Von Trier's "The Boss Of It All"

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Late last year director Lars von Trier (The Boss Of It All) spoke of being clinically depressed, but he's out of it now. He's confessed to Radar's Matt Thompson that "maybe my problem is that I talk too much...I've been through three months of depression in the last year, and for some reason everyone seems to think I'm in a straight jacket, which I'm not."

He explains that The Boss Of It All, which has a very decent 86% positive Rotten Tomatoes rating, is "supposed to be like some of these comedies you make in America: The Shop Around the Corner, Bringing Up Baby, The Odd Couple...all these little talent films. Maybe not so sentimental. Those films were part of my childhood. I was always feeling very secure when I saw them. I was trying to find this mood in Boss of It All.

"It shouldn't be like Naked Gun, where you're supposed to laugh all the time. It should only be a little time where you can feel secure."

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Posted by Jeffrey Wells on June 6, 2007 at 8:23 AM

comment #1

Edward says ...

I'm glad to hear von Trier is back and working again and a comedy too! Interesting.

Posted by Edward at June 6, 2007 8:51 AM

comment #2

thevisceral says ...

I don't want to laugh all the time either. That's like drinking to get shitfaced. I prefer a long slow funny-buzz, like what you get from Lubitsch. You really laugh maybe twice but the overall experience is more pleasurable.

Posted by thevisceral at June 6, 2007 9:17 AM

comment #3

Jesse Perry says ...

896% ?

Posted by Jesse Perry at June 6, 2007 9:18 AM

comment #4

JD says ...

896%?

Yes, that number is accurate. Roughly ten times more critics have praised the film than have seen it.

Posted by JD at June 6, 2007 9:26 AM

comment #5

Me says ...

Yeah, because when I think of light-hearted, feel-good comedies, I think of Lars Von Trier. God, this is going to be awful, and the critics are going to eat it up.

Posted by Me at June 6, 2007 10:15 AM

comment #6

jeffmcm says ...

They didn't eat up Manderlay (48% on Rottentomatoes) so don't get up in a bunch.

Posted by jeffmcm at June 6, 2007 10:52 AM

comment #7

MAGGA says ...

I saw The Boss Of It All last week, and I am not a big Von Trier film, but the movie really works. It is funny and smart, yet it is clear Von Trier feels awkeard about making movies like these. He even says, reflected in the mirror in the opening shot: "Though I am presented as a reflection this movie is not worthy of reflecting on". It is, though. The last lines from Von Trier in the movie are hillarious yet confusing re his aim for the film. I am going to see it again as soon as I have the chance.

Posted by MAGGA at June 6, 2007 10:59 AM

comment #8

nemo says ...

My family is Danish on my father's side. The Danes are supposedly the cheeriest and most light-hearted of the Scandinavians. What looks like cheery light-heartedness to the Scandinavians looks like deep clinical depression to most of the rest of the world.

Posted by nemo at June 6, 2007 11:02 AM

comment #9

Craig Kennedy says ...

"Roughly ten times more critics have praised the film than have seen it."

As opposed to Hostel 2 where ten times more critics have panned it than seen it.

Posted by Craig Kennedy at June 6, 2007 12:26 PM

comment #10

MAGGA says ...

"My family is Danish on my father's side. The Danes are supposedly the cheeriest and most light-hearted of the Scandinavians. What looks like cheery light-heartedness to the Scandinavians looks like deep clinical depression to most of the rest of the world."

You do realize he is joking, right? First of all, his name is not really lars Von Trier, it is simply Lars Trier. He just made up the middle name because it sounded pompous. The media followed him tavelling by car and boat to Cannes one year due to his fear of flying, but paid no attention to him flying back. While it is true that us scandinavians are statistically more likely to commit suicide etc, the typical northern irony is lost on many, which makes the image of us darker than is really warranted. Many do not ralize that most of Bergmans movies are very comedic, for instance. Or that the Dogme rules were presented more as a fun project and marketing tool and not an attempt to implode fascist storytelling structures. Only the polar bears in the streets truly worry us.

Posted by MAGGA at June 6, 2007 1:45 PM

comment #11

MAGGA says ...

Posted by MAGGA at June 6, 2007 1:46 PM

comment #12

MAGGA says ...

Uhm, just realized you did get i and I did not get you. And that last sentence is supposed the be polar beers, not bears.

Posted by MAGGA at June 6, 2007 1:47 PM

comment #13

nemo says ...

"You do realize he is joking, right? ... the typical northern irony is lost on many, which makes the image of us darker than is really warranted."

It was my own northern irony at work. I like that phrase, "the typical northern irony is lost on many." I'll have to use it the next time I'm in a disagreement with someone.

"And that last sentence is supposed the be polar beers, not bears."

Polar bears in the streets, polar beers in the streets. Both are very worrisome. And so are polar beards in the street.

Posted by nemo at June 6, 2007 3:46 PM

comment #14

Larry says ...

I'm a big fan of Lars, and I'll take a chance on anything he tries. But The Shop Around the Corner and Bringing Up Baby? That's shooting pretty high for a guy who doesn't specialize in comedy.

By the way, audiences laugh quite a lot at The Shop Around The Corner. It's just that Lubitsch is able to mix in moments dealing with adultery, suicide and losing a job where nothing's funny at all.

Also, the proper spelling is "straitjacket."

Posted by Larry at June 6, 2007 3:46 PM

comment #15

nemo says ...

"... his name is not really lars Von Trier, it is simply Lars Trier. He just made up the middle name because it sounded pompous."

The famous mathematician, nuclear physicist, foundational computer scientist, and all around genius John Von Neumann was a Hungarian Jew whose father adopted the Von for the similar reasons, though without [Von] Trier's humorous intent.

Posted by nemo at June 6, 2007 3:53 PM

comment #16

Me says ...

Yeah, that whole town chaining and raping Nicole Kidman thing was hil-larious! Ahh, why Cary Grant didn't do that to Katherine Hepburn is beyond me. Would have been comedy gold in Scandanavia!

Posted by Me at June 6, 2007 8:19 PM

comment #17

EDouglas says ...

I liked Boss of it All... it was quirky and funny and I'm amazed Hollywood hasn't paid millions of dollars for the rights to make it into an English movie because it's the perfect high concept premise for a movie that could make tons, though I worry it would become a vehicle for Tim Allen.

Posted by EDouglas at June 7, 2007 6:43 AM

comment #18

MAGGA says ...

"Yeah, that whole town chaining and raping Nicole Kidman thing was hil-larious! Ahh, why Cary Grant didn't do that to Katherine Hepburn is beyond me. Would have been comedy gold in Scandanavia!"

Yes, no one who is funny ever says anything serious. Putin` the fun back in fundamentalism

Posted by MAGGA at June 7, 2007 10:16 AM

comment #19