Lars von Trier to obstruct Scorsese’s Taxi Driver remake?

Lars von Trier and Martin Scorsese have confirmed they will collaborate on a follow up to von Trier’s The Five Obstructions, Screen Daily reports.

In von Trier’s The Five Obstructions, the Danish provocateur collaborated with filmmaker Jørgen Leth, asking him to remake his short film The Perfect Human five times, each time with a different set of obstructions. The process – which saw The Perfect Human remade in animation, and reshot in the slums of Bombay – made Leth rethink his original film and its characters, and ultimately provided a fascinating artistic experiment.

Now Scorsese has willingly agreed to be similarly tormented by von Trier.

Last year it was (briefly) suggested that von Trier and Scorsese would team up for a Taxi Driver remake. It seems likely that von Trier will choose Taxi Driver as the film for Scorsese to reboot. The thought of Scorsese revisiting Taxi Driver in various styles is enough to make any film fan scream out in joy.

In an interview with Screen Daily, von Trier commented on his ‘filmmaking with obstructions’ method saying, “The idea behind this obstructions thing is that you give each other tasks which will move you into an area where you have been reluctant to go yourself. Under protest, you do that and then you enlarge your repertoire.”

Next up for Scorsese is Silence, which will begin production in early 2012, while his film Hugo Cabret sees a November 2011 release. von Trier’s next highly anticipated offering is Melancholia, which will premiere in competition at Cannes.

Discuss: Be gentle Lars!