Von Trier cuts slaughter scene

Lars von Trier has cut a scene from his latest film that showed a donkey being butchered for food.

Von Trier said he cut the scene from “Manderlay” not because he thought it was cruel but out of concern that it would draw attention away from the movie’s political and social content.

His production company, Zentropa, said Thursday that the Danish director had received more than 300 letters from groups and individuals in the United States, Germany, Britain and Denmark about the scene, shot in Sweden last year.

“Manderlay,” expected to be released this summer in Europe, is the second film in Von Trier’s trilogy about evil in small-town America during the Depression.