A Dangerous Mind. Lars Von Trier’s “The House That Jack Built” Cover Image

A Dangerous Mind. Lars Von Trier’s “The House That Jack Built”
A Dangerous Mind. Lars Von Trier’s “The House That Jack Built”

Author(s): Ştefan Bolea
Subject(s): Philosophy, Fine Arts / Performing Arts, Philosophical Traditions, Ethics / Practical Philosophy, Existentialism, Film / Cinema / Cinematography
Published by: SACRI – Societatea Academica de Cercetare a Religiilor si Ideologiilor
Keywords: murder;sovereign;inferno;nihilism;universal death;Gnosticism; suicide;Antinatalism;

Summary/Abstract: In Lars von Trier’s latest movie, The House That Jack Built (2018), the serial killer Jack may be seen as a substitute for God. Following Maurice Blanchot and drawing from Jungian psychology, I will analyze the relationship between murder and sovereignty. Jack’s dream of the perfect crime is reminiscent of the Schopenhauerian project of universal crime. Taking into account the nihilistic works of Philipp Mainländer, Mihai Eminescu, Angernon Charles Swinburne, and others, I will discuss the Antinatalist predilection of non-existence over existence. I shall also examine the possibility of anti-nihilism.

  • Issue Year: 2/2019
  • Issue No: 3
  • Page Range: 70-77
  • Page Count: 8
  • Language: English