Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!: Antichrist (2009)

9/02/2013

Antichrist (2009) - Trier's cabin-in-the-woods psycho-horror

♥♥♥♥

+ Best Horror Movie of the Year

Willem Dafoe and Charlotte Gainsbourg's faces during lovemaking are disturbingly connected to a rusty pair of blood-dripping scissors on this poster for Lars Von Trier's Antichrist

A couple, whose infant son has recently perished in a tragic accident, while they were having sex, choose to isolate themselves in the forest cabin, 'Eden', where the husband, - a psychotherapist, - tries to cure his wife of her mental instability, SPOILER but fails, as she proves completely maniacal!

Willem Dafoe (John Carter (2012)) and Charlotte Gainsbourg (21 Grams (2003)) give fine performances in Danish master writer-director Lars Von Trier's (The Idiots/Idioterne (1998)) tortured mind's projection, which an awful many have analyzed, but few can make definite sense of. The film has beautifully distorted pictures (fine work by cinematographer Anthony Dod Mantle (Dredd (2012))), - not least the opening sequence in black and white, - and an ambiguous dig towards religiousness, hence the title, but when the film's explicit, sexually charged violence breaks out full force in its fourth chapter, the focus is on the psycho-sexual and the female as a monster.
Antichrist is an unusual, disturbing experience; a successful art-film, and sure to bring Trier's trademark discomfort into any living room daring to screen it. As a horror film it is unconventional, but unquestionably intriguing.
I was never as engaged in Antichrist, which is a downwards-moving trip with fairly bare-bones, archetype-like characters, as I have been in Trier's great films, first and foremost, of course, in his masterpiece Breaking the Waves (1996), but also The Idiots (1998), Dogville (2003), Manderlay (2005) and The Boss of It All (2006), are all essentially better films in my opinion.

Related posts:

Lars Von Trier: Nymphomaniac (2013) short version, vol. 1 & vol. 2, or, Lars Von Trier's Suck It
Melancholia (2011) - Von Trier's heightened reality doomsday reflections

2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV]
2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
The Early Years: Erik Nietzsche Part 1/De Unge År: Erik Nietzsche Sagaen Del 1 (2007) - Thuesen and Von Trier's hilarious film school comedy (autobiographical screenplay)
2006 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess
Top 10: Best comedies reviewed by Film Excess to date
The Boss of It All/Direktøren for det Hele (2006) - Von Trier's hilarious absurd comedy
Dear Wendy (2005) - Vinterberg and Von Trier's unpopular, gun-themed megaflop (writer)
The Five Obstructions/De Fem Benspænd (2003, documentary) or, Lars von Trier vs. Jørgen Leth (co-director)
Top 10: The best big flop movies reviewed by Film Excess to date
Dogville (2003) - Von Trier's implacable, truly unique drama
Dancer in the Dark (2000) or, Selma the Immigrant
Zentropa/Europa (1991) - Von Trier's audacious ode to the heavy continent is a fever dream on celluloid
Epidemic (1987) - Von Trier's trippy, bizarre second film
The Element of Crime/Forbrydelsens Element (1984) - Von Trier's ultra-strange debut

Visually stunning, Antichrist is a rollercoaster of negative emotions

Cost: 11 mil. $
Box office: 2.5 mil. $
= Box office disaster (returned 0.22 times the cost)
[Antichrist premiered 18 May (Cannes Film Festival, in competition) and runs 108 minutes. Trier wrote the film from 2006 while struggling with heavy depression, spending some time in a mental hospital. He was inspired by Japanese films Ring (1998) and Dark Water (2002). Gainsbourg was cast as a substitute for Eva Green, whose agents would not allow her to appear in the film. The Danish Film Institute contributed 1.5 mil. $ to the budget, which came together from a tangle of 23 companies and governmental support bodies in Germany, France, Denmark, Poland, Sweden and Italy. Trier was still mentally unwell during production, unable to film as he is wont to do, and excused himself often. Shooting took place for 40 days in Germany in August - September 2008. A "Catholic version" of the film was released in some markets, where some violence was cut out. The film opened #42 in 6 theaters to a 71k $ first weekend in North America, its peak there, though it widened to 19 theaters, grossing 404k $ (16.2% of the total gross). 82,050 bought tickets to the film in Trier's native Denmark, almost certainly its biggest market, although a detailed gross sheet is missing. Roger Ebert gave it a 3.5/4 star review, translating to a notch better than this one. It won the Best Actress award in Cannes, 1/3 European Film award noms, the Nordic Council film prize and 7/12 Robert nominations (Denmark's Oscar). The film was banned in France in 2016, because a court ruled that its age 16 rating was a mistake. Trier returned with Dimension 1991-2024 (2010, short) and theatrically with Melancholia (2011). Dafoe returned in Farewell (2009), Gainsbourg in Persécution (2009). Antichrist is rotten at 52 % with a 5.5/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Antichrist?

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Donald Sutherland has passed away

Born in Canada, Sutherland battled polio as a child. His first credit was in Suspense (1963, TV-series) and his first film was The Castle of the Living Dead (1964). Later credits in his remarkable career include The Saint (1965-66), The Dirty Dozen (1967), M*A*S*H (1970), Kelly's Heroes (1970), Klute (1971), Don't Look Now (1973), 1900 (1976), Casanova (1976), The Eagle Has Landed (1976), Ordinary People (1980), A Dry White Season (1989), JFK (1991), Outbreak (1995), Fallen (1998), Virus (1999), Fierce People (2005), Pride & Prejudice (2005), Lord of War (2005), The Hunger Games (2012), The Undoing (2020, miniseries) and many more. He passed away at age 88. R.I.P.

Roger Corman has passed away

Born in Detroit, Michigan, Corman had a sprawling, intellectually hungry life as a youth and young man before arriving with his first film in 1955, Five Guns West. He would follow that with titles such as Apache Woman, It Conquered the World, Attack of the Crab Monsters, Teenage Cave Man, A Bucket of Blood, House of Usher, The Little Shop of Horrors, The Pit and the Pendulum, The Intruder, The Raven, The Terror, The Masque of Red Death, The Tomb of Ligeia, The Wild Angels, The Trip, Bloody Mama and many more. As a producer he was behind almost 500 films. Arguably among the most important filmmakers of the 20th century, Corman passed away at age 98. R.I.P.

William Friedkin has died

Born in Chicago, Friedkin accrued TV credits prior to his advance to the big screen as the director of Good TImes (1967), The Birthday Party (1968), The Night They Raided Minsky's (1968) and The Boys in the Band (1970) before his major breakthrough, The French Connection (1971), for which he won his only Oscar. He followed it up with the even bigger smash, The Exorcist (1973), arguably the best horror film of all time, for which he was Oscar-nominated. Later credits include Sorcerer (1977), Cruising (1980), To Live and Die in L.A. (1985), Rampage (1987), Rules of Engagement (2000), Killer Joe (2011) and The Devil and Father Amorth (2017, documentary). Friedkin passed away at age 87. R.I.P.

Louise Fletcher has passed away

Born in Alabama to deaf parents, Fletcher got her first credits in late-1950s TV-series.She took a 10 year-long sabbatical to devote her time to motherhood after the release of A Gathering of Eagles, but then came back and soon saw her career's most important part, as Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), for which she won her sole Oscar. Later credits include Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977), The Lucky Star (1980), Brainstorm (1983), Two Moon Junction (1988), Cruel Intentions (1999), A Perfect Man (2013) and many more. Fletcher passed away at age 88. R.I.P.

Jean-Luc Godard has passed away

Born in Paris, France, Godard lived much of his life in Switzerland. He wrote for French film criticism magazine Cahiers du Cinema and became foundational for the New French Wave that inspired new waves in scores of other countries across the world with his Breathless (1960). Later credits include A Woman Is A Woman (1961), Vivre Sa Vie (1962), Le Petit Soldat (1962), Contempt (1963), Alphaville (1965), Pierrot le Fou (1965), 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her (1967), Weekend (1967), Every Man for Himself (1980), King Lear (1987), Century of Cinema (1995, documentary), Goodbye to Language (2014) and many more. Godard died of assisted suicide at age 91. R.I.P.

Wolfgang Petersen has died

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Caan was born the son of Jewish immigrants from Germany in New York. He got his start on TV in the early 1960s. His credits include El Dorado (1966), The Rain People (1969), Brian's Song (1971, TV movie), The Godfather (1972), - for which he earned his only Oscar nomination, - Slither (1973), The Gambler (1974), Funny Lady (1975), Rollerball (1975), Silent Movie (1976), Hide in Plain Sight (1980), - the only film he also directed, - Thief (1981), Misery (1990), Honeymoon in Vegas (1992), Bottle Rocket (1996), Eraser (1996), Dogville (2003), Elf (2003), Las Vegas (2003-07), Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009) and many more. Caan passed away at age 82. R.I.P.

Jean-Louis Trintignant has died

Born in Vaucluse, France, Trintignant's theatrical debut as an actor was in If All the Guys in the World... (1955). Later credits include ...And God Created Woman (1956), The Seven Deadly Sins (1961), Inferno (1964), A Man and A Woman (1966), My Love, My Love (1967), A Man to Kill (1967), The Great Silence (1968), Z (1969), The Assassination (1972), Three Colors: Red (1994), Amour (2012), Happy End (2017) and many more. He also wrote and directed two films in the 1970s. Trintignant passed away at age 91. R.I.P.

Ray Liotta has died

Adopted from an orphenage at a young age, Liotta got hooked on acting in high school. He had various TV credits in the late 1970s and early 80s, with his film debut in The Lonely Lady (1983). Later credits include Something Wild (1986), Field of Dreams (1989), Goodfellas (1990), Cop Land (1997), Hannibal (2001), Blow (2001), Narc (2002), John Q (2002), Identity (2003), Observe and Report (2009), Youth in Revolt (2009), The Details (2011), Killing THem Softly (2012), The Place Beyond the Pines (2012), Shades of Blue (2016-18), The Simpsons (2018, TV-series), Marriage Story (2019), The Many Saints of Newark (2021), Black Bird (2022, TV-series) and many more. Liotta passed away at age 67 in his sleep while on production in the Dominican Republic. R.I.P.

Philip Baker Hall has died

Born in Ohio, Hall didn't start acting until he was 30. His long list of credits include Zabriskie Point (1970), Miami Vice (1987, TV-series), Midnight Run (1988), Ghostbusters II (1989), Cheers (1993, TV-series), Hard Eight (1996), The Rock (1996), Air Force One (1997), Boogie Nights (1997), Seinfeld (1991-98), Rush Hour (1998), The Insider (1999), Magnolia (1999), The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), Bruce Almighty (2003), Dogville (2003), The Zodiac (2005), Zodiac (2007), Curb Your Enthusiasm (2004-09), Mr. Popper's Penguins (2011), Modern Family (2011-12) and many more. Hall passed away at age 90. R.I.P.

Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!

Eagerly anticipating this week ... (17-24)

9/02/2013

Antichrist (2009) - Trier's cabin-in-the-woods psycho-horror

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Eagerly anticipating this week ... (16-24)

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