Late last year, cinephiles were briefly confronted with the prospect of having to go without any more Lars von Trier movies, worrying some and causing others to sigh with relief at not having to suffer through any more of Lars von Trier’s misogynistic tantrums in order to keep current on international cinema. Well, don’t worry, von Trier fans/do worry, actresses: Lars is back!
In a new interview with The Guardian, von Trier expounds on his “sobriety is bullshit” philosophy, saying that he spent six months going to AA meetings every day but “now I start to drink a little again, so that I can work.” He then further clarifies that the drinking isn‘t so much to unlock his creativity—he uses “other drugs” for that—but to calm his anxiety. “I’ve had it since I was a child. I believe that if you are an artist and you’re drunk, you’re more sensitive,” he says.
Von Trier also says he’s not working on anything at the moment, and “the problem is it’s very easy to finance something for a TV series, but I’m not sure if that’s the way I should go.” (He’s presumably referring to the English-language TV series The House That Jack Built that was announced at the Venice Film Festival last year.) Frequent von Trier leading lady Charlotte Gainsbourg, meanwhile, has escaped to the relative safety of an alien invasion by signing on for Independence Day 2.