Auteur Fight! Nicolas Winding Refn Trashes Lars von Trier at Cannes

BY Josiah HughesPublished May 20, 2016

Nicolas Winding Refn has never been one to shy away from controversy, and neither has his Danish contemporary Lars von Trier. Turns out they're not exactly the best of buds, however — in an interview at Cannes to promote his new film The Neon Demon, Refn had some harsh things to say about the Dogme 95 director.

"Lars, Lars, done a lot of drugs, over the hill," Refn said in a press conference. "The last thing I saw Lars do was trying to tell my wife he wanted to have sex with her. He found some other slut."

Daaaaammmmnnnnn! Unfortunately, von Trier wasn't there to clapback at Refn, and for good reason. In 2011, while promoting Melancholia at Cannes, von Trier said a whole bunch of gross shit that made him sound like an anti-Semitic Nazi sympathizer. He later said he was drunkenly joking, but it still got him a lifetime ban from the festival.

Dissing other directors wasn't the only way Nicolas Winding Refn stirred the pot at Cannes. It turns out that The Neon Demon is as divisive as Only God Forgives.

As Indiewire reports, a screening of the film inspired viewers to shout and throw things at the screen, while others kept it classy and simply walked out. 

According to Variety, Refn doesn't give a shit about the criticism laid against his latest offering. "Art is not about good or bad, guys," the director said. "Those days are over."

He went on to compare himself to the Sex Pistols, adding that his work is part of the "fuck the establishment youth culture."

The Neon Demon will arrive in Canada via D Films later this year.

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