![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Utilizing his trademark chapter markers, von Trier centers his story on a nameless couple (played by Willem Dafoe and Charlotte Gainsbourg), who are engaged in passionate lovemaking during the film’s prologue, which is exquisitely filmed by cinematographer Anthony Dod Mantle in black-and-white. While the film is certainly not devoid of von Trier’s irony-laced humor, it is also a shattering meditation on the debilitating grief that comes from devastating loss, and the destructive toll that it has on the body and soul. Using this latest effort as a catalyst to free him from paralyzing depression, von Trier delved into his own lifelong struggles with anxiety, exorcising his psychological demons onscreen. It’s a sad day in film criticism when a daring and exhilarating work of art like Lars von Trier’s “Antichrist” is widely labeled as a “joke” directed by a “fraud.” Say what you will about von Trier, but he is nothing if not sincere. This is a much scarier premise, since the greatest horrors externalized in the film are spawned entirely from the woman’s unstable psyche, deranged by guilt. “Antichrist” is about a woman who isn’t possessed, but is nevertheless absolutely convinced that she is an instrument of the devil. CHICAGO – One of the most reliable scenarios in the horror movie playbook is the satanic possession of a human character. ![]()
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