Directed by:
Lars von TrierScreenplay:
Lars von TrierCinematography:
Manuel Alberto ClaroComposer:
Víctor ReyesCast:
Matt Dillon, Bruno Ganz, Uma Thurman, Siobhan Fallon Hogan, Sofie Gråbøl, Riley Keough, Jeremy Davies, Jack McKenzie, Mathias Hjelm, Ed Speleers (more)VOD (3)
Plots(1)
Lars von Trier's drama follows the highly intelligent Jack (Matt Dillon) over a span of 12 years and introduces the murders that define Jack's development as a serial killer. We experience the story from Jack's point of view, while he postulates each murder is an artwork in itself. As the inevitable police intervention is drawing nearer, he is taking greater and greater risks in his attempt to create the ultimate artwork. (Curzon Film World)
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Reviews (7)
I would describe The House That Jack Built as the blackest comedy I’ve ever seen. It can’t be taken seriously, though. During the viewing, emotions oscillate between ‘this Trier is such a master’ and ‘this Trier is such a ratbag’. I’ve just been slightly put off by the ending, but the rest was all fine. [Sitges 2018]
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He sends people to Dexter and offers them his own therapy, whereupon the audience, having paid their way in, dutifully leaves the cinema outraged. I love that bastard. Trier has cleared the bar he set in Nymph()maniac and is debating with himself the nature of art as redemption. In doing so, he struggles to come to terms with the agonizing duality of being both an artist and a pragmatic technician, which is the burr in his saddle as a director. Indeed, everything here is an offering to that auteur duality. It's bloated but apologetic. It's utterly selfish, but the film is the first to admit it. The question is how much the film works without knowing the context. Still, I was completely blown away here by the dream logic that runs through all the sequences. Everything is devoid of temporal or spatial definition; in a strangely dehumanized world, the plot shifts arbitrarily in sharp contrasts, and everything plays out at the very edge of believability. And just like the times when you lie in bed for an hour in the morning staring at the ceiling and trying to reconstruct a vivid dream that seemed meaningful to you, only when the film is over are you given the respite and space to start piecing it all together.
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Here, Trier goes beyond the limits of acceptability like never before, but once again he will (probably) get away with it thanks to his distinctive artistic framing. Or he may simply be ignored as a total burnout. To love this movie is to be like Jack. You don’t want that. And acknowledging its artistic qualities is more of a pose than an expression of knowledge and an open mind. But who knows if Jack doesn’t eventually become a modern version of Henry for this century. Paradoxically, from the distance of a few hours, I find the hunting segment, which is the most extreme part of the film, to be the most interesting for its almost cartoonish abstractness. After all, nobody can make such a thing in the mainstream with a straight face, even though it doesn’t pretend to be anything it is not. [Cannes]
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Despite the violence, this is one of Trier’s most approachable films, one where the symbolism and the controversy are replaced by pragmatism and black humour, and yet I really don’t know what I’m supposed to get from it. The arthouse approach results in a stylisation of the violence, which is still quite brutally carried out, even on children, and following only the mind and thought processes of a murderous freak turns The House That Jack Built into nothing but an irritating, wannabe intellectual pose. At times it’s entertaining and the narrative concept is effective in the end, but what can I do with that when I there’s nothing that would make me enjoy the story subjectively. Maybe it’s a brilliant testimony of modern society, time will tell, but I don’t believe things are that bad in the world. Overall, I didn’t get bored, thanks to the brilliant Dillon and the many amazing ideas, but it missed me by a long shot.
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Judging by the reviews, I was expecting "boundary-pushing like never before" or "a shocking, practically indigestible creation", which I didn't entirely get. On the other hand, out of good sportsmanship I have to admit that the casual viewer will most likely be taken aback (two couples in the front row left after the second "incident"). But similar conclusions can be applied to almost all of Trier's works, so there's really nothing new under the sun. The House That Jack Built is a profound insight into the mind of a serial killer whose life goal is to achieve what might be called "the perfect murder". Through five chapters and an epilogue, the viewer watches Jack gradually improve and move closer to his dream ideal. As is customary of Trier, once again this results in the most cynical humor and in some places the whole thing slides into hardcore comedy, which I probably enjoyed most. Using art to commit aesthetically perfect murders here is impressive and interesting in its own right, though Trier is of course following in the techniques previously used in Nymphomaniac. Only this time, instead of sex, he chooses murder as the central theme, and he also incorporates an ancient character into the script. And yet I feel that viewers will rankle not at the brutality and the explicit scenes so much as its very view of morality combined with the artistic tone of the whole film. And I believe that's what always brings Lars von Trier the greatest joy. Not that a few weaker individuals will leave the theatre, pass out, or vomit. Because he’s after the ones who go through the whole experience, concede to his artistic intention quite seriously (and with an open mind), and by the end are disgusted to the smallest corner of their souls and don't really know how or if Trier's intention can be understood at all.
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