August 31, 2009
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My penis still hurts.
Artsy-farty director Lars von Trier, the self-proclaimed greatest director in the world, certainly delivers unique chills with his surreal 2009 horror flick Antichrist, although I'm not entirely sure how I feel about the experience as a whole. The film chronicles the mental collapse of a highly sexual couple after the accidental death of their only child, an event which sends the mother (Charlotte Gainsbourg) into a deep, dark depression. In order to bring his wife from the pit of despair, the husband (Willem Dafoe) escorts his guilt-ridden partner to the secluded cabin where she spent a summer with her son. As the therapy intensifies, so does the mother's violent need for hardcore sex and redemption. Clocking in at nearly two hours, Antichrist often feels like a perversion form of cinematic punishment, and it will most likely alienate mainstream audiences. From the first scene to the very last, the film is stuffed to overflowing with explicit sex, strange and unusual footage involving woodland creature, genital mutilation, torture, and an abundance of full frontal nudity. Dafoe and Gainsbourg do a fine job with the material, delivering performances that are raw and unflinching without going completely over-the-top in the process. Still, you can't help but feel that Antichrist is a little too pretentious for its own good, fathered by an iconic filmmaker who has been completely engulfed by his own ego. Enthralling to some, schlock to others. Either way, it's worth a look.
Recipe For Success: Stunning Cinematography + Disturbing Imagery + Surprising Level Of Emotional Involvement
Be Nice To Your Genitals: Otherwise, you might cover someone's smiling face with a load of sticky blood.
And they won't be happy about it, either.
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