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Antichrist

Antichrist (2009)

October. 23,2009
|
6.5
|
NR
| Drama Horror Thriller

A grieving couple retreats to their cabin 'Eden' in the woods, hoping to repair their broken hearts and troubled marriage. But nature takes its course and things go from bad to worse.

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Mariam Mansuryan
2009/10/23

The whole film I was trying to understand why its title is Antichrist. So I was looking for allusions and that's what I'll talk about in this review.First of all, the garden of Eden, obviously, this is... the Garden of Eden... where Adam and Eve met each other and had their lovely adventures until that nasty snake came. It's also a representation of Heaven, and as "she" (since neither the man nor the woman have names here) says: Nature is Satan's church. A lot of things one location can be. A Satan's church is also represented visually many times, but one scene that especially sticks to me is that right before the Epilogue, where the forest becomes full of seemingly sexless naked bodies. Satan's church is obviously a very oxymoronic phrase, as Satan does not belong in the church, women even cover their heads to keep Satan away inside the church... but this weird custom means that he is after all in the church. One way or another, Satan seems to be hiding in the nature, like in the den of the fox... And it also hides within the human heart. In both "her" and more well controlled in "his". Maybe in Nick's heart too, and maybe it was Satan that pushed him to jump out.This brings me to a remark I can't not make. In both Antichrist and Melancholia, Lars Von Trier does something really great. He manages to reflect the world inside a person through the world outside. In Melancholia, the melancholy of the main character is symbolized by the planet approaching the Earth, and the clash is inevitable. At the end she makes peace with her melancholia, doesn't try to pretend anymore, and that's when the clash happens, while she rests in the magic cave.The same is here, the man goes into the forest, which is a representation of his wife's inner world, where he didn't have access for a long time, and only Nick did. Maybe that's why Nick jumped off, he was already crazy after seeing where her mother lived. At the end, where she stares at him jumping down, there is a feeling that she is somehow guilty for his death, and maybe she was... Maybe that's why his shoes were put on incorrectly, because she couldn't help but torture Nick.The film may be called Antichrist because the three wise men are Grief, Despair and Pain... So it's pretty antichrist. Another allusion is when she is lying in the grass, and her pose is exactly that of Christ's when he is resurrected.There is a lot to notice in this film. Mainly, I liked the combination of the moving camera reality and the slow motion abstractness, and the Pathetic Fallacy which Von Trier is a master of, I think.

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rdoyle29
2009/10/24

A couple have sex while their infant child falls to his death. She suffers from immense and powerful grief. He works as a therapist and against all reasonable advice decides to treat her grief himself. He is egotistical, controlling and condescending. He insists on taking her to their cabin in the woods, the root of a terrible fear she is experiencing. He pays a terrible price for having the temerity to believe he can control life by force of reason and will. This movie is ... a trial. I love it.

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grantss
2009/10/25

Lars van Trier's works teeter on the brink between a masterpiece, and being a piece of pretentious crap of the highest order. Dogville fell in the former category (despite starring Nicole Kidman - imagine how superb it would have been if she was not in it). Unfortunately, Antichrist falls in the latter category.The movie consists of long drawn-out dialogues and imagery that go nowhere, interspersed with the occasional scene that is there purely for shock value. Tedious pretentiousness parading as some sort of great essay on the human psyche, or human relationships, or dealing with grief - who knows, pick one.A total waste of time.

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lamonzon-20651
2009/10/26

I watched the film, and wondered why I was so miserable during the entire thing. Lars von Trier is not an artist - he's a sadist, and I know plenty of Danes who hate him. He is a poseur, who has embraced fascism and cruelty. It seems his sole purpose is to humiliate his actors, and really, his work is mediocre. He relies on shock value, using well known and generally talented actors - it adds to the "oh my god!" factor. He really should be walked off a cliff, but if you like watching people have their dignity removed in a manner utterly lacking in subtlety - Lars is your guy. Watch this film if you want, but honestly? I wouldn't waste my time; that's two hours I'll never get back.

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