Von Trier's Latest Project Pushes Sexualized Child Angle

Danish director Lars Von Trier must wake up each morning, stretch his arms wide and say, “now, how can I be provocative today?”

Von Trier, famous for both his anti-American films (“Manderlay”) and last year’s Nazi-speak at the Cannes Film Festival, is back to push more buttons.

News is out that his latest project, a two-part film package dubbed “Nymphomaniac,” will cover the sexual life of a female character from the ages of 0 to 50. 

The finished films could be tastefully orchestrated, and the full context of the tale might justify why a filmmaker would explain the sexual hunger of a pre-teen – or younger. Some children’s sexuality is forced upon them through horrible crimes, for example.

But why would von Trier and co. push the child sexual angle in the first place as part of the project’s promotional outreach?

Great artists can be provocative, but it’s usually because their art speaks in profound and thought-provoking ways. Frankly, von Trier’s terrific 2011 film “Melancholia” fits that description.

Using the notion of a child’s erotic life to sell a film isn’t shocking. It’s just sad.