Lars Von Trier's Bad Girls of Cannes

It's Girls Gone Wild this month at The Film Experience. To coincide with the ongoing Cannes Film Festival, here's Chris on von Trier's wild women from Cannes past.

We miss you, Lars!

It's been five years since reigning Cannes bad boy Lars von Trier debuted a film at the festival - practically eons by the festival's standards for their many favorite auteurs. But he lost their favor for his glib Hitler comments during Melancholia's Croisette visit. The resulting Persona Non Grata Status has left us too long without a Cannes Von Trier (Anti)Heroine. Some call him a misogynist, but the provocateur has consistently given us fully-faceted women fighting against circumstance however they must. Let's take a look at their bad behavior:

Emily Watson as Bess - Breaking the Waves

How Bad?: 7/10 - Lots and lots of self-flagellating sex with strangers. Bess puts herself in increasing dangerous situations even when she knows the dangers of her actions.

But Really She's a Saint, It's All For Love!: She's only acting out at the request of her ailing, brain-damaged husband, to whom she relays her conquests.

Rewarded for Her Efforts: Watson didn't win Best Actress at Cannes (Brenda Blethyn was honored for Secrets & Lies), though this performance is the only Oscar-nominated in Von Trier's filmography.

Björk as Selma - Dancer in the Dark

How Bad?: 3/10 - Selma never met a secret she didn't want to keep, even if it leads to murder. But who are we kidding? Her heart is golden.

Bad Behavior Extra Credit: Bjork and Von Trier had a notoriously contentious relationship, reportedly leading the star to spit and hiss at the director.

Bad Behavior Extra Extra Credit: Swan dress.

But Really She's a Saint, It's All For Love!: The murder is kinda self-defense, and she's been saving money to prevent hereditary blindness in her son.

Rewarded for Her Efforts: Björk won Cannes Best Actress and was Globe nominated. She and Von Trier were Oscar nominated together in Best Original Song.

Nicole Kidman as Grace Mulligan - Dogville

How Bad?: 4/10 - Grace also loves a secret. The town of Dogville dehumanizes her, but she uses her mob roots to decimate them.

But Really She's A Saint, It's All For Love!: ... maybe not this time. That final "Goodbye, Tom" is deeply ambiguous.

Rewarded for Her Efforts: Nada, except for a handful of European nominations. The film left Cannes empty handed, too. That's not just bad behavior, it's criminal!

Charlotte Gainsbourg as She - Antichrist

How Bad?: 11/10 - Violence, dismemberment (self and not), lots of sex (self and not), sudden fits of anger, possession, witchery, and an intermittent allergy to clothes.

Bad Behavior Extra Credit: That scene. No, not that scene, that other scene.

But Really She's a Saint, It's All for Love!: She's a grieving mother and depression is a bitch.

Rewarded for Her Efforts: Gainsbourg won Best Actress even though the film had a hostile reception on the Croisette and became Von Trier's first full-fledged muse.

Kirsten Dunst as Justine - Melancholia

How Bad?: 6/10 - Infidelity on her own wedding day and welcoming the end of the world with open arms. Nude moon bathing!

But Really She's a Saint, It's All for Love!: Mommy issues, daddy issues. She's still a doting aunt! Depression is still a bitch.

Rewarded for Her Efforts: Von Trier's third Cannes Best Actress winner, despite the Hitler comment controversy. It's still Dunst's gutsiest and best performance, and should have gotten further traction in the awards race.

Lars's massive Nymphomaniac debuted it's two parts at rival festivals Berlin and Venice, so Gainsbourg's randy Joe misses out here. The director is slated to film The House That Jack Built this fall - originally planned as a miniseries, the film is told from the perspective of a serial killer. Perhaps the film could welcome the director back into Cannes good graces, and (if the killer is a woman) give us another extreme heroine. "Charlotte Gainsbourg, serial killer" sounds like a great idea to me.

Who is your favorite Lars Von Trier Cannes leading lady?

Comments

[Disco Stu]

Of course the Most Bad is Gainsbourg in Nymphomaniac, not for her sexual escapades, but for her child neglect, which is just one of those triggers that pulls me right out of a film. The scene where she leaves her young toddler at home alone to keep her S&M appointment almost made me shut the movie off.

[JoFo]

1. I love love love love this.
2. Selma is totally a 1/10!
3. Justine is at least an 8/10, even for the most inopportune "You know what I think of your little plan? I think it's a piece of shit".
4. Do we think Grace's mercy offer to Patricia Clarkson at the end of Dogville makes her or more or less bad? I say more. She knew what she was doing.

<3 all these performances.

[NATHANIEL R]

These numeric evaluations indicate that Chris is totally pro mass murder as long as people have treated you like dirt! Grace is EVIL... even if society made her that way ;)

I love all of these performances EXCEPT for Gainsbourg who I think doesn't fight back against Von Trier's miserabilism and puppeteering enough. The other women offer a much wider range of tones in their acting.

[Anonny]

Dogville is great! The rest of his filmography...not so much

[Charles O]

what about his medea from the 80's? she's gotta be the original bad girl.

[Chris Feil]

JoFo - But what of Selma's lies of omission that are also basically self-flagellation? lol

Nathaniel - Okay maybe I went soft on Grace, but she's put in shackles for God's sake! I love Gainsbourg, but it's definitely all peaks and few valleys

Charles - unfortunately not a Cannes entry

[denny]

RE: Antichrist - "That scene. No, not that scene, that other scene."

LMFAO

Love everything else about this list, too. Dunst and Bjork get to duke it out for best in show honors among this ridiculously amazing group of performances.

[Mike in Canada]

Man, talk about a Fox Force Five!

I don't think I could choose between Bess, Selma, Grace and Justine. I love them all so much.

[brookesboy]

Why does he have to be such a weirdo?

[Bhuray]

You forgot about Bryce Dallas Howard in Manderlay!

[Ryan]

Manderlay should be forgotten.

[Derreck.]

I cut Grace alot of slack because I don't see her final actions as evil (even though they TOTALLY are, OMG.) because that town and its people put her through an unbelievable amount of shit so the *vengeance* of it all was just too delicious to me.

I enjoyed that ending so much it made me think that I might be a complete psycho.

[Chris Feil]

Bhuray - haven't we all. I did almost put it in there, but omitted it for length

[choog]

I know she's not a leading lady but I will be forever grateful to Von Trier for bringing Mrs H out of Uma.

[Steven]

1. Emily Watson-Breaking the Waves
2. Charlotte Gainsbourg-Antichrist
3. Kirsten Dunst-Melancholia
4. Bjork-Dancer in the Dark
5. Bodil Jorgensen-Dogme #2: Idioterne
6. Nicole Kidman-Dogville
7. Charlotte Gainsbourg/Stacy Martin-Nymphomaniac
8. Kirsten Olesen-Medea
9. Bryce Dallas Howard-Manderlay

I am the Lars von Trier fan as I'm still waiting for him to return to Cannes. They need him more than he needs them. Inviting the likes of Paris Hilton and the Kartrashians doesn't do that festival any good since they're there for no reason other than to be there not giving a fuck about cinema.

[Ed]

After reading this I could only wish to see Scarlett Johansson in a Lars Von Trier's movie. Seriously, after her turn in Under the Skin, it would be delicious... Plus, she's doing a couple of popcorn big productions stuff and I'm still wondering which will be the "indie/awards movie" she will do next. Hope a Von Trier's one!

[Carmen Sandiego]

If Grace were evil, she would have killed Moses. The dog lives on, that's proof of her inate goodness. Her actions are evil, but she is/would be redeemable.

Dogville went completely underappreciated, it is a shame.

For someone with such a misogynist rep, that is quite a powerful lineup of leading ladies, right? Finding 5 complex and challenging leading ladies of that caliber in the filmography of other filmmakers is a hard task.

[Claran]

IMO, Watson shld've won at Cannes, if not a tie, surely they could award her a special price for best debut?? And what a sensational debut!! Totally fearless, naïve, sweet and trusting and heart-breaking all at the same time. In hindsight, she’s like Welles in Citizen Kane, none of her subsequent movies, not even Hilary & Jackie can measure up to Breaking the Waves.

Kidman was totally ignored for Dogville not bcos it was not good, but bcos in May 2003, she had just won the Oscar a few months back and was the world's most sought after and powerful actress. She was at the peak of her popularity & was hotly tipped to win Best Actress. And this probably worked against her and the movie, as Cannes chose instead to reward other relatively unknowns. Same fate happened to Cate when she presented Carol at Cannes last year.

[T]

Definitely agree w/ @choog I love all the female performances in Von Trier movies but that Uma Thurman cameo was EVERRRRRYTHING. One of the most beautifully played mental breakdowns in cinema.