Antichrist: Lars von Trier’s Depression Cure-All
At the 2009 Cannes press conference for Antichrist, Daily Mail columnist Baz Bamigboye asked director Lars von Trier to explain and justify the graphic images in his film. The Danish filmmaker replied, “I don’t have to justify…I don’t owe anybody an explanation…I am the world’s greatest director.” The comment was tongue-in-cheek, of course, but after watching the film, I’m not sure anyone could cohesively explain and justify Antichrist. And no one should have to. It just “is.”
Lars has stated that he wrote and filmed Antichrist while in the midst of a deep, two year depression, and that he used the film to explore and exorcise his personal demons. This is mirrored in the film through the Charlotte Gainsbourg’s character (neither her nor Willem Dafoe are given a name), a mother who is hospitalized after the death of their son. In the film’s remarkably shot prologue, the child falls out of a window while Gainsbourg and Dafoe have operatic sex in the laundry room. Dafoe, a professional therapist, insists she leave the hospital so he can take care of her at home. This at-home therapy consists of a lot of violent anxiety attacks that can only be placated via frantic sex. Hey, whatever works.
During one of the more clothed sessions, she reveals that she is most afraid of spending time at their cabin where she and their child spent some of the previous summer alone, so she could work on her thesis. They say people who are afraid of spiders should have sex with one (right?), so following that logic he decides that they should stay at the cabin, which they call “Eden,” and directly confront her fears. What unfolds during the remainder of the film is achingly bleak, impossibly disturbing, and unforgettable…in the way that medieval torture porn is unforgettable.
Full Review after the jump…
Antichrist features its share of horror conventions, from the cabin in the woods to more esoteric ideas connecting sexuality and violence, but classifying this as a horror movie is ridiculous – and would make me a failure at pretentious movie reviews. The film passes as horror, triumphs as a work of art, but falls short of getting across some of the ideas von Trier was possibly going for. The wife states in the film that “Nature is Satan’s Church,” and in this case, nature is a cold-hearted bitch. Cinematographer Anthony Dod Mantle (Slumdog Millionaire, von Trier’s Manderlay) breathes life into Antichrist’s forest; making it a character unto itself..even acorns are menacing! Gradually, notes from the wife’s thesis begin to emerge; “nature wants to kill you” and human nature “causes people to do evil things against women.”
Antichrist = Satan. Nature = Satan’s Church. What von Trier is saying up to this point is: Religion can’t save you. Therapy can’t save you. Dafoe can’t save you. Chaos reigns.
Speaking of chaos reining and Dafoe being useless, the animal symbolism in the film was probably my favorite aspect. Animals have always been used as harbingers of despair in mythology, and their use in Antichrist is no different. They may be eating themselves or giving birth mid-run, but the presence of wild animals still bring ill tidings. I read that at Cannes, critics laughed aloud during the talking-fox part, but I found it to be one of the most profound parts of the film. The sequence occurs when the wife is starting to come around and possibly on her way to recovery. But von Trier won’t let the recovery happen, this isn’t that type of film…chaos reigns. (The deer was giving birth, right? Or did it just have an alien-ass?)
Antichrist is turning out to be one of the most polarizing movies of 2009 and mark me down under “in favor of.” It’s a movie with an honestly modest story, but an overwhelming amount of ideas: reason versus instinct; nature versus society; man versus woman; scissors versus clitoris. These ideas are all, amazingly, successfully presented visually, and that’s where the film’s greatest strengths lie. From the opening titles (which could be intepreted as von Trier jokingly calling himself the Antichrist) to the abstract epilogue, Antichrist is a visual and unconventional triumph. The ends, for once, justify the means.
The film opens up in the U.S. on October 23 and if you’re jonesing for more action after the movie, a video game is on the way. Seriously.
September 18th, 2009 at 9:44 am
I can’t wait for this movie. The title alone has me all hyped!
September 18th, 2009 at 11:08 am
This was a great movie, however it wasn’t without it’s flaws. While Trier did a great job with his esoteric themes, he was a bit clumsy in establishing the narrative ones and fleshing out the mythos of the movie. Nothing to make the movie not enjoyable though and it did at least create some great food for thought.
Really recommend it and while it’s uncomfortable at times, most of it is from the mood and pacing and not the gore and violence.
Also I’m shocked no one has called Trier out yet on the fact that he made a movie where one of the underlying themes is Women are inherently evil.
September 18th, 2009 at 11:18 am
I’ve read in a few different places that von Trier is a misogynist in real life. Bjork called him “sexist” and wrote Nicole Kidman to try to get her to back out of Dogville.
September 18th, 2009 at 11:21 am
I also didn’t really understand the epilogue
September 18th, 2009 at 11:23 am
With all the women with blurred out faces in the forest? Something about hating women, I’m sure.
September 18th, 2009 at 12:16 pm
I’ll never be able to watch this movie. Thank you for doing it for me.
September 18th, 2009 at 1:54 pm
If I may, where did you guys see this movie? The tiff screening sold out in minutes.
September 18th, 2009 at 2:20 pm
The movie released in May in Europe… so it’s out there
September 18th, 2009 at 3:02 pm
I was Dafoe’s dick-double, so I attended the premiere at Cannes.
September 18th, 2009 at 6:14 pm
Hey, my guess was that it was dangling afterbirth (the deer). which is symbolism-galore, IMO.
Great review by the way. I co-sign. This one resonates like most of von Trier’s shit.
Dogville is still his best.
September 19th, 2009 at 11:54 am
Antichrist is, as most von Trier, pure comedy gold. All the sledgehammer symbolism, cringe-worthy dialogue and talking foxes had me and a friend almost pissing ourselves with laughter by the oh-so-shocking end. One of my favourite scenes has to be when Dafoe’s character finally completes his neat little diagram of what “she” is afraid of the most, crossing out “Satan” and “Nature” and eventually putting himself at the top of the pyramid.
If one were to take von Trier seriously, I guess you would indeed have to call him out on his fucking blatant misogyny, but since there’s enough dumb broads out there to actually justify his mental diarrhoea and explain at length why it actually isn’t misogynist at all (e.g. http://insidemovies.moviefone.com/2009/09/09/why-lars-von-triers-antichrist-is-not-misogynistic/), why bother? I believe it’s pretty fucking obvious to any third-grader, starting with the typography of the title. Oh, and please note that nature obviously isn’t evil anymore after he’s strangled the bitch – “he” revives eating berries and the “three beggars” watch approvingly. Oh really, Lars..?
September 21st, 2009 at 9:02 am
Bunnyboy nailed it!
October 1st, 2009 at 2:02 pm
bunnyboy didn’t nail it all, actually, and proof to that is he writes (and I quote): One of my favourite scenes has to be when Dafoe’s character finally completes his neat little diagram of what “she” is afraid of the most, crossing out “Satan” and “Nature” and eventually putting himself at the top of the pyramid.
well the “ME” that he wrote on the top refered to the wife, not to himself. The thing she fears most is HER. It was pretty obvious because he verbalized it. But I guess you weren’t really paying attention as you were laughing your head off at a truely profound piece of cinema. I guess it was too intelligent for your taste…. Oh, how I just love people who laugh like jerks when they don’t understand a thing.
November 24th, 2009 at 1:03 am
This film is an exceptional piece of cinema. Phenomenally shot, really powerful acting and a great script. It gets to your very core. When I walked out of the theatre my legs felt like jelly and I am still thinking and rethinking the many layers and themes in the film. If anything, I saw this film as a critique of misogyny, but there are so many more layers beyond that.
If this film offended and pissed people off, it was meant to. Personally for me it has moved Lars Von Trier to the top of my favorite director’s list.