I Am an Anarchist

In sorting
through
some old
emails re-
cently, I came across a message to Mom about Von Trier's latest provocation.

After dragging my feet for a few weeks, I finally caught
Antichrist this weekend, just so I could be part of the
conversation. Not recommended as a film. It reminds
me of several that are far better, but it certainly gives
you something to talk about..should you wish to do so.

I'm amazed that my friend [redacted] would describe it
as "feminist." That's hardly the case. Charlotte Gains-
bourg, best actress winner at Cannes, plays a one-time
feminist scholar who goes nuts after the death of her son.
Willem Dafoe plays her paternalistic therapist husband.

Gainsbourg's study of feminism, particularly gynocide, doesn't
make the film "pro-woman." Sad when people fall for that trap,
though that doesn't automatically make it misogynist either. If
anything, the gig feels more misanthropic than anything else.


The best part of the film.

Atmospherically shot by the gifted Anthony Dod Mantle (Julien
-Donkey-Boy, Brothers of the Head), it's basically A-list exploita-
tion-style horror that makes Misery, Evil Dead, and the other films
from which it borrows look even better than they already are--and
without the Danish director's pesky pretensions towards "art."

Von Trier also directed Breaking the Waves and Dancer in the
Dark. His concerns remain the same, but to diminishing results
(though The Boss of It All is actually pretty funny). More signifi-
cantly, though, he mounted a version of Medea in 1988. Clearly,
women have been frightening the hell out of him for awhile now!

Endnote: Revised from original text. Image from Owl Pellets.