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Antichrist may not be Lars von Trier (Dancer in the Dark, Dogville)’s best but it is indeed a very mature and courageous film, which dares to deal with such unbearable and taboo themes as losing sexual and personal control and the fear and loss of one’s child. In his film Von Trier, agent provocateur of European film, definitely poses more quistions than he gives answers. The main theme in the film seems to be a kind of medical case history of a woman loosing her self (control) in grief and depression of her lost child. Her therapist husband tries to cure her but during that process, which cinematically works as a realistic frame, Trier adds one more surreal and symbolic layer after another. The establishing embodies the film’s themes: in super slow motion the film cross cuts between ’He’ (Willem Defoe) and ’She’ (Charlotte Gainsbourg) having sex and their child rising from his bed and falling out the window. The scene, accompanied of Händels ”Rinaldo” combines the very secular with the symbolic and almost religious, the child falling like an angel out of the window.
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The force of the film is that it can not only be read and interpretted as a psychological, personal story of loss and fear, but also as a confrontation between many opposites, which are themselves rich in perspective and distinctions – for instance the relationship between man and woman. This works within the pictures too as when Dafoe is enthralled watching a (Disney) deer in the wood and then the deer in slow motion turns around and reveals, as a travesty, a bloody miscarriage or stillborn. Here the black Trier irony is shining through. There are more ’Disney like’ references and images that evoke fairy tales, and The Brothers Grimm seems to be a key influence. Casper David Friedrich’s paintings are also a reference point, present in the many pictures and scenes from the woods (Gainsbourgh crossing a bridge in mist and bright moon light). Man left to his biology and raw impulses, his fear and grief and loss of control; the title Antichrist seems to be perfect because the absence of God is absolute. There is no metapsycical power or comfort guiding any lost or praying soul. Indeed this may be a dark and depressing message but it also has a relief to it and an honesty. It it not expressing the law of the jungle or some social Darwinism or the urge to worship violence and destruction, but, as said before, it has the courage to bring up taboos and the grim sides of human nature, which are too often suppressed for the benefit of perfection and facade. The film definately calls for multiple viewings with its rich references, themes and layers of interpretation. Words > Lykke Jensen Catch Antichrist at Cinema City Norwich: |
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