My Favourite Movies

Antichrist

This is the most disturbing movie I have ever seen. No two ways about it. Till this day I still have images I can't get out of my head. Antichrist is an Arthouse horror drama about a couple feeling guilt about a recent tragedy, in doing so they retreat to a cabin in the woods. The premise sounds very average but my god, this film is flawlessly executed.

It's directed by Lars von Trier who directed Dancer in the Dark (earlier in this book) so if you've seen that, you know what you're getting into. As where Dancer in the Dark feels more like realism documentary-style, this feels more cinematic witch is a huge plus for this movie. Agh where to start. The performances. The film stars Willem Dafoe and Charlotte Gainsbourg.. And that's it. I'm being serious when I say they are the only people who star in this movie, all the extra's faces' are blurred out, and our main characters don't even have the names. Ah the genius stylistic choices! But back to the performances, they are phenomenal, especially that of Charlotte Gainsbourg. Her performance is extremely subtle in points and hauntingly fierce in others.

Another one of the standouts of this movie is the cinematography. Next to The Shining this is the most visually breathtaking cinematography I've ever seen, with uses of amazing slow motion sequences and disturbing but beautiful metaphors. The film's location was a great opportunity for visuals and they definitely made the most of it. This is also the reason that the opening scene is my favourite opening scene of all time. That's a big thing to say seeing as there are loads of iconic and great opening scenes, but this opening scene is leagues better than any other in my opinion.

Another thing to mention is the horror aspect of the story. A lot of horror movies nowadays rely on jump scares and startling noises to shock you, but in Antichrist there are no jump scares whatsoever. Lars von Trier uses sound, tone and images to disturb and suck you into the atmosphere of the movie. This is one of two movies that I have seen where days after watching it I still have an almost nauseating feeling from the viewing. This movie will fuck you up!

While it might not be clear to every viewer, the film does contain some misogynistic themes. Every positive review I've seen of the film doesn't consider this fact, and every bad review I've seen only points this out. To everyone who hates this film because of that, I completely understand why. Lars von Trier isn't a misogynist, he is merely presenting the idea in film. If a director makes a film about abortion does that mean the director thinks everyone should have an abortion? Of course not!

One thing to mention is that the film is incredibly graphic in some parts so if you're the kind of person to dismiss an amazing film just because of obscene graphic content, give this one a miss.

In the end I highly recommend Antichrist to anyone who can take it. It's art and I consider it to be a macabre masterpiece.