Antichrist



Lars von Trier shook up the film world when he premiered Antichrist at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival. In this graphic psychodrama, a grief-stricken man and woman—a searing Willem Dafoe and Cannes best actress Charlotte Gainsbourg—retreat to a cabin deep in the woods after the accidental death of their infant son, only to find terror and violence at the hands of nature and, ultimately, each other. But this most confrontational work yet from one of contemporary cinema’s most controversial artists is no mere provocation. It is a visually sublime, emotionally ravaging journey to the darkest corners of the possessed human mind; a disturbing battle of the sexes that pits rational psychology against age-old superstition; and a profoundly effective horror film.

SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES

• New, restored high-definition digital transfer, approved by director Lars von Trier and supervised by director of photography Anthony Dod Mantle (with DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition)
• Audio commentary by von Trier and professor Murray Smith
• Video interviews with von Trier and actors Willem Dafoe and Charlotte Gainsbourg
• A collection of video pieces delving into the production of Antichrist, including interviews with von Trier and key members of his filmmaking team as well as behind-the-scenes footage
• Chaos Reigns at the Cannes Film Festival, a documentary on the film’s world premiere, plus press interviews with Dafoe and Gainsbourg
• Three theatrical trailers
• PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by film scholar Ian Christie

DVD
Criterionforum.org user rating averages


Blu-ray
Criterionforum.org user rating averages

Sounds intriguing although I have to admit that I have a very ambivalent relationship to most of Von Trier's films in that I find some of them, DANCER IN THE DARK especially, so unashamedly manipulative that it's turned me off his work for a long time.

The Zentropa page for the film has photos of the "supporting cast".

Grrrr! It is one thing to have Björk, Emily Watson or Nicole Kidman suffer in a Von Trier film but I draw the line at animals! And why do they have to look so cute and innocent in their head shots (literally doe eyed in one case), almost unaware of what will be in store for them during a gruelling film shoot? Run, woodland creatures - run for your lives!

On the other hand a (hopefully) brittle Charlotte Gainsbourg being coerced into a mental breakdown by a callous Willem Dafoe (hopefully in anti-Christ mode) in a secluded cabin sounds quite compelling!

According to Nordisk Film, the Danish release date for "Antichrist" has now been set for May 29. Sweden will follow on June 5th. This film is also expected to be released in France, Spain, Italy and Belgium around the same time.

Looks like it will be (or has been?) selected for Cannes Official Competition with that release date.

Here's a pretty amazing, NSFW-ish still from the film.

Lol von Trier.

Do people still help this guy out with the Making Films thing?

Nice to see that Von Trier apparently didn't let the computer take over direction this time.

He didn't even shoot on a stage!

Not that I didn't enjoy Dogville

is up, and has been for six days apparently, proving that Zentropa are utterly terrible at promoting their own films.

Wow, Von Trier seems re-invigorated --- that trailer looks great and my anticipation level on this just jumped up quite a bit.

I'm scared.

That trailer looks very intense...I've never seen Von Trier's horror work, so I'm very much looking forward to this.

Everything von Trier does is filmed in Europe from the Middle Eastern kasbah that opens Element of Crime to the US set Dancer In The Dark, mainly because from what I've heard on interviews and commentaries on the various DVDs he has an aversion to flying and doesn't like travelling in anything he's not driving himself (so boat travel is out too - the oil rig sequences in Breaking The Waves were apparently filmed with von Trier directing via video link from the shore!)

However von Trier does occasionally find ways to get around this - the oil rig above is one example, getting Jørgen Leth to do all the international travelling for him in The Five Obstructions is another, and even in Epidemic getting the producer of the film who was going on holiday to the US to set up a shot of his talking on a payphone there that could be cut into the final film!

Not to mention the other way of getting around the aversion to travelling by creating a studio and bringing name actors to you rather than going to them!

I'm loving those mist shrouded, almost painterly landscapes from the trailer that makes me hope that the film will be Tarkovsky mixed with the 1978 Australian film, Long Weekend!

Can't wait to see this. Von Trier's last few (with the exception of The Boss of It All) have let me down. This looks like a return to form.

Someone from The Guardian is dissing the movie just on the strength of the trailer.

Agreed, though I really liked The Five Obstructions as well.

I also like The Five Obstructions, but I'm not sure I would necessarily call it a von Trier film. I mean, sure, his traditional themes of manipulation and of testing people are there, but it seems, in a strange way, like almost a love letter.

I imagine Xan Brooks is the kind of critic who's written LVT off as a charlatan and hence incapable of anything decent. I think part of LVTs objective for making films is to piss off critics.

That was Paul Verhoeven's stated motive for making The Fourth Man. Which, ironically, is still my favourite of his films.

I hugely enjoyed The Five Obstructions and The Boss of It All, but Dogville and Manderlay I don't care for at all - woefully misjudged films. Von Trier as a teacher on American History..

The trailer for Antichrist looks very promising, though.

I was reading some of the video comments and someone brought up an interesting point: "It will make an interesting contrast to Scorcese's "Last Temptation of Christ." I wonder if Von Trier chose Dafoe for that reason. "

A new (and better, imo) trailer is up here

Thank you for posting this.

The film looks gorgeous to say the least. I hope it doesn't disappoint.

What with the drawings at the beginning and the general Gothic atmosphere, these trailers are reminding me of The Hour of the Wolf a great deal.

The official website has some gorgeous stills........and a shot of Lars Von Trier with a dead bird.