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Lars Von Trier 'questioned by police' over Nazi comments
Lars Von Trier, the director, has been questioned on suspicion of condoning war crimes after professing sympathy for Hitler and declaring himself a Nazi.
The film-maker said he was interviewed by police in his native Denmark, five months after making the controversial comments during an appearance at the Cannes Film Festival.
In a characteristically melodramatic statement, Von Trier announced he was withdrawing from public life as a result.
"Today at 2pm I was questioned by the Police of North Zealand in connection with charges made by the prosecution of Grasse in France from August 2011 regarding a possible violation of prohibition in French law against justification of war crimes.
“The investigation covers comments made during the press conference in Cannes in May 2011,” he said.
“Due to these serious accusations I have realized that I do not possess the skills to express myself unequivocally and I have therefore decided from this day forth to refrain from all public statements and interviews.”
Under France’s Holocaust denial legislation, it is illegal to condone war crimes.
In 2008, Far-Right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen was given a three-month suspended sentence for calling the Nazi occupation of France “not particularly inhuman”.
Von Trier was ejected from the Cannes Film Festival in May after his remarks, made during a press conference for Melancholia.
Asked if his Germanic roots had influenced his work, Von Trier replied: “What can I say? I understand Hitler. I think he did some wrong things, yes... but I sympathise with him a little bit.”
He ended by laughing: “Okay, I’m a Nazi.” Festival organisers declared him “persona non grata” and banned him with immediate effect. Von Trier issued an apology but retracted it earlier this month.
Danish police declined to comment on the case.