Antichrist

Customers Who Bought This Also Bought

More About This Product

Overview
Special Features
Editorial Reviews
Product Details
Related Categories
Cast & Crew
Scene Index
Menu

Overview

This enormously controversial psychodrama-cum-horror film from Danish enfant terrible Lars von Trier charts the degeneration of a marriage into apocalyptic violence, chaos, and insanity following an unthinkable domestic tragedy. The film opens with a prologue. While they make love in their apartment on a snowy winter afternoon, a husband and wife known only as "He" and "She" Willem Dafoe and Charlotte Gainsbourg fail to keep an eye on their young toddler. In a horrific turn of events, the child wanders over to an open window, entranced by the snow cascading down, and falls two stories to his death. Von Trier then divides the remainder of the film into four chapters, beginning with "Grief." In that segment, the woman finishes a month's hospitalization, and accuses her husband of apathy over the child's death, but proceeds to take responsibility for it herself; he calmly and rationally guides her through this process. In the second segment, "Pain," she confesses to him that she's most terrified of their property in the forest, because she spent time with her son there over the preceding summer; as a form of therapy, he takes her to that locale on a wilderness retreat. She appears to grow more calm and rational over their first days in that milieu. Yet the recovery, it seems, was only illusory, and the subsequent two chapters, "Despair Gynocide" and "The Three Beggars," depict the woman's shocking and abrupt regression into unbridled insanity, culminating with grotesque sexual violence against herself, gruesome acts of destruction against her husband, and an apocalyptic climax.

Read More Show Less

Special Features

Disc one:; High-definition digital master, approved by director Lars von Trier and supervised by director of photography Anthony Dod Mantle; Audio commentary featuring von Trier and film scholar Murray Smith; Theatrical trailers; Disc two: ; Video interviews with von Trier and actors Willem Dafoe and Charlotte Gainsbourg; Collection of seven video pieces delving into the production of Antichrist through interviews with von Trier and key members of his filmmaking team, as well as behind-the-scenes footage; Chaos reigns at the Cannes film festival, a documentary on the film's world premiere, along with press interviews with Dafoe and Gainsbourg

Read More Show Less

Editorial Reviews

All Movie Guide

Courting controversy has always been the de facto artistic goal of writer-director Lars von Trier. With Antichrist, he pursues that goal even more single-mindedly than ever before. The hubbub surrounding Antichrist appeared in forms both internal and external to the actual film; internal, because it contains some of the most graphic sexual violence ever to hit mainstream cinema, and external, because von Trier proclaimed himself the greatest director in the world while doing publicity interviews. The former transgression might logically nullify the latter assertion, but Antichrist is, in fact, quite beautiful, in its way. Anthony Dod Mantle's camerawork is gorgeous, entrancing us through dreamy slow motion, watery palettes of color, and unconventional framing, all of it augmented by the haunting sound design. Furthermore, von Trier's examination of the paralysis of grief is as thought-provoking as it is, in most respects, earnest. The million-dollar question, then: Did he really have to show such brutality in order to get his point across? And if so, what was his point, exactly? The act in question -- or multiple acts, depending on your personal tolerance level -- begs us to consider whether von Trier actually hates women, a theory that has always seemed credible, given the punishments endured by the female characters in his previous films. But his biggest problem is not the imagery itself. You can justify almost anything if you can demonstrate its narrative purpose, or if the outcome of events flows logically from what came before. That's not the case here. Grieving may turn Willem Dafoe and Charlotte Gainsbourg -- who give bold, unflinching performances -- into deteriorated husks, but von Trier needed to consider whether A plus B equaled C, if he really wanted to sidestep accusations of misogyny. Then again, being who he is, such accusations probably only fueled the director's sense of rebellious iconoclasm.

Read More Show Less

Product Details

Release Date: 11/9/2010
UPC: 715515063616
Original Release: 2009

Rating:

Source: Criterion
Region Code: 1
Presentation: Special Edition / Wide Screen
Language: English
Time: 1:48:00
Format: DVD
Sales rank: 13,322

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Willem Dafoe	He
Charlotte Gainsbourg	She

Technical Credits

Lars von Trier	Director, Screenwriter
Kristian Eidnes Andersen	Sound/Sound Designer
Madeleine Ekman	Co-producer
Frauke Firl	Costumes/Costume Designer
Meta Louise Foldager	Producer
Peter Garde	Executive Producer
Peter Aalbæk Jensen	Executive Producer
Anders Thomas Jensen	Screenwriter
Lars Jönsson	Co-producer
Karl Juliusson	Production Designer
Anthony Dod Mantle	Cinematographer
Andrea Occhipinti	Co-producer
Ole Ostergaard	Co-producer
Tim Pannen	Art Director
Anders Refn	Editor
Malgorzata Szumowska	Co-producer

Read More Show Less

Scene Index

Disc #1 -- Antichrist
1. Logos / Opening Credits [:41]
2. Prologue [5:39]
3. Chapter One: Grief [5:48]
4. "I Want to Die Too" [5:30]
5. The Anxiety Phase [4:28]
6. List of Fears [5:41]
7. "Imagine You're at Eden" [6:07]
8. In the Woods [3:53]
9. Chapter Two: Pain (Chaos Reigns) [6:14]
10. An Exercise [3:43]
11. "I Heard a Sound" [3:59]
12. "Nature is Satan's Church" [4:35]
13. Cured [4:29]
14. Chapter Three: Despair (Gynocide) [3:45]
15. A Nature Within [3:45]
16. "Hit Me, Please!" [2:38]
17. "You're Leaving Me!" [7:22]
18. Flight [8:20]
19. Chapter Four: The Three Beggars [8:17]
20. Fight [5:02]
21. Epilogue [2:45]
22. End Credits [5:54]

Read More Show Less

Disc #1 -- Antichrist
Play the Movie
Chapters
   Color Bars
Commentary
Trailers
Disc #2 -- Antichrist
Cast and Director Interviews
   Confessions About Anxiety
   Charlotte Etc.
   Willem Dafoe: Agent of Fantasy
The Making of Antichrist
   Index
      Behind the Test Film
      Visual Style
      Sound and Music
      Eden - Production Design
      Makeup Effects and Props
      The Three Beggars
      The Evil of Woman
Cannes 2009
   Chaos Reigns at the Cannes Film Festival
   Charlotte Gainsbourg at Cannes
   Willem Dafoe at Cannes
Subtitles
   Subtitles: On
   Subtitles: Off

Read More Show Less

Customer Reviews

Average Rating 3.5

( 24 )

Your Rating:

Poor

Below Average

Good

Very Good

Exceptional

Review Guidelines

Tell the world what you think of this product.

Add Recommendations

Your Name: Create a Pen Name or Leave Anonymously

Barnes & Noble.com Review Rules

Our reader reviews allow you to share your comments on titles you liked, or didn't, with others. By submitting an online review, you are representing to Barnes & Noble.com that all information contained in your review is original and accurate in all respects, and that the submission of such content by you and the posting of such content by Barnes & Noble.com does not and will not violate the rights of any third party. Please follow the rules below to help ensure that your review can be posted.

Reviews by Our Customers Under the Age of 13

We highly value and respect everyone's opinion concerning the titles we offer. However, we cannot allow persons under the age of 13 to have accounts at BN.com or to post customer reviews. Please see our Terms of Use for more details.

What to exclude from your review:

Please do not write about reviews, commentary, or information posted on the product page. If you see any errors in the information on the product page, please send us an email.

Reviews should not contain any of the following:

- HTML tags, profanity, obscenities, vulgarities, or comments that defame anyone
- Time-sensitive information such as tour dates, signings, lectures, etc.
- Single-word reviews. Other people will read your review to discover why you liked or didn't like the title. Be descriptive.
- Comments focusing on the author or that may ruin the ending for others
- Phone numbers, addresses, URLs
- Pricing and availability information or alternative ordering information
- Advertisements or commercial solicitation

Reminder:

- By submitting a review, you grant to Barnes & Noble.com and its sublicensees the royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable right and license to use the review in accordance with the Barnes & Noble.com Terms of Use.
- Barnes & Noble.com reserves the right not to post any review -- particularly those that do not follow the terms and conditions of these Rules. Barnes & Noble.com also reserves the right to remove any review at any time without notice.
- See Terms of Use for other conditions and disclaimers.

Overview

Pick Up In Store

All Available Formats & Editions

Customers Who Bought This Also Bought

More About This Product

Overview

Special Features

Editorial Reviews

All Movie Guide

Product Details

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Technical Credits

Scene Index

Menu

Customer Reviews

5 Star

4 Star

3 Star

2 Star

1 Star

Your Rating:

Your Recommendations:

Barnes & Noble.com Review Rules

Reviews by Our Customers Under the Age of 13

What to exclude from your review:

Reviews should not contain any of the following:

Reminder:

Antichrist

Overview

Pick Up In Store

All Available Formats & Editions

Customers Who Bought This Also Bought

More About This Product

Overview

Special Features

Editorial Reviews

All Movie Guide

Product Details

Related Categories

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Technical Credits

Scene Index

Menu

Customer Reviews

5 Star

4 Star

3 Star

2 Star

1 Star

Your Rating:

Your Recommendations:

Barnes & Noble.com Review Rules

Reviews by Our Customers Under the Age of 13

What to exclude from your review:

Reviews should not contain any of the following:

Reminder:

Recommend other products that relate to your review. Just search for them below and share!