Movie: Antichrist
By: -PREACH-
Date: May 4, 2011
Written and directed by Lars Von Trier, Antichrist is one of the most dark, depressing and all out puzzling films of its time. A memorable quote from the movie "Chaos Reigns" certainly rings true throughout this film as it takes you on an up and down roller coaster from start to finish.
The opening scene which is shot in all black and white is of a husband (Willem Dafoe) and his wife (Charlotte Gainsbourg) having sex while their very young son climbs out of his crib to the ledge of their window, where he then falls to his death. This then sends the woman into a deep depression that landed her in the hospital for a significant amount of time. The husband who is a therapist is upset with her treatment and wants her back home and off all the meds. Even though he is against having family treat family he convinces her to let him treat her as his patient, and that grief is a natural healthy feeling during recovery in which he will help her through. He also gets her to flush all of her meds down the toilet. Later events prove this to maybe not have been a good decision.
Although in a dark place and dealing with his own emotions, he chooses to focus all his time and energy to helping his wife through her grief and constant anxiety attacks. Despite verbal and physical assaults the husband gets her to open up about her fears, assuring her that dealing with what she fears most will help her through her grief. She opens up telling him what she fears most is "the woods" better known in the movie as "Eden". A cabin where the wife spent the last summer with their son writing her thesis. The husband now realizing he cannot help her in their home decides to go to Eden and face her fears head on. Instead, the cabin becomes home for both characters Grief, pain and despair, sending them both into a questionable reality leaving viewers unsure which if any of them has it all together.
A movie just as creepy as it is symbolic I would have to say. The cabin so isolated in the dark woods away from the rest of the world leaves you with a sense of this couple being totally alone, with no one but each other to count on. Any and all flashbacks or visions are just as unsettling as they are symbolic. Falling acorns meaning death and hopelessness but also meaning life, the animals and their newborns play a emotional role throughout the film for both characters. nature as she views it, is "Satan's church" a name hard to argue the more the movie presses on. The husband who has been viewed as the strong one there to help her through her grief, we soon find out is just as much a emotional mess as she is. Just better at controlling and hiding his emotions for her sake, and very possibly his own. The wife who has come off insulting and verbally abusive throughout the film now seems to not be so far off the mark. In questioning him you see her words might have a hint of truth to them. Him not showing emotion and keeping his laid back voice and demeanor throughout the film will soon play a huge role later when loyalty and intentions are questioned.
Antichrist is definitely not for someone with a weak stomach, or anyone who is not a fan of graphic violence and nudity. The movie only goes further with its gruesome images as it presses on. Imagine "misery"X10. You know those scenes that aren't graphic but give the viewer a sense of whats happening? Well imagine those horrific scenes but you get to see exactly what happens. A movie where both man and woman alike will squint and perhaps look away at times while these characters receive and deal out true violence and terror upon themselves and one another.
I think Lars Von Trier deserves a great deal of applause and respect for this film. A true masterpiece in a field I find to be filled with films not worth viewing at all. Although it sent many viewers out of the theater during screenings, no moment says it better then during the Toronto International Film Festival where a man apparently vomited on the people in front of him while watching it. Now that's art!!! A lot of people think Lars hates women and he has often been referred to as a misogynist. I in no way find that to be true. I think the film is supposed to be dark and symbolic even during the graphic scenes the audience faces. I would highly recommend Antichrist to anyone wanting to see a film that will not only leave you debating with yourself and others. but for anyone looking to put together a puzzle and figure out what it is Lars is trying to say. I challenge all to get into his mind and figure out what this film means.
Antichrist
Lars Von Trier
Denmark
2009
Willem Dafoe, Charolette Gainsbourg
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