As an (upcoming) film major, I decided one snow day to start delving into the world of Lars Von Trier. Having received word about Antichrist from the reviewer YMS, I decided to give it a shot. Even though I was bracing myself beforehand with regards to the graphic content that many movie reviewers were consistently citing, I ended up enjoying this film quite a bit.
The film possesses a largely abstract narrative structure, told in several parts. The story begins with a child falling out of a window as his parents make love in the other room. What results is the child's funeral, the guilt of the parents (who are never named), and their desire to recuperate by spending some time off in a cabin in the woods. While there, the mental state of the wife slowly deteriorates as the environment around the couple becomes increasingly paranoid and disturbingly sexual.
Now, obviously the film does exhibit some particularly graphic imagery, which makes for a brutal experience for anyone who does not usually delve in horror or arthouse films. Let me add a disclaimer here by stating that you will only enjoy this movie if you can stand most types of bodily mutilation. And I'll tell you, it is mutilation with a capital "M"; I honestly don't think I've seen this level of disturbing violence in a while.
But all that aside, there is a lot to admire about the film. The performances by Charlotte Gainsbourg and Willen Dafoe are superb, especially with regards to Gainsbourg's depiction of her character's deteriorating mental state. There is a raw, haunting nature to her performance, which gives the perception of her conflicts being more erotic rather than erratic. (Side note: I'll emphasize "erotic" here because I found this movie strangely easy to masturbate to. Take that information as you will). Dafoe's character provides a decent foil to the female, and makes her appear more aggressive, stronger, powerful, and ultimately deeper. As an audience member, you feel for both of them: the dejected mother with an empty womb, and the disoriented male counterpart who is at the mercy of the female. They both complement and destroy each other with a seductive edge.
The cinematography is well-executed with respects to how the coloration and framing both add to the chilling atmosphere and pull us into the diegesis, despite our growing discomfort. Actually, you want the discomfort; it has a strange, pleasant taste to it as the film progresses. (Salty, maybe? I'm not sure…). The world we enter within this film feels cold to the touch, and cuts us down to our bones. Within the vision of Lars Von Trier, Antichrist feels like a fairytale. A brutalized, abstract, borderline-pornographic fairytale, but a fairytale nonetheless. This is, in a sense, my type of art. Dark, seductive, unforgiving, yet elegant.
Antichrist is, without a doubt, one of the most refreshing films I have seen in a while, and one that I would certainly view several more times. Be warned, though: it is most definitely not for everyone.
Bravo, Lars von Trier. Fucking bra-vo.
Overall rating: 10/10
No comments:
Post a Comment