Antichrist

Artistic horror: Lars von Trier’s “Antichrist” by Octavio Mingura staff writer Lars von Trier never has held back. If you’ve seen “Breaking the Waves” or “Dancer in the Dark,” you know exactly what I mean. But whereas those films were surprising, often daring, the adjective that best fits von Trier’s latest film, “Antichrist,” is “gruesome.” The film does nothing less than elevate the horror genre to an artistic level. Since its debut at the Cannes Film Festival in May, it has repeatedly come under attack for its near-glorification of misogyny and graphic depiction of sexual violence. And yet, the film has also garnered acclaim for its visuals, the work of “Slumdog Millionaire” cinematographer Anthony Dod Mantle. In other words, it’s gruesome, but it looks great. The plot focuses exclusively on an American therapist, played by Willem Dafoe, and an academic, played by Charlotte Gainsbourg, both grieving the sudden, accidental death of their three-year-old son. After a month of hospitalization, the wife accuses the husband of not grieving enough. The husband accuses the wife of grieving too much. In an attempt to move on with their lives, the two retreat to the seemingly virgin forests of Eden—perhaps an homage to Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining, in which Jack Torrance sequesters himself in a Colorado hideaway. During their stay in Eden, the wife claims—falsely—that she has freed herself from her obsession with their son’s death. To makes matters oddly worse, Dafoe’s character encounters a disemboweled fox that announces, “Chaos reigns.” To top it all off, the wife reveals that she has an affinity for medieval torture. The wife then unleashes her uncontrollable rage on her husband, committing a series of actions that can best be described with that word from the second paragraph above: gruesome. “Antichrist” is a morbid character study ultimately arguing that humans are evil by nature. With all due respect for Lars von Trier, an auteur who deserves our utmost admiration for having the courage to so consistently make the film he wants to, viewers’ possible distaste notwithstanding, he does seem to have crossed the proverbial line this time. Mantle’s visuals, fortunately, are the real attraction here. And yet, there are times when von Trier uses gruesome scenes, no matter how gorgeously shot, out of a sense of urgency and desperation. If you want to see something that tops the Saw franchise in terms of sheer, horrific violence, “Antichrist” is your film. If you’re just curious, watch it, but be careful. If you have a sensitive stomach, stay as far away as possible.