Antichrist is a 2009 horror film written and directed by Lars von Trier, about a couple who, after the death of their child, retreat to a cabin in the woods where they encounter strange and terrifying occurrences. The film stars only two actors, Charlotte Gainsbourg and Willem Dafoe, and features sexually explicit content. Primarily a Danish production, the film was also co-produced with companies from five other countries
Staring
Willem Dafoe as He
Charlotte Gainsbourg as She ~ two people movie ~ and him ( you know who I am referring to)
Production
Antichrist was originally scheduled for production in 2005, but its executive producer Peter Aalbæk Jensen accidentally revealed the planned ending. Lars von Trier was furious and decided to delay the shoot so he could rewrite the script.
In 2007 Trier announced that he was suffering from a depression, and that it was possible that he never would be able to make another film. “I assume that Antichrist will be my next film. But right now I don’t know,” he told the Danish newspaper Politiken. During an early casting attempt, English actors who had come to Zentropa’s studios in Copenhagen had to be sent home, while Trier was crying because his bad condition didn’t allow him to meet them.
The film’s budget is around $11 million, with the Danish Film Institute putting in $1.5 million and Filmstiftung Nordrhein-Westfalen in Germany contributing $1.3 million. Apart from von Trier’s own company Zentropa, other co-producers are Sweden’s Film i Vast, Italy’s Lucky Red, and France’s Liberator Productions, Slot Machine and Arte France.
After training at a camp in the Czech Republic, the supporting cast of trained animals, including the Deer (played by Fiona), the Fox (Bonifac) and the Crows (Blue and No-Name), joined Willem Dafoe and Charlotte Gainsbourg at the location ‘Eden’ in the forests near Cologne, Germany.
To get into the right mood before filming started, both Dafoe and Gainsbourg were shown Andrei Tarkovsky’s The Mirror from 1975. Dafoe was also shown Trier’s own 1998 film The Idiots, and Gainsbourg The Night Porter to study Charlotte Rampling’s character.
The film was shot on digital video, primarily using Red One cameras. Trier still hadn’t recovered completely from his depression when filming started. He repeatedly excused himself to the actors for being in the mental condition he was, and he wasn’t able to do the camerawork himself as he usually does, which made him very frustrated.
Movie Release
The film premiered during the Competition portion of the 2009 Cannes Film Festival to a mixed response from the audience. At least four people fainted during the preview due to the film’s explicit violence. Gainsbourg won the Cannes Film Festival’s award for Best Actress.
Two versions were available for buyers at the Cannes film market, nicknamed the “catholic” and “protestant” versions, where the former had some of the most explicit scenes removed while the latter was uncut. The uncut version was released theatrically to a general audience on 20 May 2009 in Denmark. It has been acquired for American distribution by IFC Films, and British by Artificial Eye.
The Controversy
The film has come under attack for its explicit sexuality, including the opening scene showing a toddler falling to its death while Dafoe and Gainsbourg have sex on the bed nearby. Included in the Cannes version was a graphic close-up shot of a penis entering a vagina. The film has also invited controversy for its graphic sexual violence. In one controversial scene, Gainsbourg masturbates Dafoe until he ejaculates blood. Gainsbourg later knocks Dafoe unconscious and drills a hole in his thigh to bolt him onto a grindstone. Once trapped, she hits Dafoe’s testicles with a wooden plank so hard that it is implied they are torn off. In a later scene, Gainsbourg cuts off her own clitoris with a pair of rusty scissors
The ecumenical jury at the Cannes festival gave it a special “anti-award” and declared the film to be “the most misogynist movie from the self-proclaimed biggest director in the world”.Cannes festival director Thierry Frémaux responded that this was a “ridiculous decision that borders on a call for censorship” and that it was “scandalous coming from an ‘ecumenical’ jury”.
Critical say:
As of 26 May 2009 the film had a 50% “fresh” rating at Rotten Tomatoes based on 5 reviews, with an average rating of 5.3 out of 10
Antichrist is a 2009 horror film written and directed by Lars von Trier, about a couple who, after the death of their child, retreat to a cabin in the woods where they encounter strange and terrifying occurrences. The film stars only two actors, Charlotte Gainsbourg and Willem Dafoe, and features sexually explicit content. Primarily a Danish production, the film was also co-produced with companies from five other countries
Staring
Willem Dafoe as He
Charlotte Gainsbourg as She ~ two people movie ~ and him ( you know who I am referring to)
Production
Antichrist was originally scheduled for production in 2005, but its executive producer Peter Aalbæk Jensen accidentally revealed the planned ending. Lars von Trier was furious and decided to delay the shoot so he could rewrite the script.
In 2007 Trier announced that he was suffering from a depression, and that it was possible that he never would be able to make another film. “I assume that Antichrist will be my next film. But right now I don’t know,” he told the Danish newspaper Politiken. During an early casting attempt, English actors who had come to Zentropa’s studios in Copenhagen had to be sent home, while Trier was crying because his bad condition didn’t allow him to meet them.
The film’s budget is around $11 million, with the Danish Film Institute putting in $1.5 million and Filmstiftung Nordrhein-Westfalen in Germany contributing $1.3 million. Apart from von Trier’s own company Zentropa, other co-producers are Sweden’s Film i Vast, Italy’s Lucky Red, and France’s Liberator Productions, Slot Machine and Arte France.
After training at a camp in the Czech Republic, the supporting cast of trained animals, including the Deer (played by Fiona), the Fox (Bonifac) and the Crows (Blue and No-Name), joined Willem Dafoe and Charlotte Gainsbourg at the location ‘Eden’ in the forests near Cologne, Germany.
To get into the right mood before filming started, both Dafoe and Gainsbourg were shown Andrei Tarkovsky’s The Mirror from 1975. Dafoe was also shown Trier’s own 1998 film The Idiots, and Gainsbourg The Night Porter to study Charlotte Rampling’s character.
The film was shot on digital video, primarily using Red One cameras. Trier still hadn’t recovered completely from his depression when filming started. He repeatedly excused himself to the actors for being in the mental condition he was, and he wasn’t able to do the camerawork himself as he usually does, which made him very frustrated.
Movie Release
The film premiered during the Competition portion of the 2009 Cannes Film Festival to a mixed response from the audience. At least four people fainted during the preview due to the film’s explicit violence. Gainsbourg won the Cannes Film Festival’s award for Best Actress.
Two versions were available for buyers at the Cannes film market, nicknamed the “catholic” and “protestant” versions, where the former had some of the most explicit scenes removed while the latter was uncut. The uncut version was released theatrically to a general audience on 20 May 2009 in Denmark. It has been acquired for American distribution by IFC Films, and British by Artificial Eye.
The Controversy
The film has come under attack for its explicit sexuality, including the opening scene showing a toddler falling to its death while Dafoe and Gainsbourg have sex on the bed nearby. Included in the Cannes version was a graphic close-up shot of a penis entering a vagina. The film has also invited controversy for its graphic sexual violence. In one controversial scene, Gainsbourg masturbates Dafoe until he ejaculates blood. Gainsbourg later knocks Dafoe unconscious and drills a hole in his thigh to bolt him onto a grindstone. Once trapped, she hits Dafoe’s testicles with a wooden plank so hard that it is implied they are torn off. In a later scene, Gainsbourg cuts off her own clitoris with a pair of rusty scissors
The ecumenical jury at the Cannes festival gave it a special “anti-award” and declared the film to be “the most misogynist movie from the self-proclaimed biggest director in the world”.Cannes festival director Thierry Frémaux responded that this was a “ridiculous decision that borders on a call for censorship” and that it was “scandalous coming from an ‘ecumenical’ jury”.
Critical say:
As of 26 May 2009 the film had a 50% “fresh” rating at Rotten Tomatoes based on 5 reviews, with an average rating of 5.3 out of 10
I say:
Totally need to watch!
Trailer :
A very explicit movie i must say. . . . . .
1 Comment
May 27, 2009 at 10:27 am
[...] Antichrist: the movie [...]