ANTICHRIST (2009)
Posted by Daniel Metz
Dir. Lars Von Trier
Alamo Drafthouse Ritz, 11/19/09, 11:59pm
My second viewing of this film was my first time in a theatre, and the beautiful imagery and well-engineered sound definitely came through better on this trip. The film has a lot of filler for such a great movie, and really the picture boils down to a number of key scenes, or greatest hits, or something like that. You’ve just got to see the penetration, the slow-motion bridge crossing, the blood masturbation, the weird-arm tree sex, the clitoris snip, etc. Oh, and the weird blue dots on the hand!
Is this picture sexy or sad?
My midnight viewing of this film came at the tail end of a lazy triple feature: Brief Interviews with Hideous Men at 5 and Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans at 7:30. As such, I was definitely tired and this film’s careful slowness did not help matters. Still, the punctuated moments of brilliance snapped me out of a trance, reminding me to watch the striking imagery. Perhaps as a result of my extended emotional state (stemming from this roller coaster of a triple feature), I was actually quite moved by the ending. When the couple are finally lying on the floor, and it is clear that their relationship is out of hand and she is witchcraft-crazy, I was so sad for them. I felt the sadness of the situation, their hopeless attempt at grieving be damned, and I think this is a major part of the film’s punch. And, boy oh boy, is the following sequence the best strangling scene in cinema!
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[...] he is in with a funny accent and decent jokes. Dafoe has been so busy this season, appearing in Antichrist, Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant, the new Herzog movie My Son, My Son, What Have Ye [...]
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