Antichrist Ryan Barnett - AskMen.com go to original October 24, 2009
Official Site: AntichristTheMovie.com • Release Date: October 23, 2009 • Director: Lars von Trier Main Actors: Willem Dafoe, Charlotte Gainsbourg
Lars von Trier’s controversial new film Antichrist stars Willem Dafoe and Charlotte Gainsbourg as a married couple in grieving following the accidental death of their 4-year-old son. Gainsbourg’s character, credited simply as “She,” slips into a state of crippling grief. Dafoe disagrees with the way his wife’s condition is being treated by her doctor. A psychiatrist by profession, “He” decides to treat her as his own patient. The two eventually retreat to Eden, their country home, as part of her therapy. However, her healing doesn’t go as "He" planned. In their isolated surroundings, the situation devolves into a series of bizarre encounters and horrific acts. Antichrist has been building a reputation since its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival last May. Debate around this film began with reports of people fainting during screenings, and the movie being awarded the first “anti-award” from the Festival’s ecumenical jury. However, the film was also nominated for Cannes’ top prize, The Palme d’Or, and Gainsbourg went on to win the award for Best Actress. These disparate responses to von Trier’s latest work, coupled with descriptions of the film’s bloody denouement, have generated a buzz around Antichrist that has followed it to every festival where it has subsequently screened. Gainsbourg’s portrayal as the grieving mother is the most physical performance we’ve seen by an actor -- ever. She is convincingly grief-stricken from head to toe and to watch her suffer at the beginning of the film generated real anxiety inside of me. Her performance is honest and focused, and should earn her every award imaginable this year -- she’s that good. Likewise, von Trier’s artistic vision displayed here is singular and unwavering. From its opening love scene to its closing title card, Antichrist is visually arresting. There is an atmosphere of unease that permeates the film and as events grow stranger and characters more desperate, that atmosphere becomes palpable. Antichrist has been called a horror film, and although there are horrific events in it and even some genre conventions, it’s much more than that. It’s a sinister, sometimes beautiful and ultimately exceptional piece of filmmaking. Its final act is shocking and brutal, and will likely overshadow the rest of the film’s accomplishments to become the main talking point for debate. However, those who manage to keep their critical eye open in the face of the film’s more extreme elements should see it for the unique masterpiece that it is. Antichrist is the best film you’ll never want to watch twice. If you break Antichrist down into its basic element, it has a great deal of guy appeal: full frontal nudity, female masturbation, a psycho-sexual power struggle between a man and a woman, and a handful of violent acts that you’ll want to recount to your buddies, later. But Antichrist isn’t a “guy’s film,” nor is it a film for women. It may not be a film for anyone. It’s not a typical horror movie that builds suspense followed by cathartic release -- it’s the constant building of tension. The acts of violence are beyond the ones in Hostel and the Saw films. The basic elements of Antichrist that would normally give it guy appeal are presented in a context that removes all the titillation and amusement that we expect. Thus, for the typical viewer, Antichrist will likely be weird, confounding and maybe even a bit silly.
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Entertainment | October 2009 
Ryan Barnett - AskMen.com
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