“The House That Jack Built”(2018): Would You Built a Better House?

With a good measure of grotesque, enthusiasm, baroque and shameless violence, we set off on a journey through the depths of the consciousness of serial killer Jack.

Witty directorial moves begin with the first murder by the jack of Uma Thurman (jack, Jack…), and end with the construction of a house of corpses, as in a rhyme about the house that Jack actually built, and falling into the very bowels of Dante’s hell at the end.

After don’t-know-which-exactly-but-far-from-the-first watching, I call “House” extremely ingenious. A witty mockery of his viewer in the best traditions of Trier. If you turned off the film, left the cinema, closed your eyes — the mockery was a success, and you just do not understand humor. But let’s forgive old man Trier this gesture. He can afford it.

The “House” is often called weak and it is said that Trier is blown away. But it seems to me that Trier himself was well aware of what he was doing. First of all, “House” logically follows “Nymphomaniac,” continuing the discussion on the topic of a disease that gives freedom, which is both a gift and a curse. So if you take it as a such continuation, I have no complaints.

“The House That Jack Built” is also good as a textbook on psychopathology. Jack has straight all the symptoms of antisocial psychopathy, from and to. In general, we are used to (and me too) seeing in the image of a serial killer some special depth, a mystery, and even, if possible, genius. But a bunch of TV shows and films about maniacs, the question “how is it possible to kill?” does not clarify. Because for a healthy person it is basically unnatural. And for the sick one is okay. And the psychopath really is nothing more than a sick person. The disease does not make it better at all, more important and bolder.

On the contrary, the psychopath has been studied, dissected hundreds of times and all its characteristics fit on several tablets that Jack shows to the viewer. And Jack’s confession, in fact, is nothing more than endless self-love. Knowing all this, isn’t there a desire to sympathize with him a little?

And yes, if you find this film too violent and sickening, I advise you to watch “The Golden Glove”. Believe me, you haven’t seen much yet.