The Film Experience

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?