Antichrist
| release date | October 23 2009 |
| studio | IFC Films |
| director | Lars von Trier |
| writer | Lars von Trier |
| starring | Willem Dafoe, Charlotte Gainsbourg |
| rating | R |
| site | antichristthemovie.com/?language=en |
| trailer 1 | Trailer #1 |
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5 Comments
I’m sorry. I just don’t like really slow-paced drama films, even if they do have a few shockingly disturbing scenes. The extinguisher scene in IRREVERSIBLE wasn’t enough to save it from being a pretentious bore of a film, and neither is sexually gruesome imagery for this film. I’m not offended easily (nor was I by this film), but religion is ridiculous and something I do not associate myself with, and sexually perverse gore is usually a cheap and entertaining film ploy…usually.
Don’t believe the hype. Don’t try to challenge the reallllllly pretentious Director by seeing this nonsensical voyage into religion. Bottom line: it’s boring.
i fell asleep, so i guess i cant really review all of it but the first 45 minutes are stupid and boring as hell and had nothing to do with satan.
I dont know about you guys but I am tired of movies that are trying desperately to be schocking and different and they do that in the antichrist with the porn torture kinda thing.Then its classed as art or masterpiece ,just cuz its confusing,boring and underground kinda.That was just a porn Movie to me and ppl that refer to it as Art they prob do it to sound edgy.What a horror of a Movie Antichrist is.
Some may call this an “art flick” and brand it for only the truely enlightened but I say it’s bullshit. Antichrist shoves itself down your throat until you gag on it. The concept of the movie is great but the final product falls flat on it’s face. I do admit that the film is effective but that, in no way, makes it good. Willem Dafoe is the only good thing about this wreck. Lars von Trier seems like a douche bag who can’t get enough of tooting his own horn. This isn’t art, it’s shit.
Death is similar to birth, but we forget how terrifying birth was. This film attempts to reconfirm your belief in disgust, fear, and confusion. genius.
I genuinely enjoyed this movie. It goes where few dare to go and is shot beautifully. Absolutely lovely.
WHAT THE FUCK…….WHAT THE FUCK…
No words can describe this film logically. It is an art film with some amazing visuals. Like the first hour of the movie is slow and awesome and I genuinely liked it. I think some of the pornographic stuff was a little much. AND…one certain part involving his dick and blood is WAY more than enough…and the other part that i don’t even have to mention involving her later on. I still have no idea how to realistically rate this film… Part of this film makes me feel so amazingly refreshed by the amazing visuals, and the other part makes me revolt. Yes it’s an art film and its a good thinking film, but damn…I’ll leave it at that.
dd,dylan… Irreversible is an amazing movie from start to finish. The extinguisher scene is just a detail.
Anyway, i don’t know what to think about this one though. Some great visuals but kinda slow & boring at the begining.
A weird movie.
good god.. the prologue was absolutely incredible.. antichrist was slow but i thought very interesting the entire way.. this is a hard time to rate.. the scenes of violence were just sick as hell.. i can’t get the images out of my head..
meh.
I fell asleep. too slowwwwwwwwwwwwwwww…
Great acting, wonderful cinematography, two of the most disturbing scenes I’ve seen on film, yet, still boring. I get what Lars von Trier was trying to convey. It was just sooo slow. Ebert said it best I think when he said that “Lars von Trier made this movie for himself and not the audience”.
I can’t believe I spent $6 to watch this on demand. If I never see Willem’s penis again that would be too soon for me. If you get this you will be disappointed.
To JonnyRotten – You didnt see Willem Dafoe’s penis. You saw a stand in of a porn actor. Thats all I have to say.
Never has horror been so beautiful. This film was absolutely gorgeous. Even the scenes of the macbre variety are shot with a touch of elegance. There is a line in the flim that goes somewhat along the lines of “the mind must concieve, believe, and then achieve”. To me, that line is the whole movie. Taken back that her thesis was on woman’s gynocide. She concieved her principals, then believed the material, then finally achieved the acts of abomination. This film was excellent on so many levels. Not to mention the entire last sequence of events left my jaw permanently dropped open. This followed by the subconscious breathing exercise that Defoe introuduces earlier in the film. Again, excellent cinematography, outstanding acting, and a ever so intriguing plot.
Really artistic movie! Thought it was a bit slow, but it was still very interesting. The scenes of violence are just horrid!
Chaos Reigns! This is the Freudian message given through a talking fox. Yes welcome to the wonderful film that is Antichrist. I can’t make my mind up if this was an intriguing sinister horror/thriller yarn or a self-righteous art house film? Clearly after watching a couple of frames of the opening prologue, shot in slow motion black and white and accompanied by a soaring operatic soundtrack. I thought that I would be sitting through a pompous art house film. But it managed instead to touch a raw nerve. For any parent there can’t be any bigger fear than that of the death of a child. Being a parent myself, I found the accident scene very hard to watch. Willem Dafoe and Charlotte Gainsbourg (simply known as He and She) spend time at an isolated cabin in ‘Eden’ to try and come to terms with the loss of their son. What follows is all very serious and bleak. But is an outstanding raw portrayal of the trauma of bereavement. We slowly see the couple descend into moments of anxiety, schizophrenia and madness. And eventually the desire to mutilate and kill. So come the third act, all hell breaks loose and it turns in to a horrific torture porno! Complete with self inflicted female circumcision and graphic sexual violence. Don’t be fooled, this is way more explicit then anything churned out by Hollywood. I pride myself on being unshockable but even I found some of the scenes hard to watch. I have to say that the cinematography is beautiful and at times breathe taking. I not going to pretend that I got all the deep meaning messages or psychology. (I can’t even categorise this film) All I know is that it’s offensive and sanctimonious at times yes. But I dare you to watch this film and not be affected by it.
I don’t give it a 5 only because I’m too ignorant to understand everything that happened on the screen. That said, other than In the Bedroom, I don’t believe I’ve been as affected by a film (in terms of emotion-depth).
The really weird thing about it was/is that I’m not a credits-watcher, unless I think there’s a possibility of outtakes or something, but I stayed through the entire credits following the final scene of this…and I wasn’t the only one.
Now, mind you, as the credits began to reach the end, I asked myself, “Am I sitting here because it feels like the thing to do?” But I realized that that was not the case. It, seriously, was/is one of those films that will stay with me for as long as I can remember. And I will definitely rewatch it, because as much as I was thinking (more than normal
, I know there is tons I did not get. And I can only imagine how much better the film will be when/if I get a better understanding. Kinda like learning the lyrics to a song you’ve been singing your entire life…and realizing you had no clue.
This movie is beautiful. But thats about it. The story is less then par and the “torture” scenes are TOO messed up for my tastes. That being said, i cant give it a sh*tty rating because of the beautiful macabre images that were seared into my brain. And the fact i have a wierd liking of Willem Dafoe.
now it’s official: Lars von Trier is not able to do a bad movie. Antichrist is one more Trier-masterpiece, though not as great as ‘Breaking The waves’ or ‘Dogville’.
This movie owns, people who hate it prob don’t like indie films. Or horror films in general, or films that make you think. Which is fine. But me on the other hand loved this movie. It was brilliant. Everything about it was so beautiful, even though that’s the wrong word to use many will understand what I mean, that have saw it. It wasn’t really all that controversial like many say it is. The only reason people say that is because it goes against everything, everyone believes in. But it’s cool how that it wasn’t god who created everything, that it was the devil That’s pretty cool. Some things were confusing. But I think I’ll get more out of it when I see it again. I love how they broke everything down in chapters. This was the first film I saw by Von Trier, but I think I have to watch his other films now. Now i have super high hopes to see his end of the world movie.
So if you like movies that make you think, and and talk about for days to come give it a try. And even if you don’t give it a try anyways.
The acting was really good too. And the running time went by really quick, and the gore was used when it had to be, and two certain scenes even made me the gore master cringe.
This is a triumph of a movie. Probably the most honest, serious, evil and complex horror films ever made. But it’s also the most gorgeous and beautiful. The black and white prolouge is one of the most stunning sequences ever captured on film, fusing sex and death with a captivating piece of Handel opera music. The cinematography throughout this movie is just superb and not only in the opening but with various scenes throughout. Willem Dafoe and especially Charolette Gainsbourg take acting to new heights in their portrayals of a grief stricken wife and her therapist husband, the latter insisiting he treat her himself following the death of their infant child. Her treatment involves them retreating to a cabin in the woods. The area is known as ‘Eden’, but this Eden creates fear, paranoia and extreme anxiety. Hoping to cure his wife of depression, He actually causes her to become more unhinged and spiral deeper into madness climaxing in a truly shocking and disturbing final act.
This is a movie with many themes and meanings. I think it’s up to the individual of what they get from it but the central theme is, Can a man truly understand the loss a woman feels when she loses her child ? But it also asks other questions. Are Men evil ? Are Women evil ? What role does nature play and are humans so fundamentally flawed that no amount of love can bring us back from the brink of despair. Antichrist poses many questions about the human condition but it also succeeds in being a true horror film as it says that evil is rooted inside all of us. The pace is slow but it all builds to climax that is brutal and horrifying. This is a unique and brave movie that has to be seen. Forget the hype surrounding the now infamous act of violence as there is so much more to this movie.
What happened to movies that asked original questions?
They were replaced by laughable pseudo-”dark physiology” films like Session 9. They were replaced by unoriginal art-faggot Kubrick rip-offs like Irreversible. They were replaced by kindergarten-shallow surrealist attempts like The Fountain. They were replaced by generic by-the-numbers “thought provoking” Hollywood blockbusters like District 9. They were replaced by emo films about sex-deprived middle-aged men like Watchmen. They were replaced by boring, shallow Oscar bait like There Will Be Blood. They were replaced by shock films made by little boys that couldn’t get a girlfriend, got a couple years older, and made a movie about it like Deadgirl. And if this website didn’t limit the amount of words in this review, I’d list at least 50 more movies in this paragraph.
I’m no pretentious prick or anything, but, folks, seriously: Either, (1) humanity is made up consecutively of second-grade English class idiots, (2), I’m a super genius, or, (3), most movies are pathetic excuses of cinema and storytelling. (In case you’re one of the idiots I’m talking about, #3 was the correct answer, by the way.)
But, it’s our lucky day: Antichrist is far from shallow. In fact, it’s pretty much loaded. It’s a smart movie.
But that’s about it. As a story, it’s pretty generic and formulaic.
The brains: Antichrist asks the questions: “What if Satan, not God, created the earth?” And, “If that is so, what would that entail for the human race?” You don’t have to be religious to ponder questions like this. The film often substitutes “God” and “Satan” for morality and immorality; for normalcy and chaos; for purpose and nihilism; for normalcy (Freud) and anti-normalcy (the subconscious). Personally, it’s nice to see a film take psychology out of the middle-school philology class level that most movies use, and bring it into the real world, showcased through realistic characters. This is less a movie about people trying to find God (or Satan), and more a movie about two people trying to understand the nature of pain and grief and cruelty on an epic level. It’s not another cliché “Human nature is EVIL!!!” film. It’s a film that asks WHY human nature is evil.
The brain that WOULD NOT DIE: As smart as Antichrist really is, it’s, sadly, also pretty retarded. The overall story is just the basic beginning: hook/middle: plot/end: climax that they taught you back in middle school. The ending scene before the Epilogue is so cliché, it was basically copy/passed from The Shining, High Tension, Saw II, and every other humanistic horror movie ever. It makes me wonder how a writer/director like Lars von Trier can be smart enough to make a movie that’s . . . well, actually smart, but still make that same movie that is this . . . well, childish.
Also, I should note a couple other things.
The movie tries to say something about sex and sexuality, but that entire subplot becomes a cliché quick. There are thousands of movies that deal with sexuality, and anyone who generally thinks they have something original to say on the subject should be pointed and laughed at. The movie literally opens up with shots of a middle-aged man’s butt, graphically constricting and flapping in a close-up sex scene. His ball sack flaps into frame next. How’s that for cinematic maturity? I don’t know about you, but artistic gay porn without any reason whatsoever just isn’t my thing. In American Pie, whatever. In a horror-drama about the evil of human nature, it’s hard not to just dismiss Lars von Trier as a horny 13-year-old boy that can’t get a girlfriend. Stephen King explored many of the same EXACT sexual scenes in his book Gerald’s Game, which came out decades before this movie. But where Antichrist uses sex for purposeless filler, Gerald’s Game uses sex to explain real honest events that happen every day. That’d the difference between a hack and a storyteller.
The violence is average. Much less than you’ve seen in any of the recent Saw or Hostel movies. I don’t even know why Lars von Trier made such a pathetic attempt to add such cheesy shock-violence that wasn’t shocking into this movie anyway. He defended himself in one interview by calling it “artistic honesty”. As if people really get bolted through the ankle every day in real life. Yeah, honesty. Right. Uh-huh.
The cinematography, which everyone is raving about for some stupid reason, is . . . pretty typical. Yeah, yeah–you have your black-and-white slow-mo scene (Sin City) and your choppy scenes (Saw) and your wide shot scenes (A Clockwork Orange) and your blurry scenes (umm, every cheesy horror movie ever) and so on. There’s nothing new about this directing whatsoever. It’s just a mash-up of everyone else. What’s the big deal?
And my final thoughts on the overall movie, I’ll repeat that: What’s the big deal?
6/10
Postscript: Okay. Okay. I liked it. I liked it a lot. But you didn’t really expect me to admit that in a review, did you?
This movie was complete and utter garbage. Maybe I am just stupid but I didn’t understand this movie at all. It felt like a film that wanted to be a Art Film with this edgy plot and subject matter but it just really was nothing more then Torture Porn. I might feel better about the movie if I had a clue what was going on for most of there stay in the woods. I mean the first time I fell asleep on the movie because it was so boring. I watched it again the next day and after it was over I just couldn’t believe it. Also what the fuck was up with the animals at the end of the film and the talking fox? This movie was complete shit.
This movie is not as bad or good as different people say. The cinematography is interesting, but the film gets weighed down by its artificial self-importance on more than one occasion.
That was one big mess of a movie! The only redeeming quality here is Charlotte’s remarkable performance, and I’d say that is despite Lars’ sketchy direction. The so-called disturbing material can be easily found in your standard art house shockers. All in all, a crude, misogynist and artsy-fartsy attempt at film-making.
I love how some people view any combination of sexuality and violence as “torture porn.”
I liked it but its proberly one of the strangest movies i’ve ever seen. Willem Defoe and Charlotte Gainsbourg where fantastic. The only thing that kinda ruined it for me was the prologue and epilogue which reminded me of the advert on the simpsons when homer becomes “mr plow”
it’s what can only be described as a beautiful nightmare
Really boring…
jus disturbin may b enuf 2 describe dis movie,,,,,m nt a big fan of dis movie bt it sure does hav a lastin impression on u long after its over,,,,it sure aint a horror movie or thriller 4 dat matter bt it will screw wid ur brains,,,,it scars u,,,,,
Twisted on so many levels. def worth checking out at least once
“jus disturbin may b enuf 2 describe dis movie,,,,,m nt a big fan of dis movie bt it sure does hav a lastin impression on u long after its over,,,,it sure aint a horror movie or thriller 4 dat matter bt it will screw wid ur brains,,,,it scars u,,,,, ”
If you write like this please stop reviewing films. In fact, please stop writing altogether. You a retard who cannot be take seriously. For love of God stop murdering our beautiful language with your sub-literate Juggalo posturing.
On topic, great movie. No completely successful as it drags and has pacing issues. But it is a funny sick-joke of a film. If you take it seriously the Von Trier has had one over on you.
hmmm where to begin? As a parent the epilogue was one of the most heartwrenching and disturbing visuals i have ever sat through. In saying that it really set the tone for what insanity would come. This is a film that you have to go into with an open mind, I read most of the reviews first so I was a little jaded in what to expect. The acting was wonderful but i felt the story needed to be developed more, the details about the babies feet needed to be delved into more….was she crazy/possessed before leaving eden the first time? I was left with too many questions.
I really dont agree with the “torture porn” label most reviewers gave this film. Most of the sexual encounters between them were vital to the story and ultimately to charlotte`s awakening as a “evil” women.
I havent decided if I liked the film or if I am completely indifferent to it. The story didnt allow me to become one with the characters so i really didnt care what became of them, or if they lived or died…
Overall it was a movie that will allow its audience to take various meanings from it. In the end it had some shocking scenes, some intellegence, unfortunately not enough to save it. Watch it once see how you feel.
Certainly interesting, with great cinematography, but I’m not a big fan of downstairs multilation n’ such.
Wow. I saw this in a small art house theater with 6 other hardcore horror fans. That was months ago and I still think about this movie. Horribly beautiful, evil, raw, and amazing. This movie just went deeper and deeper, to where almost everyone in the theater was so uncomfortable that some begain laughing to deal with the raw evil emotions. This was the first time I actually couldn’t watch a scene. I coward and covered my eyes like a 5 year old! This movie is very moving and like Martyers it sticks with you for a long time. Plain amazing.
great great movie, very different, i can defiantly tell i will need to watch it a couple time to get everything, but all together great. the cinematography was weird, there were several different styles going on constantly. the story its self was pretty insane, don’t wanna give anything away so i wont say anything else, and the visuals in this movie are mind blowing. it is somewhat slow paced in the sense that there isn’t a lot of typical action in it, but it is completely nerve racking,defiantly a great movie, but beware if your homophobic or just too childish to watch a movie that has nudity in it, but there is full on Willem Defoe cock in this.
Holy shit was this weird and sadistic! It had an breathtaking, beautiful, classic and haunting look to it like nothing I’ve seen before but the story/plot I just couldn’t make anything out of it other than the female character was a very troubled and sick woman who didn’t believe in god or was a sadist or something like that and went over the edge after the death of her only child. I thought the performances were great and very brave but I just can’t see anyone really enjoying it and in a way I felt dirty for watching it, if there is a line this film definitely crossed it. To be honest the film never bored me and was captivating but it was an artsy fartsy mess and I almost didn’t feel like I was watching an actual film I mean it was just frustrating and an exhausting experience. No this is not a horror film at least to me but this is more of an erotic, psychological, artistic and brooding drama with some disturbing shock moments thrown in but I still don’t know what to make of it I’m just baffled. In the end it was bold but I was confused what I just saw and was expecting more of an creepy possession flick but got erotic artsy fartsy bull crud, very disappointed! Overall avoid like the plague!!!!
holy fuck. That’s about all I can say about this movie. This is literally the first movie I could not watch the entire way through. Sorry. After she smashes his cock with a log and then jerks him off until he spews blood…i had enough. I don’t think I’ll look at Dafoe the same after this.
The true horror in regards to this film is that it made me stab a rusty screwdriver into both my eyes after an hour of watching this crappy film. It was realy rusty to.
Thee skullS! ARE YOU GUYS FREAKEN HIGH!
OK, I’ll calm down, “No” I cant, you guys are F&@*ing High!
SPOILER ALERT! 99% of the time they sit in the dark taking about crap. The other 1% they spend in a cabibn, siting in the dark, talking about crap.
Anyway, I’ll be fair and watch the rest when I get retna transplants, so I can see agian. Or maybe I should just crush my balls in a vice and save my DVD player the trouble of spinning that crppy disk again.
Oh, the acting was good. Two talented actors. One should have bitten a cunk out of the others head like an apple or somthing just to save the flick. No, that woulnt have saved it.
This Lars Von Trier film from 2009 was one of the most controversial of the year. But did he purposely make it to shock and anger people? Most definitely. Von Trier’s ego grew to new heights with this film starring Willem Dafoe and Charlotte Gainsbourg. It has yet to find a U.S. distributor and can only be seen through on-demand, online or if you have a multi-region DVD player.
The two words I would use to describe this film would have to be graphic and intense. This film is divided into four chapters not including a prologue and epilogue. It involves just the two actors given the generic names of “He” and “She”. The story starts with the prologue shot in black and white and in slow motion. Dafoe and Gainsbourg are having sex, while their young son falls out a window to his death. The rest of the film examines the couples grief, pain, and despair. These are also the titles of three of the chapters, the other being “the three beggars” towards the end.
The imagery in this film is nothing short of jaw dropping. You will probably either think this film a work of genius or one of pure ego-maniacal crap. The story loads on the metaphors and graphic imagery to make the audience as uncomfortable as possible. Dafoe and Gainsbourg give absolutely fearless performances, earning Gainsbourg the best actress award at the Cannes Film Festival. Dafoe’s character of “He” is very controlling and since he is a therapist, he takes over care for his wife. Although we find out that she is much more troubled than we are lead to believe. They retreat to a cabin in the woods they call Eden, which she seems to be fearful of. She spent a lot of time there alone with her son in the past trying to complete her thesis on human nature. It was never finished and this could possibly be a reason for her unstable condition. He relishes in the power he has over her and is the only way he can feel close to her. He really acts quite indifferent about his son’s death, which in itself is quite disturbing.
Animals and nature play a big role in this film and is often used as metaphor and symbolism. The last twenty minutes are intensely graphic and brutal, but is this in service to the story or just to freak people out? In a way it can be refreshing to see the actors and directors audacity to commit such material to film. So should you see this film? That depends, how hardcore are you? I mean it’s not a great film by all means, but it is quite a spectacle. “Chaos reigns” quotes the fox.
Lars Von Trier’s Antichrist is possibly the scariest film I have ever seen. It is creepy. Very, very creepy. The final chapter’s (four in particular) are very disturbing, showing the womans descent into madness, it is disgusting gore, although there isn’t that much gore, when it comes, it bloody comes big! It’s wonderfully acted by Willem Dafoe and Charlotte Gainsbourg who are both very capable actors and are able to carry the film with great confidence. The film itself looks spectacular! A very artistic, visionary film. The prologue is beautifully made, Lars Von Trier made something that is so tragic seem (in a way) so beautiful. In fact the prologue (in my opinion) is the best scene in the entire film.
Now onto the bad things! It was boring. The end of Chapter 1 and (nearly) the whole of chapter 2 was quite boring but luckily the last 2 chapters and the monologue payed it off. The film is so different, disturbing and terrifying! It’s a slow descent into madness that you don’t really understand by the end of it, I think that Antichrist needed to explain itself more because I found it a tad confusing but it’s fantastic film to study, as it uses the use of symbolism extremely well ie. The animals. But in the end Antichrist is a really scary, creepy, disturbing film that you won’t find easy to shake out of your head. Unlike most horror films it is unforgettable and the final monologue is very hard to shake out of your head, it creeped me out a lot.
I don’t know what to think of this film, I don’t even know if I like it! But I really want to see it again, and I wish it was longer. So surely, that can’t be a bad thing.
The perfect example of a movie that you can’t so much as tell what it’s about, but rather, what happens in it…
Most of you know what happens in it. I will say, it’s a beautifully shot, haunting, graphic, and satisfying horror film. I think it will stand the test of time. It had a very Exorcist feeling about it. Great performaces, intersting, restrained plotline. Just very well done and unsettling. No where near as graphic as something like Cannibal Holocaust, but man, there’s some sick stuff.
Overall, I enjoyed ANTICHRIST.
But it’s one of these films, for me antway, that I have to see again, to understand more.
The blurred faces at the funeral, the animals aka the three beggars and especially the ending…..
Nevertheless, ANTICHRIST is a very good arty film.
Both Defoe and Gainsbourg are fine actors in their roles.
The prologue, in my opinion, was a brilliant piece of film making, shot on the RED digital camera in ultra slow motion and in black and white, just great.
Fucking beautiful!
very disturbing
I would definitely have to see it again to understand.I don’t say that much, but it was a beautifully shot film and intrigued me.The sex was amazing! I can’t believe they got away with that.I’m not sure but I would say its safe to say they were really fucking! lol, anyway a enjoyable film just need to see it again to fully understand.
Wowza. Well I must say the this film was certainly interesting… It actually took me FOREVER to see it. I’ve had my copy of it since last September and could only get into seven minutes into it once before. Also I had seen the five minute long prologue multiple times. Today I finally decided to sit down and watch the damn movie. It certainly is polarizing to say the least. This is a total indie ART HOUSE film that dabs into surrealism and jam-packed with ideals on human nature etc. To end it simply, I think most of the film is boring to be honest. Nothing particular or exciting really happens well into an hour after the film’s started. The last half, however DID have my interest and attention. I already knew what was going to happen, what the shocking final scenes would be, and they still creeped me out pretty well. The ending is pretty beautiful to be honest and fitting into this arty extravaganza. All in all, I still don’t really like the movie a whole lot but by the end I did like it quite a bit more than the time when the movie reached the 60 minute mark. Still, it takes FOREVER to pick up! Pretty expoitational though. I wanna see more stuff like this come out
ummmm, What the hell did I just watch? I am so glad I waited for this to come on cable. What a bore, my God. I know this is supposed to be a horror movie with “artistic” value,but frankly I will not be watching this again and I can’t recommend this to anybody.
Weird ….. Thats pretty much all I can say about it. Oh I’ll throw in “not good” aswell!
This is a godawful art film. Avoid like the plague.
Right from the opening scene you get the feel that this film is going to be a bit “different”, and in a very good way. I must honestly say that my favorite scene in the entire film is the opening scene. The music, the cinematography, everything is perfectly done and is outright beautiful. The fact that Lars von Trier can work in such beauty in such a graphic and macabre way shows the artistic genius of this narcissistic arsehole. This is not so much a “horror” film in the typical sense, and that surprised me. When I first heard of this film, it had some very horrific elements attached to it. I mean, cmon, the title is Antichrist for crying out loud! However this film turned out to be more along the lines of psychological horror, with a very misogynistic twist to it.
Ever heard the phrase “women are crazy”? Well obviously Lars von Trier has, and he decided to exploit that to the max with this film. I wont go too much into detail, but Antichrist really goes deep into proving that women are the root of all evil as you see Charlotte’s character go completely batsh*t on Dafoe, and worse. This film has gotten a bit of negative reactions from women who feel this film treats women unfairly, and although that may be true, this is a very creative addition to the horror realm and frankly I do not give a damn at this moment.
So you may be wondering what makes this film so “messed up”, well…have you ever hard of sexual torture? If the misogyny doesn’t get you, the graphic sex in this film may do the trick. I wont give away what happens to our character’s sexual organs, because that would ruin the shock value. I will, however, go as far to say that you probably have not seen anything like it, at least not shown on camera in a film.
What really impressed me the most in this film, made this such a genius effort is the film’s use of symbolism. Told in four chapters with an additional epilogue at the end, pay attention to the use of each animal displayed in each chapter. If this film means what I think it means, then this has to be one of the most creative horror films of all time. And if it doesn’t mean what I think it means, then this film is trash and only meant to be “beautiful porn”, but I highly doubt that.
Overall, this is an excellent film that is sure to shock it’s viewers, and whether you find that good or bad, the fact that you will remember this film forever is GOOD to me.
Well, just saw Antichrist and…I THINK I liked it. I’d like to at least think I liked it. It was visually stunning and well acted. But the story makes my brain hurt. I got most of the moreobvious symbolism and such. But there was such an overload of it…I’m so confused. To quote Chris Griffin “I haven’t been this confused since the movie No Way Out. How does Kevin Costner still get work???” But seriously, it was a good film, but the most totally fucked up head trip I may ever have seen.
i dont think i will ever forget the experience of viewing this film.It made me think,cringe,and at moments speechless.WOW! thats all i got.
I had no idea what I was getting into when I started watching this film, but I was pleasantly surprised. It’s pacing is slow, but I think for effectiveness it needed to be. It was uniquely shot, well acted story that got creepier as it got to the climax. Worth a viewing.
bored me for about 45 minutes..then for the last half an hour, completely shocked me. watch it just for that last half hour of hearing yourself say ‘ouch!’..other than that,the cinematography is pretty good
I found the way the movie looked was intersting and I guess its suppose to make you think about men and woman good and evil inside of us all. I don;t get what witch craft part of it but just that either sex can be evil. I was confused by it maybe to much arts going on for me.
Antichrist for me was both thought provoking & cunningly written. With only two actors in this film I was curious to see how it would keep my interest, but the gradual character development & the avant garde approach to its storyline keep you guessing.
Certainly not for anyone that’s after a massacre..! Which tends to be my preference, however I did like this & would recommend it to those of you that like being lost in a film until its climax…however VAGUE it might be
J.Mordum
Beautifully shot, amazingly acted, disturbing as balls. These are a few words I would use to describe Lars von Trier’s Antichrist. Although I am not a fan of his other work, Antichrist is one of the strangest yet amazingly powerful films I’ve seen in quite some time. Yes, it is not for some people. Yes, the movie contains some quite disturbing sexual torture (hence my use of the word disturbing earlier). No, it isn’t something you should watch with your pants-poopers or anyone you are easily embarrassed in front of.
BUT it IS something that any person that appreciates art in cinema should watch. I was blown away by it.
finally got into the headspace to watch this film. Simply Stunning!!
Not as Graphic as i feared/Imagined but still might turn some off
A Powerful Portrayal of Fear- Grief and Madness.
I thought this movie pretty much sucked. The point of the movie was lost to me after the first half an hour with a slight redeeming last half hour. Everyone keeps saying its an “art” movie, I gues Im not artsy enough to get it.
This film is pretty hardcore. The beginning scene is beautiful and the whole film is portrayed in a very interesting way. The last 30 minutes is especially good. Certainly not for everyone, but I loved it.
Antichrist is a beautiful film. It ranks up there with Eraserhead in terms of art. It is one of the most beautiful, visual, art film I’ve ever seen. The cinematography is gorgeous. This is a movie that you will probably only watch once and it will stay with you for a long time. Whether you hate it or not, it’ll still be in your mind for awhile. Willem Dafoe and Charlotte Gainsbourg give two stunning performances. Especially Gainsbourg, you can really see her transformation from mildly insane to completely losing it and it really gets into your skin. Not only is it a perfectly shot film, it’s also one that I couldn’t stomach at times. It gets down-right disgusting towards the final half of the film. I cringed while watching this movie. I was just blown away at how explicit it got. All In All, Antichrist is beautiful, explicit, perfectly shot, well acted and disgusting. Not many movies stick with me but this one is gonna be in my mind for awhile.
chaos reigns!!
Spellbinding, haunting and beautifully shot Antichrist is a powerful meditation on grief, man and nature,sex, masculinity and femininity. While the molasses pacing of the first quarter can be off putting it does little to dull the impact of the overall film. Antichrist is a polarizing experience and thus not for everyone, but if you posses a strong stomach, it is a movie that while grueling, can be a rewarding experience.
what a boring movie i thought it was going be something else like stagimata
Upon finishing the film, I sat there wondering why and what Lars Von Trier tried to accomplish with such a sexually aggressive violent film. The violence in question isn’t a lot, but it’s obscure enough to make you cringe. Never being one to shy away from controversial topics and imagery, Lars Von Trier creates one of his more disturbing pieces with Anti-Christ.
I’m sitting here writing this wondering what I watched. Did I get it? Not really, there are too many scenes of symbolism and metaphors to grasp, and my wanting to grasp them are very thin. I got as far as figuring out who the three beggars are and even that is visually pointed out to you. The film is told in chapters, “Grief”, “Pain (Chaos Reigns)”, “Despair (Gynocide)” and “The Three Beggars”. The film begins and concludes with a prologue and epilogue. Both which are shot in black and white, in slow motion and to operatic music. The opening scene shows some beautiful cinematography, camera work and it feels like art. The opening is my favourite part of the film.
The story involved a couple retreating to a cabin after a family tragedy. While there, they try to cope with the tragedy, but nature has other plans. Weird to describe the story like that, but that’s what happens. The two characters also have no names, at least we are not privy to them. They are known simply as He and She. They are also the only two characters in the film (aside from their son). Everyone else has their face blurred.
The film has some explicit content. I would never let my kids watch it (if I had any). Genital mutilation, explicit sex, frontal nudity, misogyny are all key points in this film. You will feel dirty after watching it. Art film, or pretentious crap, Anti-Christ walks that line sometimes.
Excellent, this movie is a true masterpiece, powerful and deep, with impressive performances. Pictures, music everything in this film is perfectly matched to achieve a unique and powerful experience. Maybe a little too much for some viewers, is a film that gives us the impression that we are facing a beautiful work of art. A wonderful movie.
A film that explores the innate evil of human beings and especially women, and how it can awaken by certain events. This film pushes the limits beyond expectations. I love it
um…. well, the acting was great. Willem Dafoe is my second favorite actor of all time, and he’s always wonderful. However, this movie wasn’t really my cup of tea. If you are into things being really really REALLY fucking weird for the sake of, I don’t know… art I guess, you’ll probably like it. But I won’t say it’s bad. It’s not… it’s just a bit much to handle.
i was never bored while watching this movie. i love everything about it. the visuals are stunning. the story takes risks. the acting is superb. in my opinion, this is a must see for EVERYBODY.
Lars Von Trier is no stranger to controversy. Often noted as a “bad boy” filmmaker, he is responsible for such acclaimed films as Dogville, Dancer in the Dark, and Breaking the Waves. With his latest release, Antichrist, he has truly made something unique and special; something dark, twisted, grotesque, and beautiful. He is constantly pushing the limits of what is acceptable in filmmaking and with Antichrist, he executes it flawlessly. If I had to choose one word to describe Von Trier’s latest artwork, it’d definitely be:
Haunting.
From the very beginning, Antichrist is a heavy, eerie assault on the senses that doesn’t ease its death-grip even after the final credits roll. Every shot is stunning and the score is a perfect partner to its devastating and twisted tale. This is not a film for the casual movie watcher. This takes you into the dark depths of the human psyche and explores the true nature of humanity and fear with visually abusive yet beautiful imagery. When even the land feels evil, you know you’ve made something powerful.
This film feels intensely personal and I imagine Von Trier poured much of his tortured self into this, thus creating its dreary and ominous atmosphere. Von Trier is known for struggling with harsh depression and during the creation of Antichrist, he faced an overwhelming bout of it. While this may not have played into the overall conception of the work, the exploration of depression and his experience with depression can easily be noted as a factor to the feel of the work as a whole.
The story follows a grieving couple, He (Willem Defoe) and She (Charlotte Gainsbourg), who are suffering from the loss of their young son. He is a therapist and against his better judgment, decides to treat his mourning wife personally. They decide to retreat to their cabin in the woods, aptly named Eden, hoping that this change of scenery will help to repair their distraught hearts and unstable marriage, but nature has its way with them and their already shaky situation becomes a living hell. Antichrist examines nature in the physical and psychological sense and stares fear and torment in the face and doesn’t back down.
The story is broken up into chapters that follow the couple through their horrific ordeal, arranged as such:
Prologue
Chapter One: Grief
Chapter Two: Pain (Chaos Reigns)
Chapter Three: Despair (Gynocide)
Chapter Four: The Three Beggars
Epilogue
Each chapter is more shocking and unrelenting than the last and keeps you glued to its every turn. They are complied in chronological order for the most part with a few flashbacks here and there and the entire film is beautifully shot and perfectly executes the use of slow motion.
I have never seen a film like this and I am having trouble trying to find the words to write for this review. I want to delve deep into its intricacies and examine every little piece of it but that would spoil the experience for those of you who may decide take the trek into this bizarre and chaotic world. It’s deeply heavy subject matter and intense presentation rattled me to the core. It has some of the most extreme imagery that I have ever seen on film and in general and I loved every second of this grotesque story.
I honestly cannot recommend this film to pretty much anyone. Its subject matter and extreme visual assault can easily offend the vast majority of the population who are unaccustomed to this chaotic style of storytelling. But like the self disemboweling fox said, “Chaos reigns.” Chaos isn’t necessarily a bad thing, it’s just uncontrollable.
Antichrist is pure chaos.
Disturbing? Yes. Tragic? Yes. Scary? Not Really. Wasn’t my thing, but to each his own.
People who don’t like this film are dumb hoes!
I used to like Willam Defoe’s work and now he has made a bad creative choice to be in a really boring film that looks wonderful to the eye, itâe(TM)s so beautifully filmed and the opening sequence is very powerful, especially if you are a parent. However, then it all has to go down hill into pretentious city. I got so bored after the first 10 minutes, the beautiful filming, music and atmosphere is simply not enough to hide the fact this movie is so dull.
I did not care about the two main characters or what they had to say. I did genuinely try to suspend my disbelief and roll with it but I am sorry, it was so irritating and what’s more troubling is that I will never get the time back that I wasted watching this silly number. A couple loose a child and go to an isolated shed to grieve. The two talented actors come across like silly third year drama students playing improvisational games.On a positive note it did ignite fond memories for me of when I was at drama school.
There are scenes that are unbelievable and so over the top to the point of being very silly. The devistated couple Self mutilate and carry out acts of violence to one another (yawn). I think the director (Lars Von Trier) regretted the project after the first few days of shooting and decided to drop in a few attempts to shock, hoping the reviews and publicity may recoup some of the money spent on production.You know I love controversial and challenging films and I was so looking forward to watch this work, but this film actually annoyed me….Reading my review I bet you could never have guessed! It trys to hard to be something it’s not.
Avoid this like you would avoid an invitation to an evening with Jim Davidson.
bleedingcritic
bleedingfilms.com
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I gotta admit that after watching this film i felt a million things all at once…mainly pretty disturbed. This movie is refreshing and totally unique. It may take a while to get going but its incredible if you can sit there and take it all in.