Love or hate Director Lars Von Trier, he has turned pissing people off into an art form. The critics often get on his case, and while it may take a few years and a few softer films before he responds, he always comes back swinging with two lead fists.
Von Trier’s latest, THE HOUSE THAT JACK BUILT, was screened on 11/28/18 around the US (for one night only) in a 2 hour and 35 minute “director’s cut,” which runs 10 minutes longer than the R rated version being released theatrically and on demand on 12/14. If you haven’t read all the hype that’s been going around since this year’s Cannes Film Festival screening, feel free to consult Google then come back here.
Okay, good.
Matt Dillon stars as Jack, a would be architect who spends the first two hours of the film recounting five murders he committed during the 70s and early 80s in the Pacific Northwest. We hear him speaking to someone, but aren’t told who until the final half hour. Who it turns out to be gives the film an arty twist, but that’s something Von Trier fans have come to expect.
This is a deep study of what made Jack tick throughout his life, and an early scene of young Jack will surely rile animal rights activists, although I understand PETA has actually endorsed the film. Go figure.
The film is set up in 5 incidents, each one dedicated to a particular murder. Uma Thurman plays victim in the first, but it’s during the second where we learn Jack has OCD. The sequence is as darkly hilarious as it is suspenseful, and actress Siobhan Fallon Hogan delivers an amazing performance as a duped widowed house wife. The scene stretches a bit too long, yet I laughed along with it right up until it’s grotesquely demented conclusion.
But it’s the third incident where JACK decides it doesn’t give a crap what audiences think about it. It’s also where I’m assuming most people either walked out of the film or decided to brave on. Jack poses as a hunting instructor. He takes a woman and her two young sons (who look to be about 8 years old each) to an isolated wooded area, and what follows is one of the darkest things you’re likely to see on film so far this millennium. The aftermath of this sequence, where Jack puts taxidermy into practice, genuinely startled me and has stayed on my mind since.
If horror, as an art form, is supposed to disturb and frighten the viewer, Von Trier has brought it here in abundance. Sure, some will see this segment as so over the top as to be laughable, yet when we discover Jack’s position in life near the finale, the scene takes on a dimension that’s anything but humorous.
During Incident 4, Jack falls in love (sort of) with an attractive blonde woman, yet mentally abuses her until finally ending her life. It’s an unpleasant, ugly experience, and will probably end up being more controversial than the aforementioned third incident. I can see viewers taking issue on why the director would do this (some reviews I’ve read pointed to instances of Von Trier himself treating women like dirt) and at this point in the film we know Jack is a complete psychotic, capable of anything. That said, Jack’s comments on male superiority will surely leave a bad taste in many mouths. I know it did mine. Yet in a film that some have already considered abusive to the audience, perhaps we shouldn’t be too surprise the director chose to go here?
Not wanting to spoil too much, let’s just say the final act of Jack’s “house building” is as gruesome as anything that came before it, then the film shifts tone for its final half hour as we learn who Jack has been talking to throughout its running time. We get two hours of Jack’s madness on (often) graphic display, then a conclusion that’s Von Trier’s version of Dante’s Inferno. And while I enjoyed the wonderfully eerie look and tone of the film’s shift, right up until the final shot of Jack’s not so surprised face, I found the comical song that takes us into the end credits to be a horrendous choice. While the film has plenty of dark humor early on, most of the film is grim and serious. To end things on such a goofy song selection made me think the director wasn’t really taking things as seriously as I’d thought. It’s obvious Von Trier made some of this to be darkly comic, but this aural assault took me right out of the world I had just spent two and a half hours in, and it’s something that puts a huge dent (along with the “blonde bimbo” sequence) into what could’ve been a perfect film.
Lengthy horror films seem to be a trend in 2018 (i.e. SUSPIRIA and HEREDITARY), yet THE HOUSE THAT JACK BUILT, even when pissing you off, is never slow, never boring, and continually suspenseful. I mentioned the Incident 2 scene went on a bit long, yet in the context of an OCD person it’s understandable, and still entertaining.
This is a divisive film, is not for everyone (even among die hard horror fans), and will surely be discussed for years to come. It's one of those films I can't wait to experience a second time.
If Matt Dillon doesn’t at least earn an Oscar nomination, there’s no justice in this world. His performance is stellar, and not once was I reminded of any roles he had done prior.
If you like your horror with balls, look no further.
