+ Best Horror Movie of the Year
 |
| Willem Dafoe and Charlotte Gainsbourg's faces during lovemaking are disturbingly connected to a rusty pair of blood-dripping scissors on this poster for Lars Von Trier's Antichrist |
A couple, whose infant son has recently perished in a tragic accident, while they were having sex, choose to isolate themselves in the forest cabin, 'Eden', where the husband, - a psychotherapist, - tries to cure his wife of her mental instability, SPOILER but fails, as she proves completely maniacal!
Willem Dafoe (John Carter (2012)) and Charlotte Gainsbourg (21 Grams (2003)) give fine performances in Danish master writer-director Lars Von Trier's (The Idiots/Idioterne (1998)) tortured mind's projection, which an awful many have analyzed, but few can make definite sense of. The film has beautifully distorted pictures (fine work by cinematographer Anthony Dod Mantle (Dredd (2012))), - not least the opening sequence in black and white, - and an ambiguous dig towards religiousness, hence the title, but when the film's explicit, sexually charged violence breaks out full force in its fourth chapter, the focus is on the psycho-sexual and the female as a monster.
Antichrist is an unusual, disturbing experience; a successful art-film, and sure to bring Trier's trademark discomfort into any living room daring to screen it. As a horror film it is unconventional, but unquestionably intriguing.
I was never as engaged in Antichrist, which is a downwards-moving trip with fairly bare-bones, archetype-like characters, as I have been in Trier's great films, first and foremost, of course, in his masterpiece Breaking the Waves (1996), but also The Idiots (1998), Dogville (2003), Manderlay (2005) and The Boss of It All (2006), are all essentially better films in my opinion.
Related posts:
Lars Von Trier: Nymphomaniac (2013) short version, vol. 1 & vol. 2, or, Lars Von Trier's Suck It
Melancholia (2011) - Von Trier's heightened reality doomsday reflections
2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV]
2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
The
Early Years: Erik Nietzsche Part 1/De Unge År: Erik Nietzsche Sagaen
Del 1 (2007) - Thuesen and Von Trier's hilarious film school comedy (autobiographical screenplay)
2006 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess
Top 10: Best comedies reviewed by Film Excess to date
The Boss of It All/Direktøren for det Hele (2006) - Von Trier's hilarious absurd comedy
Dear Wendy (2005) - Vinterberg and Von Trier's unpopular, gun-themed megaflop (writer)
The Five Obstructions/De Fem Benspænd (2003, documentary) or, Lars von Trier vs. Jørgen Leth (co-director)
Top 10: The best big flop movies reviewed by Film Excess to date
Dogville (2003) - Von Trier's implacable, truly unique drama
Dancer in the Dark (2000) or, Selma the Immigrant
Zentropa/Europa (1991) - Von Trier's audacious ode to the heavy continent is a fever dream on celluloid
Epidemic (1987) - Von Trier's trippy, bizarre second film
The Element of Crime/Forbrydelsens Element (1984) - Von Trier's ultra-strange debut
Cost: 11 mil. $
Box office: 2.5 mil. $
= Box office disaster (returned 0.22 times the cost)
[Antichrist premiered 18 May (Cannes Film Festival, in competition) and runs 108 minutes. Trier wrote the film from 2006 while struggling with heavy depression, spending some time in a mental hospital. He was inspired by Japanese films Ring (1998) and Dark Water (2002). Gainsbourg was cast as a substitute for Eva Green, whose agents would not allow her to appear in the film. The Danish Film Institute contributed 1.5 mil. $ to the budget, which came together from a tangle of 23 companies and governmental support bodies in Germany, France, Denmark, Poland, Sweden and Italy. Trier was still mentally unwell during production, unable to film as he is wont to do, and excused himself often. Shooting took place for 40 days in Germany in August - September 2008. A "Catholic version" of the film was released in some markets, where some violence was cut out. The film opened #42 in 6 theaters to a 71k $ first weekend in North America, its peak there, though it widened to 19 theaters, grossing 404k $ (16.2% of the total gross). 82,050 bought tickets to the film in Trier's native Denmark, almost certainly its biggest market, although a detailed gross sheet is missing. Roger Ebert gave it a 3.5/4 star review, translating to a notch better than this one. It won the Best Actress award in Cannes, 1/3 European Film award noms, the Nordic Council film prize and 7/12 Robert nominations (Denmark's Oscar). The film was banned in France in 2016, because a court ruled that its age 16 rating was a mistake. Trier returned with Dimension 1991-2024 (2010, short) and theatrically with Melancholia (2011). Dafoe returned in Farewell (2009), Gainsbourg in Persécution (2009). Antichrist is rotten at 52 % with a 5.5/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]
What do you think of Antichrist?
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