ANTICHRIST

Lars von Trier has never been one to steer clear of controversy, instead deciding to embrace it with a pair of brass knuckles in one hand and a katana blade in the other. Von Trier's films are always raw and unrestrained, which can work beautifully as in his devastating effort Dancer in the Dark (2000), or be too overbearing for my taste like Dogville (2004) and its sequel Manderlay (2005). Two things you can always be sure of in his works is blatant misogyny and a film that will forcefully submerge you into a new world. Antichrist (2009), starring Willem Dafoe and Charlotte Gainsbourg, holds true to these von Trier staples creating a bleak and horrifying world which comes out of the tragic death of Dafoe and Gainsbourg's child in the opening minutes of the film. The death of their child causes Gainsbourg to fall into deep depression, which leads Dafoe, a psychiatrist, to decide that a trip to their summer cottage in the woods is the escape they both need. Without giving too much of the plot away, their trip into the woods reveals the evil in nature and in their (human) nature. The way von Trier frames and examines the "evil" of nature is particularly well done and incorporates the use of images which, by themselves, are just part of nature (deers giving birth to dead fawns), yet in the context of the film become haunting and foreshadowing. The first 2/3rds of the film creates a world that we are immersed in, even though we know so little about it. We never learn either of the main character's names, only know the location of their summer cottage as Eden, and watch as Dafoe slowly works through psychiatric tests and exercises with Gainsbourg to help cure her of her depression. Sadly, the last 1/3rd of this film reminds me a lot of Sunshine (2007), in that the film descends into pointless, unexplained, and unjustified violence. In the filmmakers' defense, endings are never easy, but I am dumbfounded to see two similar film that spend a majority of their time slowly and articulately discussing philosophical issues descend to nothing short of cannibalism. Well, I guess the next time I have a conversation with Von Trier or Danny Boyle (Sunshine's director) I'll have to give them a copy of Bergman's Persona, which did it right. I give this film a 6 out of 10 because the cinematography and CG was shimmering and beautiful, but in the end... well, the ending killed it.

6/10

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