Antichrist

Antichrist


Language: English.

Brief Synopsis: A husband and wife (only ever referred to as He and She) lose their infant son in an accident and deal with the subsequent grief by going to their cabin, Eden, where she had spent the previous summer with her sun working on a thesis about gynocide. During their time there, He sees a great many disturbing things, and learns of his wife's belief that all women are inherently evil.

My Take: I did my best to leave the spoilers out of the synopsis, because there are some very interesting ones. Removing some of the shock value would render this movie almost pointless, because I believe that Lars Von Trier, the director, was aiming to shock and horrify.

I found the film to be incredibly misogynistic. She is a terrible, terrible human being, and by halfway through the film I wanted to scream at He to run as fast as he could from that evil woman. The sex scenes are tender, though I was quite glad when I found out the shower scene used stand-ins, as it shows actual penetration and I wasn't entirely comfortable with the idea of seeing Willem Dafoe, He's actor, in that manner.

It should be noted that the film is absolutely beautiful. Every scene is like a painting, though some are even more beautiful than others. The scene where they make love beneath the tree (shown in the movie poster) is gorgeous in a thousand different ways. Another positive aspect of the movie is the acting, which is fantastic. Dafoe is brilliant as He and Charlotte Gainsbourg is stunning as She, though I did want to smack her upside her head in most scenes.

I don't think Antichrist is for most people. It's violent, disturbing, sexually graphic, and about as bleak as a movie can get. It sort of made me loathe myself for being a woman (though the very ending offered a little hope). It's a movie that makes you think, but I certainly could have done without Von Trier's pretentious airs. The entire movie feels a bit like a chore, and by the time you're done with it, you wonder if you could have gotten the point by reading an in-depth summary and looking at some stills.

Entertainment value: Low. Short of the Three Beggars showing up and the last ten minutes or so, I was bored out of my skull.
Scare value: Low-Medium. There are definitely some uncomfortable bits, and I know this is stupid, but the Chaos Reigns fox scared the bejesus out of me.
Realistic?: Aside from certain flights of fancy in regards to the Three Beggars and the hands beneath the tree, I would say the film is somewhat realistic. I don't think it is meant to be taken as realism though, and is instead a sort of parable. The special effects are extremely realistic.
Violence/Gore: Two major bits of animal gore and two bits of violence to genitalia. I couldn't look at scissors without squirming for days.
Sex: Graphic penetrative sex in the beginning, followed by lots of masturbation and sex thereafter. LOTS AND LOTS OF SEX, and most of it you don't really want to see.
This movie is for: Gender studies majors, Von Trier fans.
Films like it: Apparently Von Trier's other movies, as this was my first.

IMDB Entry on Antichrist
Trailer