Lars Von Trier Might Not Make Any More Films Now He Is Sober

Lars Von Trier has admitted that he might not make any more films now that he is sober.

The Danish director has revealed that he has been undergoing treatment for addiction to both drugs and alcohol. Lars Von Trier, who has previously directed the likes of Dogville, Melancholia, and Nymphomaniac, has spoken to the Danish newspaper Politken [via the Guardian] about his recent issues.

Lars Von Trier admitted that he has been attending AA meetings and he is now clean and sober following several years of problems with the substances.

The 58-year-old confessed that he used to drink a bottle of vodka a day, which helped him enter a “parallel world” that he believes was necessary for him to create. In fact, Lars Von Trier believes that now that he isn’t going to use drinks and drugs, he will only produce “s***** films.”

Lars Von Trier even admitted that pretty much every single film that he has written was under the influence of alcohol.

“I don’t know if I can make any more films, and that worries me. There is no creative expression of artistic value that has ever been produced by ex-drunkards and ex-drug-addicts. Who the hell would bother with a Rolling Stones without booze or with a Jimi Hendrix without heroin?”

Von Trier explained that he wrote Dogville, which is widely regarded as his most complete film, in just 12 days, all of which was fueled by drugs. This was in direct contrast to Nymphomaniac, which he wrote while sober and it took him 18 months to complete before Uma Thurman and Shia LaBeouf starred in it.

This was Lars Von Trier’s first interview since he made controversial remarks regarding Nazis at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival. While promoting Melancholia, Von Trier admitted that he had some sympathy for and even understood Adolf Hitler. He then went as far as to say that he was a Nazi himself.

“What can I say? I understand Hitler, but I think he did some wrong things, yes, absolutely… He’s not what you would call a good guy, but I understand much about him, and I sympathise with him a little bit. But come on, I’m not for the Second World War, and I’m not against Jews… I am of course very much for Jews, no not too much, because Israel is pain in the ass.”

He also explained when talking about Nazi architect Albert Speer, “[H]e had some talent… OK, I’m a Nazi.”

[Image via Art Through Adversity]