Antichrist

Reviews > DVD & Blu-ray

2009 | Drama/Horror | Artificial Eye

Director: Lars von Trier

Starring: Charlotte Gainsbourg, Willem Dafoe

PM rating: ½☆☆☆☆

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On DVD/Blu-Ray

AntichristI have never had the urge to walk out of a film, no matter how bored I am or how terrible it appears to be. For the first time in my life Antichrist summoned this unwanted desire to the forefront of my mind but I remained in my seat (out of shock more than anything else).

What there is of a plot focuses on a couple  (Dafoe and Gainsbourg) retreating to a cabin to deal with the loss of their child. Graphic unsimulated sex scenes, genital mutilation and talking foxes are commonplace.

The film is utterly and emphatically breathtaking, but not in a positive way.  Some critics have described Antichrist as “the film version of a scream” and that is the perfect description. If this film achieves anything, it is the expression of ultimate despair and violent regret.

There seems to be obscene violence for the sake of obscene violence. In one scene, following a bloody, disfiguring round of intercourse, Gainsbourg nails machinery to Dafoe’s ankle whilst screaming “You’re leaving me you bastard” in a frequency so high that only dogs, bats and whales can hear it.  Dafoe proceeds to attempt an escape by dragging his now-extremely-heavy ankle along the floor and finds momentary solitude in a burrow. Then, when a newborn bird’s squawk alerts Gainsbourg of his location, he bludgeons the poor bird’s head with a stone…and this is one of the calmer scenes!

The cinematography is, in a few places, stunning but this does not make up for what is an absolutely abhorrent piece of cinema and, other than cult fame, I cannot even comprehend why Dafoe and Gainsbourg would want to be part of it.

If Lars Von Trier’s aim was to make viewers physically uncomfortable then he has succeeded. He claims he will never make a film again and I only hope he sticks to this promise. Antichrist is, quite simply, a despairingly low form of cinema but this is the very reason it will be remembered.


Last edited: 11th January 2010

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  • susan langton

    i WOULD LOVE TO SEE THE MOVIE…..

  • susan langton

    i WOULD LOVE TO SEE THE MOVIE…..

  • Jeff

    This was a disturbing movie, but I did not get feeling like I wanted to stop watching it.

    I did get frustrated during certain passages, some of Dafoe’s “diagnoses” were a bit out-there and I felt were a bit insulting to the viewer.
    I think the use of graphic sex in this film, like I’ve seen in a few others (Shortbus comes to mind), is a part of the writer/directors way of telling the story and its integral to the story, and the graphic sex is not sexy sex…its ugly (in this film anyway). If you find such things offensive don’t watch this movie.

    Parts (quite a few), definitely had a David Lynch surrealist feel and I wouldn’t be surprised if he were influenced by him.

    I wouldn’t recommend this film for everyone, and those I would I would add the disclaimer that you’re not going to walk away with anything. It made me squirm a bit and after I think I watched some Looneytunes to lighten up.

  • Jeff

    This was a disturbing movie, but I did not get feeling like I wanted to stop watching it.

    I did get frustrated during certain passages, some of Dafoe’s “diagnoses” were a bit out-there and I felt were a bit insulting to the viewer.
    I think the use of graphic sex in this film, like I’ve seen in a few others (Shortbus comes to mind), is a part of the writer/directors way of telling the story and its integral to the story, and the graphic sex is not sexy sex…its ugly (in this film anyway). If you find such things offensive don’t watch this movie.

    Parts (quite a few), definitely had a David Lynch surrealist feel and I wouldn’t be surprised if he were influenced by him.

    I wouldn’t recommend this film for everyone, and those I would I would add the disclaimer that you’re not going to walk away with anything. It made me squirm a bit and after I think I watched some Looneytunes to lighten up.

  • Nico

    This is a very polarizing film for obvious reasons. Some of its plot elements are alarmingly brutal. However, this is not simple, inane “shock cinema.” It plays with the viewer’s expectations while masterfully building an unbearable amount of tension using sound and image.

    I do not think it is appropriate to write this film off as “an absolutely abhorrent piece of cinema.” Its grisly moments are earned with established motifs and plot points. There is an intellectual weight to what is being shown.

    I found this review very extreme and unfair to how beautifully crafted of a movie “Antichrist” is.

  • Nico

    This is a very polarizing film for obvious reasons. Some of its plot elements are alarmingly brutal. However, this is not simple, inane “shock cinema.” It plays with the viewer’s expectations while masterfully building an unbearable amount of tension using sound and image.

    I do not think it is appropriate to write this film off as “an absolutely abhorrent piece of cinema.” Its grisly moments are earned with established motifs and plot points. There is an intellectual weight to what is being shown.

    I found this review very extreme and unfair to how beautifully crafted of a movie “Antichrist” is.

  • Dave Gilmore

    Just goes to show you can’t be too careful!

  • Dave Gilmore

    Just goes to show you can’t be too careful!