Antichrist - Lars Von Trier
Von Trier's Latest Controversial Work has Sparked a Mixed Response
Aug 9, 2009
For those who are new to the Danish director, he is well known in the arthouse scene, most notably for his Dogme95 challenge to his contemporaries and himself. Dogme95 is about honest-filmmaking: breaking from over-stylized images by using things like grainy, hand-held images and natural light. He was one of the first credible directors to use hardcore sexual images in his films. Antichrist is his most recent effort.
Basic Plot of Antichrist
Willem Dafoe and Charlotte Gainsbourg star as unnamed, grieving parents of a child whose accidental death drives 'Her' into a an extreme depression through grief. The film follows the two as 'He' (a mental health professional by trade) tries to guide his wife through the difficult process through confrontation of her fears. This drives them to 'Eden', a 'cabin in the woods' scenario with obvious biblical implications, this setting plays host to the blood-fuelled final few scenes, including the mutilation of female genitalia.
Controversy Surrounding Antichrist
The film was booed at its first showing in Cannes, with some of the audience walking out, and sparking one critic to write, 'Lars Von Trier, we get it. You really, really, don't like women,' (Wendy Ide, The Times). Whilst receiving high praise in his home country of Denmark (possibly guilty of a little blinded faith), its poor reception at Cannes seemed to symbolise this film as the culmination of Von Trier's work. His ability to offend is second to none and his recent film seems to have split critics. Many in Cannes (a festival which usually rewards Von Trier's productions - he's won several awards including the Grand Prix), cite the film to be misogynist, and this is where the divide in critics appears to show.
Is Antichrist Misogynist?
There is no brief answer to this question, and without accidentally writing an essay on this, one can only really answer: sort of. There is a huge amount of surface-level misogyny, culminating with self-mutilation of 'She', a very potent piece of imagery, however a lot of this does seem to be purely surface level.
When the characters are explored in depth they seem to be two parts to a psyche, tearing each other apart. The rational vs the irrational, or more poetically Nietzsche's Dionysian and Appollnian elements, pitted against each other within the confines of an unsound mind. Indeed, the female character is the irrational side of things, and is responsible for the downfall of the relationship and the slip into madness. However Von Trier does not seem to be blaming 'woman' in general for this, but rather simply elements of the psyche. The film is so littered with elements of misogynist thinking, however, (the 'She' character is writing a thesis on 'gynocide' - the intrinsic persecution of women), that a misogynist viewpoint would be easily supportable.
Is Antichrist Actually Any Good?
The easiest answer for this is: it depends. Some hate it and clamour to leave early. Some are captivated by an imagery-rich piece of arthouse cinema, screaming desperately about the pointlessness of it all. Do not see this film if you're expecting a horror - it's simply not. There is gore and murder and suspense, but to call this film a horror would be like calling the Taj Mahal 'a tomb'. Whilst technically accurate (there are elements of horror), it just simply doesn't go far enough. This is a rich poignant film, which even its greatest fans can often struggle to explain, and worthy of a look, so long as you're not expecting The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
