Danish director Lars von Trier premiered a "director's cut" of "Nymphomaniac" at the Berlin film festival on Sunday (February 09), but staye...
Danish director Lars von Trier premiered a "director's cut" of "Nymphomaniac" at the Berlin film festival on Sunday (February 09), but stayed away from the media.nnVon Trier's film starring young actress Stacy Martin and a long list of actors as her sexual partners, drew long queues to cinemas, even though it is being shown out of competition for the festival's top prize to be awarded next Saturday.nnCharlotte Gainsbourg appears in the second volume of the extended version of the film, which will not be shown in Berlin.nnVon Trier appeared with his cast for a photo shoot, wearing a T-shirt that said "persona non grata" - an apparent reference to his having been asked to leave the Cannes film festival three years ago after saying that Hitler had had some good ideas. As has been his custom since then, he did not attend the news conference.nn"Nymphomaniac" follows sex-addicted Joe, played by Martin in this film and by Gainsbourg in the sequel, on an odyssey of self-discovery that explores love, death and loneliness.nnViewers are spared nothing in the erotic scenes - which play out in train toilets, in apartments, even in a hospital where her father played by Christian Bale is dying - but the overall impression is of a desperately sad emptiness.nnAsked whether it was difficult acting in such a graphic film, Martin paid tribute to von Trier's qualities as director. "He is very trusting, he made the job very easy," she said.nnStellan Skarsgard, who has often worked with von Trier and in this film plays a father confessor figure to whom Joe recounts her life, echoed her comment, adding: "Lars is a very funny man."nnWhile von Trier stayed away from the news conference, Shia LaBeouf, who has starred in the "The Transformers" movies and in "Nymphomaniac" plays one of Joe's lovers, caused a stir.nnAsked how it felt to perform such sexually explicit scenes, LaBeouf took an oblique swipe at journalists, suggesting they were like "seagulls following the trawler to get sardines". He then walked out. Less
