A couple of years ago I reviewed Lars von Trier’s Depression Trilogy (Antichrist, Melancholia, and Nymphomaniac), and I had always intended to follow up those reviews with Trier’s most recent film, The House That Jack Built; but as time went by it just sort of slipped my mind. But as I was tidying my Blu-Ray shelves the other day I noticed it, unassuming sat there still in its plastic wrapping. That needed to change, and so after all this time here comes my epilogue of sorts to my Depression Trilogy review, with a film that despite not being a part of that collection somehow manages to encapsulate everything they represent, and also be the antithesis of all three of them.
Jack (Matt Dillon) is a failed architect who moonlights as a serial killer. Presented as a conversation with the Ancient Roman poet Virgil (Bruno Ganz), Jack recounts five murders he has committed as he attempts to justify them as works of art.
As is the case with all of Von Trier’s films, The House That Jack Built has an infamous reputation. It shouldn’t take much to work out why this one doesn’t sit well with people, a murderer as a main character who’s justifying his crimes as art. But it’s the combination of the extreme violence and the detached way Jack breaks down and analyses each moment of the murder in an attempt to frame it as art.
It’s not actually as bloody as I was expecting, especially considering what I had heard, and I must say I found the film to be somewhat hilarious. Honestly I found the film to be closer in tone to a black comedy than anything else, and I think it all stems from Dillon’s superb performance.
Jack (Matt Dillon) is a failed architect who moonlights as a serial killer. Presented as a conversation with the Ancient Roman poet Virgil (Bruno Ganz), Jack recounts five murders he has committed as he attempts to justify them as works of art.
As is the case with all of Von Trier’s films, The House That Jack Built has an infamous reputation. It shouldn’t take much to work out why this one doesn’t sit well with people, a murderer as a main character who’s justifying his crimes as art. But it’s the combination of the extreme violence and the detached way Jack breaks down and analyses each moment of the murder in an attempt to frame it as art.
It’s not actually as bloody as I was expecting, especially considering what I had heard, and I must say I found the film to be somewhat hilarious. Honestly I found the film to be closer in tone to a black comedy than anything else, and I think it all stems from Dillon’s superb performance.
No matter your opinion on the content of The House That Jack Built, it’s impossible to deny that Dillon shines through as the single strongest element of the whole thing. Whilst a lot of the elements can feel disparate or disconnected as is usually the case with von Trier’s work, Dillon manages to tie a lot of these elements together with a performance that’s equally unhinged, charismatic, and utterly fascinating.
I’d heard a lot of things about the severity of the violence that The House That Jack Built depicts, and as I’ve previously mentioned, it wasn’t as bad as I had been led to believe. Antichrist was bloodier, but I think it call comes down to context. There are a few moments in The House That Jack Built that I’m genuinely surprised made it past the BBFC, even with an 18 certificate. I won’t delve too far into spoilers here but not only do you see Jack murder two children, but he then uses their corpses to torture their mother, and then performs taxidermy on one of them all on screen.
It might come as strange then when I say I found the film funny, because how could I possibly find child taxidermy funny? Once again, it’s all down to context.
The debate at the core of The House That Jack Built is whether Jack is an artist or just a psychopath. When you take a look at Von Trier’s filmography and his turbulent history as a filmmaker, he has often faced the criticism that his films have no artistic merit because they’re so vulgar. So really, The House That Jack Built acts as a way to analyse von Trier’s career as he pokes fun at this idea of what art really is, and whether something that would generally be considered disgusting could hold any artistic merit.
Virgil acts as the voice of reason in all of this, calling out Jack for what he truly is which is a pathetic man who preys on the weak and makes excuses for his crimes to feel better about his failed existence. Where Jack believes that he has been able to get away with these murders because of divine intervention, Virgil simply points out how much of a narcissist Jack is and how unreliable his story is. Because Jack and Virgil are always having a conversation, even as we see Jack do some truly heinous things, I found this detached and analytical approach to defining art within the context of murder to be deeply funny. So yes, whilst I was shocked at how graphic some of violence was, it’s underpinned with this deeply philosophical conversation that takes a lot of the edge of because it’s just impossible to take Jack seriously, or even see him as much of a threat.
Isaac The House That Jack Built pretentious ‘high art’ like film scholars might have you believe, or is it just about a guy who brutally murders people? That is the whole point, and it makes you re-evaluate a lot of von Trier’s previous works.
I’ve had a bit of a hit and miss relationship with Lars von Trier’s films, but I’ve always respected the man’s artistic vision. The House That Jack Built feels like the culmination of a lot of his previous work, whilst also taking a sledgehammer to it and highlighting the absurdity that any of it could ever possibly be art.
There are some really messed up scenes in this film, so your opinion or mileage will depend on how strong your stomach is. But personally I found it to be oddly hilarious, and perhaps my favourite of all of von Trier’s films.
I’d heard a lot of things about the severity of the violence that The House That Jack Built depicts, and as I’ve previously mentioned, it wasn’t as bad as I had been led to believe. Antichrist was bloodier, but I think it call comes down to context. There are a few moments in The House That Jack Built that I’m genuinely surprised made it past the BBFC, even with an 18 certificate. I won’t delve too far into spoilers here but not only do you see Jack murder two children, but he then uses their corpses to torture their mother, and then performs taxidermy on one of them all on screen.
It might come as strange then when I say I found the film funny, because how could I possibly find child taxidermy funny? Once again, it’s all down to context.
The debate at the core of The House That Jack Built is whether Jack is an artist or just a psychopath. When you take a look at Von Trier’s filmography and his turbulent history as a filmmaker, he has often faced the criticism that his films have no artistic merit because they’re so vulgar. So really, The House That Jack Built acts as a way to analyse von Trier’s career as he pokes fun at this idea of what art really is, and whether something that would generally be considered disgusting could hold any artistic merit.
Virgil acts as the voice of reason in all of this, calling out Jack for what he truly is which is a pathetic man who preys on the weak and makes excuses for his crimes to feel better about his failed existence. Where Jack believes that he has been able to get away with these murders because of divine intervention, Virgil simply points out how much of a narcissist Jack is and how unreliable his story is. Because Jack and Virgil are always having a conversation, even as we see Jack do some truly heinous things, I found this detached and analytical approach to defining art within the context of murder to be deeply funny. So yes, whilst I was shocked at how graphic some of violence was, it’s underpinned with this deeply philosophical conversation that takes a lot of the edge of because it’s just impossible to take Jack seriously, or even see him as much of a threat.
Isaac The House That Jack Built pretentious ‘high art’ like film scholars might have you believe, or is it just about a guy who brutally murders people? That is the whole point, and it makes you re-evaluate a lot of von Trier’s previous works.
I’ve had a bit of a hit and miss relationship with Lars von Trier’s films, but I’ve always respected the man’s artistic vision. The House That Jack Built feels like the culmination of a lot of his previous work, whilst also taking a sledgehammer to it and highlighting the absurdity that any of it could ever possibly be art.
There are some really messed up scenes in this film, so your opinion or mileage will depend on how strong your stomach is. But personally I found it to be oddly hilarious, and perhaps my favourite of all of von Trier’s films.