Von Trier Decides to Cut Controversial Scene From "Manderlay"

by | March 7, 2005 | Comments

Yahoo! News informs us that director Lars von Trier has opted to remove a scene involving the slaughter of a donkey from his upcoming movie "Manderlay." In a letter to a group of animal activists the filmmaker says "I cut all the scenes showing the dead donkey out of the film…My personal feeling is that I acted conscientiously, and I don’t suppose we’ll ever agree on that." This story has come up before, as it’s believed that actor John C. Reilly quit the film because of the donkey seqeunce. "Manderlay" is the second film in von Trier’s "USA" trilogy following 2003’s "Dogville," and it stars Willem Dafoe, Lauren Bacall, Danny Glover, and Bryce Dallas Howard.