FEATURES
On the Lost Highway with Greil Marcus
/ Brian Howe
10.04.07
Q: So Lost Highway is a representation of this psychic wilderness, whereas Cache is more sociopolitical, more concrete.
A: It’s about specific things that were done in what is essentially a class drama, a drama of privilege and subjection. On the other hand, I’m sure when David Lynch saw Cache, and saw that incredible scene where the guy cuts his own throat, I’m sure he thought, “Ah, god, why didn’t I think of that?” That is one of the most heartrending scenes I’ve ever seen in a movie. I wasn’t prepared for it, nobody in the theater was, we were all up on the ceiling and didn’t know how to get down.
Q: Regarding Europeans who have interesting, forceful reads on American identity, how do you feel about Lars Von Trier and his last couple of films, which have palpated the identity of an America he’s never visited?
A: I’ve only seen Dogville. I have to say, I really was sucked into it completely. It took awhile, and not every actor is as good as every other, and none are as good as Nicole Kidman. But it became more and more awful, the notion of a town feeding off the outsider in an almost literal way, couldn’t be doing it more if they were eating her body bite by bite. I didn’t take it––well, I was going to say I didn’t take it as a metaphor for America, but I did, that’s how it’s presented, what it’s supposed to be. I don’t care that he’s never been to America, everyone carries an America around inside themselves, their idea of what it is and what it should be. Why it’s a lie, why it’s alluring. I don’t consider that condescension on his part. What I hated about the movie was the whole montage of American misery, bums sleeping in the streets, David Bowie singing “Young Americans.” I thought that was so cheap, and stupid.
Q: Von Trier’s definitely been known to go for the low blow from time to time. The following film, Manderlay, transported the same stage set and the same characters (played by different actors) to a different town, and this time took on American slavery. It pursued an idea that seemed very similar to the one in your book––the promise in one hand, the betrayal in the other. What Von Trier seems to do in most of his films is to introduce a character that represents some total idealism into a complex system, and then for the rest of the film Von Trier relishes destroying this idealism, which always becomes its opposite.
A: I really think ultimately that he’s untrustworthy, full of shit, manipulative, and a sadist. I think Breaking the Waves is an appalling movie in every manner. Think about what happens in that movie. We get to see a woman killed so that a man can be redeemed. Now, if that’s deep thinking, I don’t want this guy messing with my country. So I resisted Dogville, I didn’t want to like it, I went there to hate it. But I didn’t.
A: It’s about specific things that were done in what is essentially a class drama, a drama of privilege and subjection. On the other hand, I’m sure when David Lynch saw Cache, and saw that incredible scene where the guy cuts his own throat, I’m sure he thought, “Ah, god, why didn’t I think of that?” That is one of the most heartrending scenes I’ve ever seen in a movie. I wasn’t prepared for it, nobody in the theater was, we were all up on the ceiling and didn’t know how to get down.
Q: Regarding Europeans who have interesting, forceful reads on American identity, how do you feel about Lars Von Trier and his last couple of films, which have palpated the identity of an America he’s never visited?
A: I’ve only seen Dogville. I have to say, I really was sucked into it completely. It took awhile, and not every actor is as good as every other, and none are as good as Nicole Kidman. But it became more and more awful, the notion of a town feeding off the outsider in an almost literal way, couldn’t be doing it more if they were eating her body bite by bite. I didn’t take it––well, I was going to say I didn’t take it as a metaphor for America, but I did, that’s how it’s presented, what it’s supposed to be. I don’t care that he’s never been to America, everyone carries an America around inside themselves, their idea of what it is and what it should be. Why it’s a lie, why it’s alluring. I don’t consider that condescension on his part. What I hated about the movie was the whole montage of American misery, bums sleeping in the streets, David Bowie singing “Young Americans.” I thought that was so cheap, and stupid.
Q: Von Trier’s definitely been known to go for the low blow from time to time. The following film, Manderlay, transported the same stage set and the same characters (played by different actors) to a different town, and this time took on American slavery. It pursued an idea that seemed very similar to the one in your book––the promise in one hand, the betrayal in the other. What Von Trier seems to do in most of his films is to introduce a character that represents some total idealism into a complex system, and then for the rest of the film Von Trier relishes destroying this idealism, which always becomes its opposite.
A: I really think ultimately that he’s untrustworthy, full of shit, manipulative, and a sadist. I think Breaking the Waves is an appalling movie in every manner. Think about what happens in that movie. We get to see a woman killed so that a man can be redeemed. Now, if that’s deep thinking, I don’t want this guy messing with my country. So I resisted Dogville, I didn’t want to like it, I went there to hate it. But I didn’t.
