‘Antichrist’: Lars von Trier Bores Me
by Kurt SchlichterAntichrist hasn’t even come out in the United States and I’m already bored.
If you haven’t heard about Antichrist yet, you will. It’s the latest movie from Danish art film director Lars von Trier, who has made a name for himself with critically-hailed movies that push the limits his audiences’ tolerance for bizarre sex, bloody violence and artistic pretension. One of his recent movies focused on an American town where slavery never ended, while another had pretty much an entire American village raping Nicole Kidman. A third film ends with the American authorities hanging Icelandic rock waif Bjork. Sensing some themes? By all accounts, Antichrist is a similarly delightful romp.
Naturally, the critics adore him, and combined with the fact that von Trier despises Americans, you would expect that he would get cut some slack by the French audience at Cannes last weekend when the festival screened Antichrist. Not so – the few cheers were apparently drowned out by a tsunami of boos when the lights went up. What happened?
Maybe, just maybe, people are starting to catch on to the fact that shocking art has become anything but. The problem for Mr. von Trier and those like him who specialize in transgressive art is that there’s really very little in the way of conventional morality left to transgress.
You can’t shock audiences who have seen everything. An artist paints a picture of the Virgin Mary in elephant dung? Whatever. A rapper busts a rhyme about shooting cops? Just keeping it real. A network crime show channels grisly autopsies right into our living rooms? Ho hum, pass the Pringles and dip.
Even mainstream movies are losing the power to shock. Ron Howard can’t even manage to pick a high profile fight with the Catholic Church by accusing it of mass murder in Angels & Demons. The Holy See shrugged its collective vestments and only a little more than half the audience of The Da Vinci Code confessed enough interest to show up opening week.
–
Antichrist apparently tries really hard to be shocking. There’s the title – that should kidney-punch those bourgeois audiences’ sensitivities, right? Uh, not really. Then how about some truly shocking content? According to the reports, there’s a graphic sex scene intercut with the death of the couple’s child. Sex and violence mixed together – there’s something we’ve never seen. Then the couple goes to a cabin in the woods to recover from their loss and begin to psychologically and physically torment one another. Sounds like “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf” meets “The Evil Dead.” Gotta do better than that, Lars.
Well, Willem Dafoe runs around naked then gets castrated. Yeah, that’s horrifying. Not the castration – in recent years, extreme vasectomy scenes have become the go-to shock effect for the truly transgressive auteur. Yawn. But the idea of the cadaverous Dafoe nude – that image will haunt your nightmares.
Now, there is a talking fox that whispers, “Chaos reigns.” I don’t know what the hell that’s supposed to mean, but seems to be the only thing about this movie we haven’t seen a hundred times before. With reason, to be sure, but at least it’s fresh.
Poor Mr. von Trier. He and many of his ilk have made careers of trying to shock the rest of us out of our collective aesthetic stupor. And it worked. We’ve now seen it all. And we’re tired of it. What else you got, Lars?
I know – how about the further adventures of that talking fox? Maybe he can partner with a by-the-book cop and solve crimes. We haven’t seen that before.
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71 Comments
I'm not against shock cinema. Only when it doesn't have a point. For example, "Salo" from Pasolini is disturbing to watch, but he's making a social statement. Torture Porn, on the other hand, revels in gore for entertainment. I prefer to wait and see "Antichrist", before I judge it.
For all his disdain for America, you'd think Lars von Trier had actually been there before. Not so! Lars von Trier is sadly too agoraphobic to leave the borders of his cozy country. With all his "shock & awe" filmmaking, Trier is a formulaic, derivative, lunatic hack who would 'get off' hearing me say that, because that's how predictably irreverent he is.
Lars, go do something gutsy for a change. Quit making so much "I'm anti-establishment" crapola that is so weak, lazy and pro-establishment with its anti-American, anti-Bush, anti-anything-with-conservative/non-secular undertones, because "I'm so artsty fartsy and rogue like that."
If he can have a talking fox in Antichrist, I can have a vomiting chipmunk resting on my fingers, who's actually controlling the keyboard right now.
Lars von Trier is hilarious. The Dogme 95 movement failed so brilliantly, and every film after has been such an arthouse trainwreck, that it's questionable whether he's done anything of merit. Even the nearly-mediocre Dogville was panned by (of all people) Ebert and Roeper for being anti-American. I'd rather watch Uwe Boll any day.
What and where will the progressive artist go and do, when they can progress and do no further? No wonder the progressives are unhappy people. They have no place to go and nothing to do, they have gone and done it all.
I think there might be a country music song somewhere in all that.
….so, where's the Ominous Latin Chanting, huh? I mean if you're going to bring in the Anti-Christ there's got to be all of that. Or maybe I'm confusing it with a John Woo film.
I liked Dancer in the Dark. Hated hated hated Dogville.
Poor Willem DaFoe. First "Body of Evidence," now this.
He seems drawn to roles which pose clear and present danger to his junk.
The sad thing is that without the inappropriate content, this is normally a movie I would be interested in seeing. Why filmmakers feel they have to shock, offend, and violate our senses to be creative is beyond me.
Horror is more about what we don't see than what we do…………….
You had to post the trailer, and I just had to watch it (morbid curiosity, I guess). Yikes. Good thing there's chocolate in the house. Still don't think I'll recover from that last scene for a while. Definitely one to miss.
I'm also encouraged (though not exactly surprised) to hear that he was boo-ed.
>>>Why filmmakers feel they have to shock, offend, and violate our senses to be creative is beyond me.
You don't remember the kid in school that nobody liked who acted the moron just to get attention? That kid grows up to make movies that shock and offend for exactly the same reason.
Yes I do, that kid was me! I grew up to write software though. (Never read my program comments!)
Well, me too actually
But most of us grow out of it.
Well, *good* horror is. For an excellent example of this go back and watch the original '60s version of The Haunting. I've watched it dozens of times and i never get bored of it.
Plus most of us are much better looking than von Trier.
talking fox that whispers, “Chaos reigns.”
Well, there was a talking wolf, a very BAD wolf, in The Neverending Story.
I prefer Dafoe in sweeter fare, like Mr Bean's Vacation.
I agree….Wilem DaFoe running around naked = creepy, the fabric of many nightmares. Harvey Keiltel running around naked (as he has in so many movies) = hilarious and timeless, especially considering he has six pac ab muscles on a beer belly.
I never saw any of these Lars Von Trier movies but is this dude trying to be David Lynch? Because there is only one David Lynch (and despite his notable skills and creativity, even Lynch makes a cow pie once in a while)
Spoiler Alert:
I don't understand why people don't consider this funny.
Exorcist=funny
Blair Witch=hilarious
The ring=idiotically funny
Saw=come on! Funny!
These "film" makers try to sell people some "scariness." Stephen King said it best (to paraphrase): You have to know what scares everybody like the hand coming out from under the bed.
Guys are always scared someones going to cut off their…….. ha-ha
Personally action films and Sci-fi are the most tense and scary for me. Horror (ketchup) is such a silly suspension of belief!
I think Von Trier is due for a big hit with Hungry-Hungry Hippos: The Movie.
Don't blame me, if I want this rumor in the newspapers I have to be persistent.
I think the Pope set a good example for conservatives. If we all collectively yawned instead of protesting "Piss Christ" an entire generation of artists would have imploded. The outrage is what they craved.
Good to see von Trier is reaching the end of his run (hopefully)
trash in, trash out, I choose not to even consider it.
I saw Dogville and it reminded me of Our Town made by a 10 yr old pretentious twit.
Apparently, I was dead on.
It is funny. Some folks have never been to America but know all about what is wrong with us and how to fix it.
Pretty arrogant, no?
Kurt–
Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, Chapter 3, p. 81:
Tolkien did it.
—From your portly pal
Uwe Boll???
Wow, Lars is REALLY bad….
Really liked Breaking the Waves.
Really liked his "Kingdom" miniseries.
But I couldn't finish his "Kingdom" sequel, and "Dancer in the Dark", while utterly unique for what it is, was also an experiment gone awry.
I really want to support von Trier, but the moment you start making shock art for artistry's sake, it becomes cliche.
Unfortunately, once they're through with fiction and art, they roll up their sleeves and get to work on real life.
Some people just want to see the world burn.
LvT is fortunate pretension isn't a fatal disease. Never liked his stuff and can't imagine that's going to change. He's a better paid Nick Zedd and the Cinema of Transgression. And Nick was doing his swill over 20 years ago. Y A W N.
Also kids, keep in mind when Lars & troup came up with Dogme (or as the philosophers at Troma call it "Dogcrap") they sold the certifications to anyone with $2500.
That pretty much tells you everything.
I had a cat named Willie who once whispered "Chaos reigns." to me.
I killed it.
Actually it depends on how the violence or gore or shock is presented. Take for example John Carpenter's The Thing. This IMHO is one of the scariest movies ever made. Not because it was so graphic, that was just a by product, but because the intense scenes were framed in a truly frightening narrative.
The other end of the spectrum regarding Carpenter, is the original Halloween. very low body count, very little blood or gore. But this is the film that all other slasher flicks owe their existence. Both of these movies stand on their own without all the phony shock nonsense. This Lars guy sounds like he doesn't really have a story to tell other than he hates America. He also said he doesn't make movies for audiences and could care less about what people think. Not the sharpest crayon in the box….
From all the things I've heard about this movie I won't be seeing it, if I want to be disturbed by graphic images, I'll just look at my bank statement….
Yeah! I loved the original "The Haunting." The new version was so disappointing, more unintentional comedy than horror. Like when Owen Wilson gets his head knocked off.
That Wolf scared the crap out of me when I was a kid. But, so did the furry dog-dragon.
Hungry-Hungry Hippos could be a pretty good horror movie.
Well done good sir.
and sauteed it in light olive oil with rosemary and basil, then served it on a bed of rice with mixed vegetables.
Love me some talking cat…..
Apparrently James Caan dropped out of a previous von Trier film (Manderlay) after appearing in Dogville because of von Trier's anti Amercanism. – quote from imdb.com "In an interview with Cigar Aficionado, James Caan stated he did not reprise his role as Grace's father from Dogville because Nicole Kidman dropped out and because he feels Lars von Trier "is very anti-American, so screw him. I'm very pro-America. I'm a conservative, basically."
source here
Or shortly, your payroll taxes. EEK
Though the movie with Luke Wilson, Vacancy was pretty good.
That's an interesting description of "Anti-Christ". Sounds like a great date movie. Yeesh!
'Don't Look Now' redux—totally unoriginal b.s.
You had me at "talking fox."
I've appreciated every one of his films, from The Kingdom to Dogville, although they've frequently infuriated me, particularly Breaking the Waves and Dancer in the Dark. The reflexive anti-Americanism is tedious, but it's usually subtle enough that I could look past it. Ultimately, I've never regretted watching a Lars von Trier film and think this trailer looks really interesting.
Be gentle.
read your description.
are you sure this isn't a John Waters movie?
Did anybody see Mr. Bean's Holiday? When I heard Dafoe narrate, that's the first thing that came to mind. . . a Carson Clay production of a Carson Clay Film, staring Carson Clay.
I was about to say, "I'd rather watch a Uwe Boll film" is about as scornful as it gets.
I've seen Breaking the Waves, Dancer in the Dark and Dogville and thing I found in common between them is that each is a despicable movie featuring an incredible leading lady. Emily Watson, Bjork and Nicole Kidman all gave excellent performances.
I've read some of the reviews in the European press. Even many of the wannabe avant-garde goofballs on the Continent can't seem to find anything good to say about this mess. Mr. Schlichter is being kind compared to some of the reviews I saw there.
This is torture porn is bought by IFC Films for American domestic distribution.
Meanwhile, this film goes begging and its producers have to dig into their own pockets in order to get it into the public square. "'The Stoning of Soraya M.' is adapted from the 1994 nonfiction book of the same name by a French-Iranian journalist, Freidoune Sahebjam. He traveled to a small Iranian village in the mid-1980s and found the story of an innocent woman stoned to death over concocted charges of infidelity. Soraya's husband fell in love with another woman, accused his wife of adultery and Soraya was left without support in the town. Her two eldest sons sat on the male tribunal that declared her guilty, and she was stoned by a mob that included her father."
Dafoe is actually a fairly good actor. But what is this thing so many producers and directors have about showing him running around naked, or nearly so? Even as far back as To Live and Die in L.A. they felt compelled to show him in the buff. A couple of times in Clear and Present Danger they did jungle scenes, and all I could think was "Omigod, he's going to go native and run around naked."
Paul Verhoeven is another Dutch filmmaker who *hates!* America.
I think I still have the home-video recorded at the 2000 San Diego ComiCon when Verhoeven was promoting "Hollow Man" where he admitted that he twisted Robert Heinlein's lovingly-crafted "Starship Troopers" from a battle-weary sergeant's experience during the Bug War into American-imperialism, complete with Nazi-inspired uniforms.
(WHEW!!! check out my run-on sentence, complete with lots of fun-hyphens )
Ok, now I'm really scared….
James-freakin-Caan baby!!!
Actually there was a talking fox in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (the first Narnia movie,) so we've already seen that, too.
Louise B
A filmcompany always in financial trouble and ever trying to get help from the Ministry of Culture, imagine we have such an institution in this fairytale country Denmark, is a filmcompany desparately trying to survive in spite of no interest in their products. Trier is a jerk and a disgrace to my country. Sorry to all you good decent Americans if you have the notion that America is not loved and respected in Denmark. Only a very few, and sorry to say most of them from the media and entertainmentbusiness, have this bizarre attitude about America that Trier reflects. A great, great majority of ordinary danes admire and love America and americans.
For a more positive spin on this whole issue, read my little column here:
pmperez.wordpress.com
A few things wrong with your analysis here.
1) You have not yet seen this movie so criticizing it second hand is odd.
2) The critics actually hate Antichrist. It is one of the lowest rated movies on the Screen Daily critics board.
3) Lars von Trier does not normally make movies that shock people or push the booundaries of the bizarre. Breaking the Waves, Zentropa, The Kingdom, The Boss of it All, Dogville and Epidemic do not use shock tactics at all. They are dramas but hardly push boundaries. Only The Idiots and a small part of Dancer on the Dark have anything resembling 'shock' tactics.
I'm guessing you either have not seen most of von Trier's movies or you are using Antichrist as a launching point to mark your territory and tell us you don't like this kind of movie. Fine. But please note his movies are not what you make them out to be. Provocative, yes, Shocking for shock sake, no.
A talking fox? Does that mean that von Trier has given up on Dogme? I hope so for Dafoe's sake.
My word, that trailer sucked! I cannot imagine sitting through it again, much less a whole movie of this much
suckdom. Ai yi yi.
Totally agree! I thought this analysis was strange, and even the history of Trier's films was odd. Wasn't it Bryce Dallas Howard who is raped in Manderlay, not Kidman in Dogville? That was my understanding.
I think you're right about that, but since Manderley is basically a sequel to Dogville, filmed in the same style, it's not hard to get them confused.
Kidman was imprisoned and raped repeatedly in Dogville.
Insulting Christianity is so 20th Century. Now if he wants to be truly brave and daring, he would make a movie that transgressed Islam.
Satanic Version – the film. That would ignite some fireworks
Okay, I only saw bits and pieces of Dogville. I didn't care for it. In Manderlay, I know that BDH is raped, and they play the same character. Hmm..
Background Music: The Conchords Hip Hop Hippopotamus,
The one issue I do have with von Trier is his treatment of women. He has a misogynist streak in him that is tough to take. But he is a good filmmaker otherwise.
I tend to agree with Vince. I liked Hollow Man and Total Recall, and saw much to like in Starship Troopers, even though I'm a Heinlein purist and recognize how much the movie diverged from the story. I'm more likely to be critical of the special effects in Troopers than the politics. I don't know enough about Verhoeven's personal and political life to form an opinion, but what you said is no doubt true. So it seems to me that as an anti-American propagandist, Verhoeven is somewhat of a failure. I'm very sensitive to anti-American sentiment in movies, and I just didn't see it, even if that is what he intended. And no matter how much I hate the Nazis, they really did have the best uniforms, designed by Hugo Boss.
While Verhoeven may not specifically display anti-Americanism, his rejection of capitalism is downright in your face in films like Total Recall and Robocop (both of which I loved by the way). In both cases the villain is a laissez-faire type mass-murdering corporate megalomaniac. And both were played by Ronny Cox.
I've gotta say, I read this blog from time to time and rarely agree with anything said here. This is a notable exception. I've spent much of my life defending films and filmmakers that people deem pretentious, self-indulgent, etc., but even I don't have the stomach for Lars Von Trier. He is like the bully at school who isn't strong enough to beat you up so resorts exclusively to jeers and name-calling. Some of his early stuff is interesting but I could barely sit through Breaking the Waves or Dancer in the Dark, and Dogville was the last straw. "Hey everybody, humanity is corrupt and terrible!" Duh, why don't you develop that into an idea, Lars.
That being said, he is a maniac, and I do like that in my filmmakers, and it sounds like he's finally lost his mind entirely with Antichrist. Could it be that this film will do for Lars what Revolver did for Guy Ritchie, or Lady in the Water did for M. Night Shyamalan, or The Wicker Man did for Neil LaBute? These films are so staggeringly terrible in ways that ordinary bad films from Hollywood could never dream of. Therefore, I will probably see Antichrist in spite of myself. News about a talking fox sealed the deal for me.
I work with a Danish chick who's a conservative.
No worries, I don't think we're painting with a broad brush here
my dogs never whispered anything to me, but they do use their doggy jedi mind powers to get my three year old to drop food on the floor. Not surprising since one of them is the spitting image of that doggy dragon from Never Ending Story.
From Wikipedia:
"Lars Trier was born in Copenhagen to Ulf and Inger Trier, who both worked for Denmark's social services. His parents considered themselves both communists and committed nudists, and the young Lars went on several childhood holidays to nudist camps. They regarded the disciplining of children as hopelessly reactionary. Trier notes that he was brought up in an atheist family, and that although his stepfather was Jewish, he was not religious. His parents did not allow much room in their household for "feelings, religion, or enjoyment," and also refused to make any rules for their children, with complex results for von Trier's personality and development."
Well that explains it.
Breaking the waves had good acting but the story was excruciating. Couldn't get past a few minutes of Dancer in the Dark. Dogville was really boring. I think I've had enough.
So the writer here has actually seen the movie? This classifies as a non-article. Waste of Time. MOVE ALONG!
Dogville was an atrocity.
Breaking the Waves was better, but still pretentious garbage.
I thought The Element of Crime was interesting, but at the time I was a teenager and going through some emotional disturbance or other. During that phase, I may have been briefly a part of van Trier´s target audience.
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