COBBLED TOGETHER Lars von Trier’s film is mostly empty and a disappointment for many reasons

The idea of Danish filmmaker Lars von Trier’s new “The House That Jack Built” is the most exciting thing about it. Can the notorious provocateur prince of international art cinema use the forensic procedural of a serial killer story to interrogate his own internalized misogyny and the complicated relationship to women within his own artistic practice?

Alas, it remains largely just that — a provocative idea executed with a halfhearted commitment.

Von Trier earned his reputation with such works of formal invention and transgressive thematic daring as “Breaking the Waves” and “Dancer In the Dark” that could shock and move audiences in equal measure. But as his compulsive need for public provocation began to overwhelm the merits of his artistic output, he has become more and more of a willful outsider. He managed to self-immolate one of his richest films, 2011’s “Melancholia,” by making offthe-cuff Nazi jokes during a Cannes Film Festival news conference.

His latest movie move shows that his lesser tendencies still have him in their grip, as the film revels in grisly, in-your-face violence and wan philosophical digressions. “Jack” premiered at Cannes earlier this year and also screened in recent limited one-off engagements in its ultra-violent director’s cut. The movie receives its official theatrical release in a R-rated version that is 5 minutes shorter.

Von Trier has spoken about his struggles with depression and with alcohol, and it seems that every