Antichrist (2009; Lars von Trier)

[Stephen Chamberlain]

I'm a huge fan of von Trier's, so I was anticipating this movie without really knowing anything about it, but after seeing this trailer, well, watch for yourself. :-0

4062746

http://www.antichristthemovie.com/?language=en

[WakingTheMisery]

Oh.

[poppa Q]

http://www.absolutepunk.net/showthread.php?t=996112&highlight=anti+christ

[Stephen Chamberlain]

http://www.absolutepunk.net/showthread.php?t=996112&highlight=anti+christ
Meh. I searched but because dude spelled it wrong it didn't show up.

[Ailite]

cannes fucked this movie up

[Stephen Chamberlain]

cannes fucked this movie up
Yeah I know, and it makes me wanna see it that much more.

[Stephen Chamberlain]

Badass.

Lars von Trier cuts a big fat art-film fart with "Antichrist." As if deliberately courting critical abuse, the Danish bad boy densely packs this theological-psychological horror opus with grotesque, self-consciously provocative images that might have impressed even Hieronymus Bosch, as the director pursues personal demons of sexual, religious and esoteric bodily harm, as well as feelings about women that must be a comfort to those closest to him. Traveling deep into NC-17 territory, this may prove a great date movie for pain-is-pleasure couples. Otherwise, most of the director's usual fans will find this outing risible, off-putting or both -- derisive hoots were much in evidence during and after the Cannes press screening -- while the artiness quotient is far too high for mainstream-gore groupies.

There's electricity in the air. Every seat is filled, even the little fold-down seats at the end of every row. It is the first screening of Lars von Trier's "Antichrist," and we are ready for anything. We'd better be. Von Trier's film goes beyond malevolence into the monstrous. Never before have a man and woman inflicted more pain upon each other in a movie. We looked in disbelief. There were piteous groans. Sometimes a voice would cry out, "No!" At certain moments there was nervous laughter. When it was all over, we staggered up the aisles. Manohla Dargis, the merry film critic of The New York Times, could be heard singing "That's Entertainment!"

Whether this is a bad, good or great film is entirely beside the point. It is an audacious spit in the eye of society. It says we harbor an undreamed-of capacity for evil. It transforms a psychological treatment into torture undreamed of in the dungeons of history. Torturers might have been capable of such actions, but they would have lacked the imagination. Von Trier is not so much making a film about violence as making a film to inflict violence upon us, perhaps as a salutary experience. It's been reported that he suffered from depression during and after the film. You can tell. This is the most despairing film I've ever have seen.

[Ailite]

Von Trier stated on a panel this morning "I am the best film director in the world"

[Justin_stacy]

looks like another stupid art house film that's trying to hard.....

[Stephen Chamberlain]

looks like another stupid art house film that's trying to hard.....
I'm sorry I can't take someone seriously who uses the term arthouse pejoratively. Stick to Mallrats.

I disagree w/ myself from the other thread because of what I've seen/read since then. This looks fucking stupid and von Trier is a douche. Dude is trying way too hard to be edgy.Everything I've seen/read has only made me want to see it more. This is exactly what art cinema needs: a fire lit under its ass by some bombastic prick. :headbang:I tend to prefer quite, poetic films, but if a film like this is made I want it done by someone with perversion and intellect--not some braindead bro like Michael Bay lol.

[panasonicyouth]

Hey, you post on TheBoreds! Hi dude.

After the Cannes reviews, I want to see this film even more. Fuck yes.

[jawstheme]

I fucking loved Dogville and Europa, so I'll be checking this out.

[Justin_stacy]

I'm sorry I can't take someone seriously who uses the term arthouse pejoratively. Stick to Mallrats.
.

....what a swipe. :-(

[Stephen Chamberlain]

Hey, you post on TheBoreds! Hi dude.

After the Cannes reviews, I want to see this film even more. Fuck yes.
What up, man!

Agreed.

[IamTheINDUSTRY]

the pacing of this guys films amake them usually yawn fests. this looks promising though.

[panasonicyouth]

I don't think Breaking The Waves was a yawnfest. One of the most entertaining and thought-provoking films I've ever seen.

[Stephen Chamberlain]

I don't think Breaking The Waves was a yawnfest. One of the most entertaining and thought-provoking films I've ever seen.
Definitely.

[live.]

William DeFoe? Jesus?

[Stephen Chamberlain]

Will watch this soon. Stoked.

[Mitch]

just watched this...

blood-squirting ejaculation, noooooo

[pshh]

just watched this...

blood-squirting ejaculation, noooooo

CLITORIS, FUCK NOOOOOOOOOOOO

o god man, this movie was a fucking trip.

word of advice, dont see it high like i did. one of the biggest regrets of my entire fucking life, had so many moments were i wanted to walk out of the theater and closed my eyes for more than 10 seconds. but this is movie is a milestone

ps: nice avatar :-)

[IAmNietzche]

Movie wasn't good but this poster is sweet.

http://auteursnotebook.s3.amazonaws.com/multiple%20images/MPOTW/antichrist.jpg

[wrppdarndyrfngr]

Kurt Loder review: http://www.mtv.com/movies/news/articles/1624526/story.jhtml

Will not be seeing this but thought i'd share

[IamTheINDUSTRY]

atrocious movie. one of the worst i've ever seen. actually pissed me off it was so bad.

[PaperRival-Jake]

Von Trier stated on a panel this morning "I am the best film director in the world"

Can you blame him? Nicole Kidman said after making Dogville with him that she not only never wanted to work for him again, she never wanted to speak with him again. The film industry needs more controversial directors. The bullshit feud between Uwe Boll and Michael Bay is about as interesting as either one of their movies (although I have actually heard nice things about Boll's newest offering). We need to be disgusted by a director.

He is the type of artist we don't understand. The type of artist whose sole purpose is to let your response become the art. How mad can a man make me by simply saying a sentence?

[PaperRival-Jake]

I don't think Breaking The Waves was a yawnfest. One of the most entertaining and thought-provoking films I've ever seen.

agree 100%

However, I wasn't quite there with Dogville. All his other work really has hit me quite hard.

[xjulianx89]

It's going to be released On Demand on the 28th and it will get a theatrical expansion on the 30th.

[xjulianx89]

Can you blame him? Nicole Kidman said after making Dogville with him that she not only never wanted to work for him again, she never wanted to speak with him again.

What were her reasons?

[PaperRival-Jake]

What were her reasons?

Well, the film tackles really difficult subject matter. I looked for more info about the situation but came up close to nothing. There is a rape scene and I can only imagine with Lars' sense of vision that he might have made her do it over and over or something to that effect. If you find anything let me know. IMDB only says that she was very distant.

[DeadCityScars]

Antichrist was my introduction to Lars von Trier. I had heard it was a powerful film and so I had to see it. Unlike most, I didn't find the film to be too shocking. It was shot in a way that made you feel like you were watching a dream unfold.
Also, I didn't quite understand what made the girl (gainsburg) so crazy. She went from depressed to insane to quickly.

After Antichrist I wanted more, so I watched Dogville. Dogville was great. I was hesitant after seeing a few screenshots of the film. I didn't think a film set on a stage would be interesting, but it was.

What other Lars von Trier movies are worth seeing?

[DeadCityScars]

never interrupt Lars von Trier watching a movie....

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xaigqh_occupations-short-film-by-lars-von_shortfilms

[IAmNietzche]

Dogville is his best by far but Breaking the Waves and Dancer in the Dark are definitely worth seeing. Antichrist was terrible.

[Stephen Chamberlain]

Don't forget Europa.

[Thomas Balkcom]

Europa is fantastic

[DeadCityScars]

I didn't realize Dogville was part of a trilogy...I kinda want to see manderlay now

[PaperRival-Jake]

Antichrist was my introduction to Lars von Trier. I had heard it was a powerful film and so I had to see it. Unlike most, I didn't find the film to be too shocking. It was shot in a way that made you feel like you were watching a dream unfold.
Also, I didn't quite understand what made the girl (gainsburg) so crazy. She went from depressed to insane to quickly.

After Antichrist I wanted more, so I watched Dogville. Dogville was great. I was hesitant after seeing a few screenshots of the film. I didn't think a film set on a stage would be interesting, but it was.

What other Lars von Trier movies are worth seeing?


I would say that you should see them all. If you have the patience for Dogville then you might appreciate Breaking the Waves. Dancer in the Dark is also worth a watch.

[Wake Up]

Antichrist is a decent attempt at something disturbingly existential. I think some of the scenes we're a little gratuitous, but Lars obviously doesn't comply with any modern filmmaking standards. With that said, I think he tries too hard to create his own 'style' like a Heneke or a Vas Sant

[Thomas Balkcom]

just finished this, it was absolutely terrible

[Sloth7]

I am kinda torn. I liked the overall muted tone and feel of the movie. It's setting in the woods was great too. I just got the feeling like it was a bit bloated in its own artsy-ness (the fox saying "chaos reigns" comes to mind). But in all fairness, I've never seen a Lars von Trier film before, so maybe that's his style.

Overall, the creepiness was great, the acting was done well, and I do respect the effort put into it, but I kinda walked away disappointed. Maybe another viewing is necessary.

[PaperRival-Jake]

Overall, the creepiness was great, the acting was done well, and I do respect the effort put into it, but I kinda walked away disappointed. Maybe another viewing is necessary.

I think more than one viewing of all his films is a necessity before it can be properly critiqued. That doesn't mean that I think he is such a genius and we can't grasp his artistic conveyance the firs time through, it just means that his films are typically bloated like you said, and it takes more than one time through to catch a lot of the subtleties in them

[SlappedActor]

Terrible movie. Von Trier owes me 9 bucks.

[Sloth7]

I think more than one viewing of all his films is a necessity before it can be properly critiqued. That doesn't mean that I think he is such a genius and we can't grasp his artistic conveyance the firs time through, it just means that his films are typically bloated like you said, and it takes more than one time through to catch a lot of the subtleties in them


Definitely. That sounds right. Maybe his films just aren't the kind I will personally like, but I can see what he's trying to do, and if that many people enjoy his work, I hope I can as well.

[Thomas Balkcom]

http://www.rowthree.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/antichrist-poster.jpg

[Stephen Chamberlain]

:-d

[SkyHeldUpByStar]

One of the strangest things I've heard about the aftermath of this movie is that they are making a video game. Video. Game.

[xjulianx89]

Yeah, I would say this is Lon Von Trier's most pretentious work. I didn't like it.

[IamTheINDUSTRY]

Good to see almost everyone shares my opinion.

[poppa Q]

I definitely can't agree with the claims that it was "terrible." The prologue was shot beautifully and it was still incredibly gripping despite the child's fate being obvious. Chapters one through four had their ups and downs, but I though the last ten-fifteen minutes were pretty solid.

[IAmNietzche]

On second viewing it wasn't as bad as I had first thought, which leads me to believe that my disappointment in it not living up to my expectations made it seem worse than it actually was. I still didn't like it that much. I'd rank it with Manderlay as being one of his more disappointing films.

[eraserhead]

Man I'm really disappointed by all the negative feedback for this, I was really excited for it. I hate pretentious movies.

[showmethefever]

Eh, not sure what to think about this movie. I don't really understand the epilogue.

[pshh]

don't see this high, it was quite a fucking journey.

[jbaseball44]

Just watched this, not very good but not awful. Thought it was going to be better than it was, I guess I would have known if I checked this thread.

[poppa Q]

Just watched this, not very good but not awful. Thought it was going to be better than it was, I guess I would have known if I checked this thread.

CHECK AP BEFORE YOU DO ANYTHING

[jbaseball44]

I guess that's the life lesson I learned.

[showmethefever]

It sure had its share of fucked up scenes.

[eraserhead]

This was beautifully shot, and in that sense it was amazing to watch, but the plot was fucking asinine. In the last half of the movie there was no reason behind anything happening. Talking fox? Great. Some vague flashback about putting the kid's shoes on the wrong feet? Awesome. Charlotte Gainsbourg cutting her clit off with a scissors? Sure, why not. There were hints of reasoning behind all this stuff but nothing was ever fully developed, and that's what pissed me off.

In short: gorgeous artistry, wandering and pointless plot.

[IAmNietzche]

This was beautifully shot, and in that sense it was amazing to watch, but the plot was fucking asinine. In the last half of the movie there was no reason behind anything happening. Talking fox? Great. Some vague flashback about putting the kid's shoes on the wrong feet? Awesome. Charlotte Gainsbourg cutting her clit off with a scissors? Sure, why not. There were hints of reasoning behind all this stuff but nothing was ever fully developed, and that's what pissed me off.

In short: gorgeous artistry, wandering and pointless plot.
All those scenes you mentioned are rife with symbolism.

[eraserhead]

All those scenes you mentioned are rife with symbolism.
Absolutely, but I felt like none of it was cultivated very well. Things relevant to those scenes were touched on (like her thesis about "gynocide," and her stay at the cabin with Nick), but it didn't seem like they were ever really fully developed or explained. I will admit I was very tired when I watched this movie and a lot of it probably went over my head, but I felt like the plot just kept meandering without really going anywhere.

Was the stuff about her putting the shoes on the wrong feet supposed to indicate she was suffering from post-partum depression, and thus resenting the kid? Also the thing with her imagining the child crying in the woods.

[IAmNietzche]

Absolutely, but I felt like none of it was cultivated very well. Things relevant to those scenes were touched on (like her thesis about "gynocide," and her stay at the cabin with Nick), but it didn't seem like they were ever really fully developed or explained. I will admit I was very tired when I watched this movie and a lot of it probably went over my head, but I felt like the plot just kept meandering without really going anywhere.

Was the stuff about her putting the shoes on the wrong feet supposed to indicate she was suffering from post-partum depression, and thus resenting the kid? Also the thing with her imagining the child crying in the woods.
I don't know if it's as concrete as post-partum depression, but it's definitely a look at her subconscious contempt for her own female nature. It is the nature of the female to care for their young.

[IAmNietzche]

It also helps to reinforce (along with her thesis) that her hatred for the nature of women does not merely stem from her one tragic failure (Nick's death), but is actually something systemic within her. That notion colors her grief (is she grief stricken over Nick's death or over her subconscious desire to neglect him?) and her subsequent descent into madness.

[Thomas Balkcom]

this is available on Netflix Instant.

[gusta0117]

yeah it is. i was waiting for it. i started watching it last night and the opening scene is shot beautifully. i will probably finish it over spring break

[popdisaster00]

this is available on Netflix Instant.
Yeah..just watched it via instant netflix. Sort of. I couldn't fucking stand it. Piece of shit movie, I don't care what type metaphors this movie is trying to make. I am not even being ignorant here, it's just that blood-cum and animal cruelty and all of this shit is not something I find an interest in at all, even if it's fake.

[popdisaster00]

yeah it is. i was waiting for it. i started watching it last night and the opening scene is shot beautifully. i will probably finish it over spring break

Honestly the only good thing I could say about this

[eraserhead]

Yeah..just watched it via instant netflix. Sort of. I couldn't fucking stand it. Piece of shit movie, I don't care what type metaphors this movie is trying to make. I am not even being ignorant here, it's just that blood-cum and animal cruelty and all of this shit is not something I find an interest in at all, even if it's fake.
Having scenes that are disturbing or unpleasant to watch doesn't make it a piece of shit movie. Not saying it was great, but you can't discredit it based on blood-cum and "animal cruelty" alone.

What animal cruelty are you talking about, by the way? I saw this a while ago and don't really remember any. I do remember a lot of genital cruelty, however.

[popdisaster00]

Having scenes that are disturbing or unpleasant to watch doesn't make it a piece of shit movie. Not saying it was great, but you can't discredit it based on blood-cum and "animal cruelty" alone.

What animal cruelty are you talking about, by the way? I saw this a while ago and don't really remember any. I do remember a lot of genital cruelty, however.
Well when he was basically smashing that bird, or crow.

But no, I agree with you, that's not what I was trying to say. Those are major reasons why I didn't like it, but also the movie itself is just crap in my opinion. I'll go with what other people are saying though - it was shot very well. Despite that, it did nothing for me

[eraserhead]

Well when he was basically smashing that bird, or crow.

But no, I agree with you, that's not what I was trying to say. Those are major reasons why I didn't like it, but also the movie itself is just crap in my opinion. I'll go with what other people are saying though - it was shot very well. Despite that, it did nothing for me
Out of all the twisted violence in this movie...THAT's the one thing you single out? A stupid crow getting brained with a rock? A woman CUT HER CLIT OFF for fuck's sake.

[popdisaster00]

Out of all the twisted violence in this movie...THAT's the one thing you single out? A stupid crow getting brained with a rock? A woman CUT HER CLIT OFF for fuck's sake.
I didn't say it was the worst to watch. Compared to dick blood, clit scissors and everything else, it was tame. But still something I don't care to watch.

[Guern1ca]

Where's the clitoris? I read somewhere that it was at the crest of the labia. Does that mean it's on the leg?

[gusta0117]

Honestly the only good thing I could say about this

haha i never watched the rest of it. i think i made it 20 more minutes. i will probably finish it at some point though

[cantnokdahustle]

Where's the clitoris?

Hey, you have to stop thinking with your dick! You have to be on your toes, because I am not going be grounded again. Not for you, not for anybody!

[Colorblind!]

All those scenes you mentioned are rife with symbolism.
Did you not have a thread at one point where you and a few other posters did pieces on each of LVT's major films? I'm watching them all now and was curious to read what ya'll had to say afterward but I can't find it anywhere.

[Stephen Chamberlain]

The Element of Crime might be my favorite film atmosphere-wise ever.

[stayillogical]

Did you not have a thread at one point where you and a few other posters did pieces on each of LVT's major films? I'm watching them all now and was curious to read what ya'll had to say afterward but I can't find it anywhere.

http://absolutepunk.net/showthread.php?t=1528762

[danielineffigy]

Damn, nobody here liked this? I thought it was fucking great.

[Colorblind!]

http://absolutepunk.net/showthread.php?t=1528762
Many thanks.

Damn, nobody here liked this? I thought it was fucking great.
I side with you on this one. Need to re-watch soon to try and see if I can formulate some sort of point from it, but I love it regardless.