Zentropa Entertainments, Zentropa International Köln, Slot Machine

Willem Dafoe, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Storm Acheche Sahlstrøm

Antichrist is a very shocking film. It’s definitely a horror film, but it’s much more of a psychological drama. This is a story of a couple “He and She” (Willem Dafoe, Charlotte Gainsbourg) who have a small child in a crib who makes up the entire cast of the film. The couple are having sex in the other room when the little boy climbs out of the crib and falls out the window. This whole opening sequence or prologue is shot in extreme slow motion and is very moving. The wife ends up in a mental hospital, but her husband who is a therapist doesn’t agree with the treatment of her doctor and the drugs she is taking, so he decides to take her out to a cabin out in the woods called “Eden” where he can help her recover. But going back to nature causes things to go very badly, and awful, horrible things happen. Told in 4 chapters identifying the stages of loss, plus a prologue and an epilogue.

This is a very graphic film and is a guaranteed shocker. There are a few short scenes that, although not gratuitous, are very hard core! This could not be shown in the U.S. without an NC-17 rating for sure. It also is extremely symbolic and does not give answers. You think you know what the story is, but the story is not the point. It’s the symbolism of an evil “Garden of Eden” built by the devil. There are 3 animals in this film that also are very symbolic, although I do not have any idea what they mean. I have read theories on them, but I don’t know if I buy them or not. I guess this is part of the fun of the film, trying to figure out what it means. It’s very artsy and the music is awesome, but this will probably be hated by a lot of people.

It’s not exactly my cup of tea, and I do not rate this very high as I suspect most people are not ready for this. You have to love artsy, independent, foreign films to get this. But it is in English, and it is easy to follow and understand the dialog. But do not expect to be entertained or titillated, as you will come out of it scratching your head and wondering what it was all about. Then you will think about it for many days after!

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

 

 

VN:F [1.9.22_1171]
Rate this movie:
Rating: 3.0/5 (1 vote cast)
Movie Review - Antichrist (2009) {UR}, 3.0 out of 5 based on 1 rating

Leave a comment

Name: (Required)

eMail: (Required)

Website:

Comment: