NYMPHOMANIAC PT. 1 IN BERLIN: CHEERS AND WEIRDNESS

A screening of Lars Von Trier’s controversial new movie Nymphomaniac Part 1, with an additional half hour of scenes added to the version that has been screened in Europe and at the Sundance Film Festival, was greeted with cheers when it was shown at a press screening at the Berlin Film Festival on Sunday. “It went down a storm,” the French news service, Agence France Presse, noted today (Monday). It also generated numerous positive reviews, with Variety calling it “ferociously entertaining.” Earlier on Sunday, Von Trier showed up for a photo call wearing a T-shirt bearing the Cannes Film Festival logo and the words “Persona Non Grata, Official Selection.” It was a reference to the censure meted out to Von Trier for joking at a Cannes news conference two years ago about Hitler and the Nazis. Von Trier vowed afterwards to keep his mouth shut publicly. Although the photo call took place just steps away from the main news conference room at the Grand Hyatt Hotel, Von Trier did not follow the stars of his film into the room. One of them was Shia LaBeouf, who continued his recent “performance art” shortly after the news conference got underway. When a reporter asked those assembled to comment on the difficulties of performing the sex scenes, the actor borrowed a quote from soccer player Eric Cantona, “When the seagulls follow the trawler, it’s because they think sardines will be thrown into the sea,” then walked out. That evening, he turned up for the official screening of the film with a paper bag over his head reading, “I am not famous anymore,” a message that he has repeatedly posted on his Twitter account.