Lars von Trier has been one of my favourite modern film directors for the past few years. The first film of his I saw was the sublime Dancer In the Dark which affected me so much I immediately bought two other films of his - Breaking the Waves and The Idiots. Breaking the Waves blew me away in a very similar way that Dancer In the Dark did - stunningly innovative handheld camerawork, powerful realism, extraordinary performances and heartbreaking emotive narratives.
Now at University von Trier's work has popped up relatively frequently in discussion and also directly on the course outline. Studying both The Idiots, Dancer In the Dark and looking into some detail behind von Trier's 'Dogme '95' movement and the huge ramifications it has on cinema as a medium. Both my knowledge of von Trier's previous work and my huge respect for it lead me to be hugely excited for in and around a year after I heard he would be making a horror film boldly named Antichrist.
Having heard about the critics generally disfavourable reviews of the film at Cannes I became dubious about what the film would have to offer. Complaints about how outrageously graphic the film was did not really surprise me due to some very controversial scenes within The Idiots including a sex orgie and many scenes where you can physically see the cameramen within shot. Frankly I am not sure why I was surprised there was outrage at Cannes; von Trier working within horror could only result in something extremely dark.
So anyway-the film was absolutely fantastic. Easily one of the best horror films I have ever seen. At times I was genuinelly moved by how absolutely stunning it was visually (most notably in the prologue [I couldn't help but let out a childish chortle however when Willem Dafoe's wrinkly balls slap into Gainsbourg's butt in slow motion, judge me as I am]). Very slow starting the first two chapters mainly deal with Gainsbourg's deep deep depression at loosing her child. Her acting is breathtakingly stunning, most notably in a scene where she starts to slam her head into the toilet seat in the depths of her grief. Typical of von Trier's work the film slowly builds so that we have a very strong emotional connection with the characters in the film-seeing them in their most intimate and pitiable moments. He characteristically builds the connection between the audience and the protagonists to increase the 'shock' value in the dramatic climax.
The tension builds up very nicely through the film with a few very disturbing moments laced between the couple's therapy sessions. I won't name any of them as I don't particularly want to spoil the few dark and disturbing moments leading up to the extremely tense and horrifying climax.
Having heard such horror stories about the sexual gore the film contained I was wondering when everything was about to kick off, as soon as this thought crossed my mind the shit hit the fucking fan. I nearly threw up, a tear rolled down my cheek with a feeling of horror/terror/fear/disgust (there is literally not a word in the English dictionary to describe how it made me feel-Dan and Parkes who were watching it with me couldn't describe it either). From this point onwards it is so so so tense, I was physically shaking for a long while after the film had ended.
Having said this during the terrifying moments of the films Fourth Chapter there are some strangely beautiful moments (again I will not name them as it is a slight plot spoiler) juxtaposed against images so disturbing that Parkes, Dan and I were all squirming around in our seats on the brink of hurling our horrified guts up.
In a very Kubrickian manner von Trier has placed himself firmly within a genre to produce a very subersive, very original piece of work that engages, moves, terrifies and shocks you to the core.
As I earlier stipulated this is definitely one of the best horror films ever made (I cannot really label it as the best after just one viewing as I am 100% certain alot of the themes and visual parrallels I did not pick up on in their entirety). If you have the stomach for it I could not recommend it more quite frankly, as always von Trier offers up a cinema experience unlike any other.
Having heard about the critics generally disfavourable reviews of the film at Cannes I became dubious about what the film would have to offer. Complaints about how outrageously graphic the film was did not really surprise me due to some very controversial scenes within The Idiots including a sex orgie and many scenes where you can physically see the cameramen within shot. Frankly I am not sure why I was surprised there was outrage at Cannes; von Trier working within horror could only result in something extremely dark.
So anyway-the film was absolutely fantastic. Easily one of the best horror films I have ever seen. At times I was genuinelly moved by how absolutely stunning it was visually (most notably in the prologue [I couldn't help but let out a childish chortle however when Willem Dafoe's wrinkly balls slap into Gainsbourg's butt in slow motion, judge me as I am]). Very slow starting the first two chapters mainly deal with Gainsbourg's deep deep depression at loosing her child. Her acting is breathtakingly stunning, most notably in a scene where she starts to slam her head into the toilet seat in the depths of her grief. Typical of von Trier's work the film slowly builds so that we have a very strong emotional connection with the characters in the film-seeing them in their most intimate and pitiable moments. He characteristically builds the connection between the audience and the protagonists to increase the 'shock' value in the dramatic climax.
The tension builds up very nicely through the film with a few very disturbing moments laced between the couple's therapy sessions. I won't name any of them as I don't particularly want to spoil the few dark and disturbing moments leading up to the extremely tense and horrifying climax.
Having heard such horror stories about the sexual gore the film contained I was wondering when everything was about to kick off, as soon as this thought crossed my mind the shit hit the fucking fan. I nearly threw up, a tear rolled down my cheek with a feeling of horror/terror/fear/disgust (there is literally not a word in the English dictionary to describe how it made me feel-Dan and Parkes who were watching it with me couldn't describe it either). From this point onwards it is so so so tense, I was physically shaking for a long while after the film had ended.
Having said this during the terrifying moments of the films Fourth Chapter there are some strangely beautiful moments (again I will not name them as it is a slight plot spoiler) juxtaposed against images so disturbing that Parkes, Dan and I were all squirming around in our seats on the brink of hurling our horrified guts up.
In a very Kubrickian manner von Trier has placed himself firmly within a genre to produce a very subersive, very original piece of work that engages, moves, terrifies and shocks you to the core.
As I earlier stipulated this is definitely one of the best horror films ever made (I cannot really label it as the best after just one viewing as I am 100% certain alot of the themes and visual parrallels I did not pick up on in their entirety). If you have the stomach for it I could not recommend it more quite frankly, as always von Trier offers up a cinema experience unlike any other.
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