Having scene most of his other works, I had been missing
this staple from the Lars Von Trier catalogue. I was expecting it to be quite a
different film (I love when that happens). There are no exorcisms, or ghosts,
or hauntings. Literal ones anyway.
Despite being toted as an ultra violent picture, torture
porn some call it, I felt the violence was mostly tasteful, despite making me
nauseated. One scene involving scissors is particularly hard to stomach. Still,
it’s not like this is Hostel.
Featuring William Defoe and
Charlotte Gainsbourg, this film is a vehicle for their great talent. Von
Trier wrote the script, as he always does for his films, so it's quite
the collaborative effort. Without these three, there would be
no Anti-Christ.
In an interview Defoe said that he and Gainsbourg met only
briefly before shooting this picture, and so all the intimate stuff, that’s all
happening between them for the first time in front of the camera. Just an
interesting thing to think about. It makes me appreciate their performances in
a slightly different way.
