is a serial killer, a psychopath and a narcissist with a knack for aesthetic theory. He tells about his work in a series of flashbacks, each concerning “incidents” from his bizarre spell of killings. The man on the listening end in this morality play is called Verge, as in “on the verge”, supposedly, even if there are hints on the Roman poet Vergil – who was of course the guide in Dante’s “The Divine Comedy”. This visionary text is the main inspiration for THE HOUSE THAT JACK BUILT: the deeds of Jack may be extremely hard to stomach, but there is something like accountability, even if it is aesthetical in its own way. Tellingly not only the atrocities of Jack are flashbacks, there are also glimpses of prior works by Lars von Trier, which makes THE HOUSE THAT JACK BUILT a summary of his own creations. And somehow the most repulsive of his movies becomes also his most consoling. The hell of psychopathology is not the last word. The last word is an image resonant of concepts (and images) of humanity: knowing the difference between good and evil. (Bert Rebhandl)
„THE
HOUSE THAT JACK BUILT ist eine düstere und sinistre Story, erzählt anhand einer philosophischen und manchmal sogar amüsanten
Geschichte.“ (Lars von Trier)
