Antichrist

matt35mm · July 24, 2009, 01:21:54 PM

Brothers and sisters, I have walked through the fire; I have seen the darkness and the light, dancing on the screen as one.

I liked it! Well, I liked most of it. I have no idea what I think of the last 45 or so minutes, which are admittedly firmly rooted in WTF territory, but I've seen stranger things.

The movie is very precise and beautiful. The camerawork and editing is stunning, not just for its technical bravura, but also for how effectively disorienting it manages to be without resorting to just fucking with you. It actually manages to feel simultaneously claustrophobic and too spacious, wild and incredibly controlled. The sound design also has a lot to do with achieving this. The effect is unnerving. Von Trier and crew are at the top of their game as far as masterful artistic and technical execution goes.

The performances are great! As the movie only has 2 characters and requires such emotional rawness and physical nakedness, I've got nothing but bravos for Dafoe and Gainsbourg for delving fully into it and giving so much.

As I look back on those first really bad reviews, I don't understand what these critics are talking about. Yeah, the film will be divisive, but its clearly going to have its fair share of big fans and the notion that this could be a "career-stopper" for Von Trier is ridiculous.

MILD SPOILERS

As of now I don't have that much to say about the last 45 minutes, except that it will have inevitable comparisons to The Fantastic Mr. Fox. I simply do not understand the last minute of the film, and so I'll wait to see what others have to say about it. The horrifying things that I was nervous about seeing are not so bad that you should avoid the film; I think people can handle it. I don't know what to make of the explicit misogyny in the film. I can't tell if Von Trier knows what he thinks of women, but it doesn't seem to really matter. Audiences can either see misogyny or commentary on misogyny with equal validity, as the movie seems to simultaneously validate and ridicule the misogynistic theories that are explicitly brought up. But I think at the end of the day, can only be taken as a story about these two specific characters, and while they make generalizations, their specific actions are not meant to be an illustration of the general, if that makes any sense.

So those are the first thoughts. Looking forward to seeing what everyone else thinks of it. I think that it's definitely a film worth seeing and thinking about on multiple levels, so in this way I'd call the film a success. Go see it.

SiliasRuby · July 24, 2009, 02:00:43 PM

This Gives Me Hope.

matt35mm · July 25, 2009, 10:52:38 AM

Hope strong, my brother. There's plenty of goodness in the film, and it sits well with me the day after.

God · August 12, 2009, 04:09:53 AM

the fact that this film has been made pleases me.

my children may now carry on.

hedwig · August 12, 2009, 03:06:37 PM

HAIL SATAN

Ordet · August 27, 2009, 10:20:44 PM

The Word.

Pozer · September 11, 2009, 05:55:35 PM

new trailer..

http://www.apple.com/trailers/independent/antichrist/

Pas · September 11, 2009, 05:57:16 PM

I have a DVDrip if anyone's interested...

haven't watched it yet

brockly · September 14, 2009, 11:56:00 PM

im still coming to terms with this, but i think i love it.

spoils!
plot-wise, there's no new territory being tread here for Von Trier. the first fifteen minutes are banal. but then the horror elements come into play and they are welcome with open arms. the movie is about a woman trying to conquer overwhelming grief, though it doesn't have anything to say about grief. it simply uses human condition as a plot device for horror cliches, even employing an investigative twist to establish an object of fear for the final act. i don't know what to make of the last minute of the film, but i think it's a haunting tranquillity.

it's really astonishing filmmaking. i won't go into how technically brilliant it is because matt already has. it will be easy for critics to write it off as shallow, especially when compared to the America trilogy. but like Dancer in the Dark it's more an exercise in genre, in true Von Trier fashion, than an approach at substance. and i think it might be a brilliant one at that.

squints · September 18, 2009, 03:02:45 AM

i have to say those aren't really spoils but your comments made me want to see the movie even more.

picolas · September 18, 2009, 02:22:28 PM

i agree with a lot of what brockly says. the first hour or so is incredible, first fifteen included. how could you describe the opening as banal??? it loses its way in the last third. or at least it seems to upon first view. i know i'll be back because the filmmaking is so awe-inspiring.

brockly · September 20, 2009, 02:44:03 AM

Quote from: picolas on September 18, 2009, 02:22:28 PM
i agree with a lot of what brockly says. the first hour or so is incredible, first fifteen included. how could you describe the opening as banal???

i didn't care much for the prologue. i thought it was nonsensically flamboyant (dare i say pretentious?) and went for too long. it was nice to look at, but i wasn't feeling it. the fade-out on the washing machine was beautiful though. the following 10 minutes were too familiar territory for Von Trier. i didn't want to go there, which is why i was pleased with the shift.

picolas · September 20, 2009, 02:33:44 PM

*spoils*
i still don't understand how you could describe the prologue as banal. the slo-mo and visual perfection is there for a reason. it's a traumatic event, burned into her memory for the rest of the film. the moment she has to relive forever.

brockly · September 20, 2009, 07:36:50 PM

i didn't see it like that, but that's a good point.

Stefen · September 21, 2009, 02:28:39 AM

So this movie scared the shit out of me.

Girls are fucking crazy, man.

Visually gorgeous. Narrative wise, well that's going to be something that is up to much subjective debate once more of you get a chance to see it. I predict this thread reaches 40 pages.

I don't know where I stand. It's the type of movie that you have to let sink in, maybe see again (and again) before you really make up your mind so I have to let it sit for a while. I enjoyed it. Loved it even, but I have to nail down the reasons.

Enough can't be said about how beautiful it is. The cinematography and camera work is top knotch. One of the prettiest movies I've seen in a LONG time.

Also, it's scary. Very scary.

I really enjoyed the acting, as well. Charlotte Gainsbourg carries the film and puts in some amazing work. Dafoe is great but he usually is. Nothing new there.

It made me cringe a few times and that's one of the main things I'm grasping with right now. I haven't made up my mind if some of the sexual violence was necessary to add to the film or a gimmick that took away from it.

I really can't wait to watch it again.